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Now in its eighth year, the 2022 Viking Key West Challenge hosted 48 boats and more than 500 people attending the four-day event in early April, with a focus on fishing, fun and family.
“The Viking Key West Challenge is an amazing event that just keeps getting bigger and better, with more boats and more people participating every year,” says Viking president and CEO Pat Healey. “It’s now the largest tournament on the island. Key West is really the perfect location where everyone can thoroughly enjoy the boating and fishing lifestyle that we all love.”
At this year’s event, it was the ladies who stole the show, with Rosalie “Roe” Apostoleres, fishing on her 50-foot Viking, Roenick, repeating as top angler and top lady angler for the second consecutive year with 14 sailfish releases, while her boat was the top team with 18 sails.
Capt. Scott Walker put Terri Groth on 10 sailfish aboard Papa’s Pilar, her 41-foot Valhalla, which was good for second-place sailfish, second-place angler and second-place lady angler. Lindsey Way, on the 56-foot Viking Smoke Show, scored five releases for third-place angler and third-place lady angler.
Read Next: Meet the man behind the legendary Viking brand: CEO and president Pat Healey.
Anglers, crews and guests attended a lively captain’s meeting cocktail party, alfresco welcome banquet, spirited lay-day barbecue pool party, energetic kid’s dock tournament, and boisterous Duval Street bar crawl poker run. The Viking Key West Challenge culminated with a festive awards dinner under the stars with 39 trophies and more than $20,000 in prizes awarded to the winners.
