Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

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silverking
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Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by silverking »

Relentless Pursuit Repeats as Gulf Coast Triple Crown Champion

The Wharf; Orange Beach, Alabama:

In another close finish, Relentless Pursuit, a 95 Jim Smith based in Venice, Louisiana, was named the 2019 Gulf Coast Triple Crown Champion. This season marks the second time the boat has earned top honors, following a 2015 championship run. Relentless Pursuit is owned by Dennis Pastentine, with Capt. Robbie Doggett the boat’s long-time skipper. In addition to bragging rights for another season, the team takes home a custom Frank Ledbetter metal marlin sculpture and $31,625 in cash including optional entry categories.

The Gulf Coast Triple Crown Championship is composed of the top five big-game tournaments in the region. The Blue Marlin Grand Championship is historically the last leg, but with Tropical Storm Barry moving west across the prime offshore waters, the tournament was cancelled for safety reasons. Done Deal, a three-time Triple Crown Champion, was tied with Relentless Pursuit before fishing started. Ties are determined by the largest marlin landed, which gave Relentless Pursuit the winning combination.

“During the Orange Beach Billfish Classic we left the dock at noon and ran four hours to reach 130 miles offshore,” Doggett explained. “Within 45 minutes we were already hooked up by the time other boats got there. The fight lasted an hour and 45 minutes. We slowly eased back in and weighed the fish the next morning.” That winning 658.2-pound blue marlin was caught on a trolled ballyhoo skirted with a pink Islander lure.

“We call it Stinky Pinky once the ballyhoo is added,” Doggett says with a laugh. “We strictly troll to cover more water and have an arsenal of 60 lures in various shades of blue, silver, purple, green and yellow. We run two rods each off the outriggers and two flat lines. We don’t have the patience to live bait, but we’ve been pretty successful with our style of fishing.”

In addition to the OBBC win, Relentless Pursuit won the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic with three blue marlin releases (no billfish were weighed) and earned series bonus participation points. Done Deal also finished with 625 points from second place release awards in the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic and the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic, plus bonus points. Katie Gonsoulin was the angler on Done Deal’s big fish, a 535.5-pound blue, good for a second-place finish in the CCBC. Jason Buck is the boat’s captain and Jon Gonsoulin is the owner.

Fleur de Lis, a 72 Viking run by Capt. Scooter Porto and owned by Jeff Landry, was the third-place team in the 2019 GCTC standings with 500 points. The boat weighed the heaviest blue (602.7 pounds, angler Hunter Myers) in the CCBC, along with bonus points. Fleur de Lis is based in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

“This was a total team effort,” Doggett says of the 2019 Championship run. “This season was all about our former team mate, Dale Artigue, who passed away just before the holidays. His spirit was always with us in the cockpit. There are so many talented and hard-working crews fishing the Gulf that it makes competing against guys of this caliber such an incredible experience.”

Marking its ninth season, the 2019 Gulf Coast Triple Crown Championship was presented by Invincible Boats and Grander Marine. The five legs include the Orange Beach Billfish Classic, the Cajun Canyons Billfish Classic, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic, the Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic and the Blue Marlin Grand Championship.

For 2019 GCTC Director Scott Burt commissioned a commemorative trophy that will be on permanent display at The Wharf Marina’s Outfitter’s Store. Created by marine metal artist Frank Ledbetter, the perpetual trophy will sit atop a rotating base and will feature all previous Triple Crown Champions. Relentless Pursuit will now have to decide where to display its second GCTC Championship blue marlin.

“It was a tough season with all the weather issues, but Capt. Robbie, Dennis and Team Relentless Pursuit once again lived up to the boat’s name and came out on top,” Burt said. “Congratulations to them and well done to all the competing boats. We look forward to another exciting finish as the Gulf Coast Triple Crown Championship celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2020.”


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Srbenda
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by Srbenda »

Pretty awesome to win on tie due to a storm!

As a reference for us poors, here is a 95 Jim Smith sportfish.

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silverking
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by silverking »

Yes, unfortunate the Blue Marlin Grand Championship had to cancel. Lot of hard work and prep goes into putting one of these things on.

It was the right call, though. Even that 95 Jim Smith would have been bobbing around with the seas churned up by Barry.

Hmmm, wonder if the National Hurricane Center is going to refer to this storm as bman afterwards. Bet the Weather Channel marketing folks are spinning it now as they hike ad rates. :lol:
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GaryDroze
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by GaryDroze »

The anchor for that boat is probably worth more than any of my kayaks.
killswitch
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by killswitch »

I could get accustomed to one of those. :-D
Salty Gator
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by Salty Gator »

GaryDroze wrote:The anchor for that boat is probably worth more than any of my kayaks.
And probably worth more than my boat
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Srbenda
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by Srbenda »

Salty Gator wrote:
GaryDroze wrote:The anchor for that boat is probably worth more than any of my kayaks.
And burnt more fuel in the fishing tournament than my boat is worth

There, I fixed it. :D
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FTReelty
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by FTReelty »

Seriously, how do they launch that skiff off the front of that ship?
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FishWithChris
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by FishWithChris »

FTReelty wrote:Seriously, how do they launch that skiff off the front of that ship?
So on that boat, specifically, there's a boom arm on the starboard side that raises up, hooks to boat cleats/lift points, and rotates/drops it off the bow. same for loading. Majority of yachts that have a tender/skiff on the bow have it.

here's a video of this boat and you can see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFXieN64doc

here's another example for a quick visual:

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FTReelty
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Re: Relentless Pursuit Wins GC Triple Crown Championship

Post by FTReelty »

Cool, thanks.
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