Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, July 18, 1999 -- At approximately 4:30 pm today a collective sigh of relief escaped from the Legends Sportfishing Team as the final tag and release scores were tallied and the last marlin was weighed in at the scales in Honokohau Harbor. That's when they knew officially they had won the inaugural Hawaii World Billfish Challenge.

To all appearances, it was a tie. The Legends team -- Mike Vidal, Bob Brack and Cindy Brack -- fishing aboard Legend 2 with Captain Reuben Rubio had 1000 points. Team Ihu Nui Sportfishing -- Bob Bean, Ray Horikawa, Doug Schleif and Mike Ventura -- fishing aboard Jacque Apito with Captain Bryan Toney, also had 1000 tag and release points. The tie breaker was the clock.

Individually, Vidal had three tag and releases throughout the three day event and his teammate, Bob Brack, also a WBS member, had two.

The Legends team celebrates the announcement of their win

"It's been a wonderful trip," Brack said. "the deckhands, captains, tournament directors, WBS staff -- all of them are wonderful people." And when asked if he'd be back next year, his answer was an emphatic: "Oh yes!"

So without ever bringing a marlin to the scales, Team Legends Sportfishing won the tournament and a grand total of $60,224. This figure includes daily jackpots and the $25,500 first place purse.

The excitement at the dock was shared by all

Vidal was second with 600 points, WBS angler Steve McLaughlin of the Captain Cook Coffee Billfish Team was third, with 588 points (200 tag and release and a Pacific blue weighing 388 pounds). McLaughlin was the first angler to bring a marlin to the scales.

"Close is only good in horseshoes," said McLaughlin. "We needed a bigger lead going in to todays fishing and we just didn't have it. But I just love to fish and I'll be back next year, this was a great tournament"

"We were down off C buoy , south of the harbor, and the fish hit the long corner. I fought it for about 17 minutes," said Schumacher, a Kona resident who has been big game fishing for approximately 15 years.

"I treat each fish as if it were going to be a record," said Schumacher, who has a 928 Pacific blue to his credit and several years ago hooked into a monster that he fought for 23 hours.

"Fishing is one of the few legal adrenalin rushes you can get into anymore," Schumacher said. "I really liked this tournament because it offered a lot of opportunities with total points, individual angler, daily jackpots and other placements."

Kila Kila with their 463.5

For more information about the World Billfish Series e-mail  info@worldbillfishseries.com
or contact our International Headquarters at  949-650-8006 or 888-492-4WBS

Visit the World Billfish Series website at www.worldbillfishseries.com