Congratulations to the Happy Hooker, the first repeat winner of the Blue Marlin World Cup.  Captained by Berno Niebuhr, the fish went 1,097 pounds and pretty much left the rest of the field in its wake.  Angler was Chris Brand.

Our best information has the standings as follows:

Happy Hooker (Cape Verde) – 1,097 pounds

Hedonist (Canaries) – 600 pounds

Audaz (Madeira) – 546 pounds

La Onda Emma (Madeira) – 511 pounds

Quite a day for the east Atlantic!  On the other hand, Bermuda and Kona – each fishery boasting six World Cups to its credit – didn’t catch any qualifying fish, the first time in recent memory that has occurred.