Q
UATRE, trois, deux, un (four, three, two, one) ... GO!
And so Captain Jean Paul Henry’s voice echoed
over the radios of the 14 sportfishers taking part in
the 2017 Mauritius Release Billfish International
Competition hosted out of Rivier Noire (Black
River), sending them off on the first day’s fishing.
JP, as he is known, was comfortably placed aboard his ciga-
rette-styled speed boat and had shepherded the fleet to the
starting gate before announcing the start.
With 28 diesel engines bursting into life and turbos
screaming, the 2017 international marlin release tournament
began. What an awesome start! Being onboard the South
African team’s 85ft Mantramade it even better as this mighty
craft jumped out the starting gates like the thoroughbred she
is and was, within minutes, leading the fleet at 40 knots out to
the purple water of the Mauritian marlin grounds.
Such an awesome spectacle is hard to describe, yet being
part of it is an experience that’s indelibly etched on one’s
mind.
Three years ago a dream became reality — the concept
was to organise an international event targeting the marlin
fishery that has long existed off the protected south-west cor-
ner of this beautiful island, and stage it at a level and with
rules that are in line with the majority of the prestigious mar-
lin competitions worldwide. A full release ethic was intrinsic
to this.
And so the 2015 Mauritius Billfish Release International
Tournament was born. At the outset the committee and spon-
sors of this event had the arduous task of introducing a
release ethic into a fishery that hitherto did not subscribe to
this style of sportfishing. With hard work and dedication they
did it and got local sportfisher owners and charter operations
to buy into the system.
In 2015 nine boats took part in this inaugural competition
and, as I mentioned, in 2017 fourteen teams took part.
It certainly is an international event, with only two home-
based teams participating. The other teams are from as far
afield as Russia, England, Germany, South Africa (two teams),
Poland, Reunion (two teams), Switzerland, Lithuania, Slovakia
and Poland.
The opening ceremony where all the teams were pho-
tographed was a cosmopolitan event, strongly interlaced with
the many different languages that could be heard. That aspect
added greatly to the vibe both at the opening ceremony and
also during each day’s weigh in and cocktail party and, even-
tually, the final prize giving.
Anybody familiar with the island of Mauritius will know
the Le Morne Mountain that majestically buttresses the south-
west peninsula of the island and overlooks the tranquil bay of
Black River which stretches to the mountain above Tamarin in
the north.
This tranquil bay, protected from the south-east trade
winds, has provided safe mooring for both the commercial
and recreational fishing fleets since time immemorial.
I last fished out of the Black River bay in the 1980s and
early 1990s with groups of South African anglers, initially for a
marlin competition, then to search for broadbill, and later for
a couple of Captain Morgan Grand Challenges. I was stag-
gered at the changes that have occurred in the intervening 25
years.
The two most significant changes in the sportfishing
ambit are the development of the very up market marina “up
the Black River” and the increased number of craft — both
yachts and sportfishers — that now lie on swing moorings in
the Rivier Noir Bay.12 • SKI-BOAT May/June 2017