Riviera

Riviera teams up for NZ Game Fishing Tournament

THE sight of a Riviera 60 flybridge, The Immigrant, framed by the rocky boundaries of Riko Riko Cave in Poor Knights islands, New Zealand, was a picture too good to miss for Riviera’s R Marine dealer in Auckland, Bruce McGill.

He snapped the shot of the cave ‘mooring’ last year on his ‘baby Sony’ hoping the quality would be good enough to share with other Riviera owners in this issue – which, as you can see, it is.

Bruce, who is the dealer principal of R Marine NZ was cruising back to Auckland with several boats from the excitement of three days Marlin fishing in scenic Whangaroa, known as the Marlin capital of New Zealand.

On the journey back from the tournament a few of the boats explored the spectacular Riko Riko cave which is about 12m deep, on Poor Knights Island, about 80 nautical miles north of Auckland and 20 miles offshore.

This year Riviera teamed up for the 9th annual Riviera/Sime Darby Invitational Game Fishing Tournament held recently in New Zealand’s north island.

A fleet of 16 Rivieras ranging in size from 37 to 70 foot cruised 140 nautical miles from Auckland to New Zealand’s Marlin capital in Whangaroa, north of the Bay of Islands, for the three day game fishing tournament hosted by the Whangaroa Big Game Fishing Club.

The event concluded on March 26 with a total of four fish tagged and released, coming equal first with one fish tagged each were, Limited Edition - Striped Marlin, Lady Janine - Striped Marlin, Primetime/Osibisa - Striped Marlin, Aurora - Blue Marlin. The cash prize of $15,000 was shared among the four teams with the trophy presented to Limited Edition for being the first to capture a fish.

Kay Beck on board Aquaniche landed the heaviest weighed Marlin, a 239.2kg Blue Marlin caught on a 37kg line, while John Beck won the $11,650 Calcutta Prize as he purchased his own boat in the Calcutta auction prior to the start of the tournament. The Aquaniche crew also received $10,000 for the heaviest weighed marlin.

R Marine New Zealand’s dealer principal Bruce McGill said there was plenty of action for game fishing enthusiasts with more than 20 hook ups over the three-day event.

“Teams ventured out to the leading striped marlin fishery from cape Brett to North cape covering some 100 nautical miles of coast line and venturing out some 50 miles from the mainland,” Bruce said.

“Spirits were high as team members challenged and encouraged each other as they fought with some mighty marlin, this camaraderie was one of the highlights from the three day event.

“Next year will be the 10th anniversary of this unique Riviera invite only tournament and I look forward to making next year’s event a memorable affair.”