Riviera 70 lands its first Blue Marlin

Whangaroa, NZ: It was a cool crisp morning in the picturesque Whangaroa Harbour, which is home to some of New Zealand’s famous game fishing grounds, as 16 Rivieras set out for day one of the annual Riviera/SIME Darby Motors Invitational game fishing tournament.

Whangaroa is located on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island, about 216 kilometres north of Auckland.

On board Riviera 70, The Guardian, was Riviera’s dealer relations manager Adrian Bothur who tagged and released the boat’s first blue marlin weighing 131 kilograms.

“I fought that fish for an hour so when we finally landed it, the team and crew were ecstatic and the owner was absolutely delighted,” Adrian said.

“What’s more, the owner’s young son chose the lure that caught the Blue Marlin.

“The 70 fishes the same as most other Rivieras – brilliantly.  It backs down exceptionally well on fish and can turn on its own axis.  The 70 not only is the flagship from our range, it also doubles as probably the best sport fishing vessel on the market in that size range, giving the best of both worlds.”

Adrian said the three-day tournament held from March 10-13 was hosted by R Marine New Zealand and has been running for 12 years.

First prize for the most fish tagged and released was shared by four teams Team Riv NZ, Osibisa, The Godfather and Freelance while the Cash prize and Calcutta money for the heaviest fish caught went to Tim Dromgool and his team on AURORA.

For Adrian, sitting in the game chair or at the helm is another day in the office.

“If I am skippering a boat, I have a responsibility to treat it as work.  If I am in the cockpit and catching a fish for someone, I treat it as work and accept nothing but 100 per cent effort from myself,” Adrian said.

“Events such as this allow me the opportunity to gain customer feedback, build relationships with our clients and dealers, as well as test our boats offshore in real life situations, which proves invaluable for me in my role as dealer relations manager.”

This particular event was held in Whangaroa, which is surrounded by volcanic cliffs and deep water bays.  Close proximity to famous fishing grounds from the Cavalli Islands north to North Cape makes this a unique and scenic game fishing destination.

“The location is absolutely picturesque and the fish species that we target are blue marlin and striped marlin.  Unlike Queensland where the prominent fish are sail fish and black marlin,” Adrian said.

“The first two days of the competition we experienced 20-25 knot winds and 2 metre swells but the 70 handled superbly in these conditions and it was an extremely comfortable ride.  On the third day the wind dropped down to 10 knots and the swell was down to 1-1.5 metres and it was a nice sunny day.”

Adrian hasn’t missed a competition in the past eight years and said it was the thrill of game fishing and then tagging and releasing which has him hooked.

“It’s a true team event and I enjoy the excitement of chasing down a big fish and then tagging and releasing it,” he said.

R Marine New Zealand’s next owner event is a pre season Rendezvous scheduled after the completion of the Rugby World Cup.

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