Saturday 12 July 2025
The anglers needed no coaxing to gather at the harbour, eager to hear the verdict from the ever-mysterious weather gods. Of course, they don’t exist—but it’s comforting to have someone to blame when nature throws a curve ball! Luckily, The Good Lord smiled on us, blessing the morning with clear skies and the weather committee gave the all clear for the twelve boats to launch well before 9 a.m. Despite the sunshine and breathless wind,it was still chilly, and the sea, deceptively serene, delivered a few breakers to test the skippers’ skill as they navigated their way out of the harbour.

Unlike the intrepid anglers, I didn’t quite spring out of bed in time to witness their early-morning departure from the harbour. But I made sure to be there when they returned—and as promised, here are the boat photographs. Flyes Eyes, skippered by Warren Muller, pulled off a vanishing act worthy of a magician. One moment he was there, the next—poof—he’d zipped off to the slipway before my camera could even blink. Still, I couldn’t let him completely escape the spotlight, so I’ve snuck the tiny bit I did manage to capture into the photo mix below. Blink and you might miss it!

Note: To view the group of photographs, click on the first one to enlarge it. Use the arrows to navigate the slideshow. Press ‘escape’ to return to the blog post. On your phone, swipe to view each photo and tap the ‘x’ to return to the blog post. You may also need to tap the information icon to view the captions.

And so, the second and final day of fishing wrapped up in grand style! The anglers had a breather to kick back at their lodgings, recharge, and suit up in their highest colours for the much-anticipated closing ceremony and formal prize-giving. Receiver of a medal or not, each one of those anglers is a winner! They faced cold, wind, rain and rough seas, and came back victorious. Lessons were learned and friendships were forged. This sport can begin in childhood and continue into the senior years, and it’s heartwarming to see how committed and passionate our juniors are already.

While our tournament had its own share of thrills, there was another major sporting spectacle on television. Like true patriots, we were all glued to the screen for the Springboks’ showdown against Italy. Thanks to the Overberg Boat Club for screening the match before kicking off the night’s proceedings. And speaking of timing, our daughter and son-in-law were lucky enough to be in the stands at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, enjoying the game live. (I know this is not strictly tournament-related, but I had to share! We were all delighted at our 45–0 victory!)

After that excitement, all attention was turned to Arri Burger, the tournament convener, as he announced the winners.

Bronze, Silver and Gold medals were presented to the winners. In addition, Airmar representative Grant Crighton, presented each winning angler with an Airmar jacket. The winning junior was also presented with a fishing rod donated by Riaan and Amanda van Staden.

The winners are posing with DP Burger – SADSAA Representative, Roger Marais – WPDSAA Chairman, and Sonja Marais – WPDSAA Secretary

Juniors: Team Rating Results

As mentioned before, Eastern Province Junior B Team was captained by Nathan Barris, an amazing Down’s Syndrome boy. His enthusiasm and excitement when he heard his team had won was heartwarming. We are all so proud of you and your team, Nathan!

Juniors: Angler Ranking Results

Junior Skipper Ranking Results

Senior Team Ranking Results

Senior Angler Ranking Results

Senior Skipper Ranking Results

We extend our deepest gratitude to all our incredible sponsors for their generous support throughout the tournament. Each of you played a vital role in making this event a success, and we were proud to present certificates of appreciation in recognition of your contributions.

A special shout-out to Noarbur Engineering and Airmar, whose representatives joined us on site and received their certificates in person—thank you for cheering us on every step of the way!

Your commitment and enthusiasm helped create a truly memorable experience for all involved. We couldn’t have done it without you!

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our incredible kitchen staff and dedicated catering committee for taking care of the feeding of us all throughout the tournament, There was always plenty for the hungry anglers to eat and it certainly helped to keep their spirits high.

A special shout-out to OK Foods for providing the delicious fare that kept us going strong. Whether it was a plateful of comfort or a snack between sessions, your support added a generous helping of hospitality to the event.

And to wrap things up, I’ve included a few snapshots capturing the laughter, straf dops and general socialising that occurred at the evening functions. No captions though—I’d hate to accidentally get a name wrong and upset someone with my poor interpretation of the event.