Naira proved it is a tournament-fishing powerhouse in Aruba.
For the second year in a row, Ruben “Bincho” Mansur Jr. and his team aboard the 57-foot Paul Mann emerged victorious in the Presidential Aruba Caribbean Cup.
The Naira team released a grand slam of a blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish the first day. They added two more white marlin before the day ended to finish with 2,200 points and a commanding lead ahead of Driftwood and Living Easy.
The Living Easy team had one blue marlin and five white marlin the second day, when Naira caught another blue marlin-white marlin-sailfish grand slam to remain ahead of its top challenger.
The Naira team finished with 4,900 points — releasing two more blues and whites on the last day. Living Easy placed second with 3,000 points. The Alina team, which didn’t score any points the first day, caught a grand slam on the third day and placed third overall with 2,300 points.
In the Top Angler standings, Naira‘s Carlos Isaza was first with 2,600 points, which included an impressive personal grand slam. Anthony Pinzon from Living Easy was second with 2,500 points and Alina‘s Jose Guanipa was third with 1,600 points.
The tournament, hosted by Varadero Aruba Marina and Boatyard, has become one of the hottest tournaments in the southern Caribbean region thanks to the tough-but-friendly competition and also the entertaining dockside parties each evening.
The tournament included 70 billfish releases — 43 white marlin, 14 sailfish and 13 blue marlin, all on 30-pound test line and non-offset circle hooks. There were four grand slams: two for Naira and one each for Alina and Picante.
