Sunday July 29 — Volunteers shined the whole time

 Sunday, July 29, 2007: Well, it’s cleanup day as the seemingly indefatigable volunteers bring the clubhouse back to normalcy.

The best WMIT yet, had all the elements of a fine sporting event, especially the part where it all came down to who skillfully entered into which calcuttas.

As I micro-processed the entire tourney, I was blown away by the volunteerism.

I belong to quite a few clubs and organizations, all of which fully rely on the kindness of members – willing to give of their time and energy. Well, I’ll fully admit that it’s usually a struggle to find even entry-level volunteerism. To see the put-out by the BHM&TC members, I’d sure like to know the club’s secret. Mass hypnosis, I’m guessing.

It would be nice if some perks were offered the volunteers.

Truth be told, I had planned on giving every single WMIT2007 volunteer – up to 50 of them – his or her very own new fully-loaded Lexus. However, wouldn’t you know it, there seems to be some glitches in my offshore bank accounts. Who knows how long it’ll take to iron all that.

Anyway, getting caught up in the volunteerism thing, I’m hereby donating all my days of tourney blogging. No charge, Chris. It was my pleasure to help – and I sure had some fine stops at Freddie Rebmann’s raw bar. Those Brazilian shrimp that Freddie goes to great pains to buy in bulk are among the best colssoal sized shrimp I’ve ever tasted.  While I didn’t down any of his oysters, the half-shell aficionados I talked to gave the mollusks rave revues.

Standing pat on the stomach subject, I also had four days of fine line-dining meals, faultlessly presented by the Four C Sons caterers. The crab dish on the final day was my favorite of the tourney, though I had great meals every evening – despite my being a vegetarian (seafood ,excepted).

I’m told that that work begins on next year’s WMIT before the dust even settles from this year’s. Well, count me in for 2008 – providing I don’t take a sweet looking job as a bar-back in Costa Rica.

If anyone has any follow-up subject matter on the event, please email me at jmann99@hotmail.com.

Saturday July 28 — A slow closing day with some good drama

  

Saturday, July 28, 2007:

Well, another Beach Haven White Marlin Invitational Tournament is under the fighting belt – though the banquet is still going on as I type this entry since I had to break away to blog in a timely manner.

The last day was a tad uneventful though, for some, that was just the way they wanted it. But before I get to the anxious waiting (then celebrating) done by the Fish Trap crew, I have to list the first placers – after all, is this a fishing tournament or a calcutta contest? Don’t answer that.

When I began my special WMIT blogging, I arrived on Thursday at exactly the instant the first boat, Ocean 58, pulled in with it’s double tuna weigh-in salvo of a 105.6- and a 181.7-pound tuna. It was 4:30 and things were just beginning, literally. So seeing that 181.7 bft seemed more of a sign of things to come than the tuna of the tournament. Flash ahead to today when official congrats went out to Ocean 58 for the largest fish of the event.

The second day saw Dragonfly offer its fine hatchet marlin, hoisted by the crew for admiring photographs. That fish, unlike the best-of tuna, seemed hard to beat from the instant it swung on-scene. I have since heard that, shortly after landing the fish, the Dragonfly was a bit baffled by what it was, exactly. Not unusual for this uncommon billfish. Some radio communication rightly suggested to the Dragonfly crew that it was what it was: a hatchet marlin — and fully legal when over 68 inches. Great catch and fully within the club’s established “White Marlin” category. What lies ahead for hatchet marlin remains to be seen. What is there now is a first-place finish it WMIT2007.

Coming in with a tad less fanfare but still taking home a very respectable first-place plaque was a fine 43.7-pound wahoo, bested by the boys on Smokin’ Again. It did have a challenger or two during the tourney but none came very close to outweighing it. Along with prize money, the delctibility factor was a superfine bonus.

The final day did see the one and only qualifying mahi, compliments of the Tara III, which gladly took the $500 fish that took a chunk out of the boat’s entry fee. And yet another good eater.

Now to the real tension side of the final day. A six-figure red-dot calcutta prize hung in the balance for the good guys of the Fish Trap crew. I was sitting at an inside table with some of that crew and had a weigh-in long laugh as they truly sweated out each arriving boat.

As you know, the Fish Trap got atop the top money leader board in a fairly precarious manner. With their top holding, a 169.5 pound bft, twice bested by, Ocean 58’s 181.7 bft and Reel Trouble’s 181.5-pound bft, they magically came out as the only high-ranking tuna entered in the big calcutta. Then the Dragonfly’s white marlin arrived, seemingly ready to outrank the Fish Trap’s top tuna. Well, the white-marlin-takes-all concept is actually limited to the technical side of the tourney – biggest fish glory — but not the money side of the event. Dragonfly was not in the big calcutta.

It should be noted that all the boats with the biggest tuna and the white marlin were in the other three calcuttas. I’ll try to get those winning numbers in here after I get a call from a rep I have at the late-running banquet.

As noted, this final day was slow as only a handful of boats – of the 33 heading out – came back with eligible catches, including that mahi. However, Sunrunner made a fine showing with its 138.2 bluefin. Ocean 58 showed a 115-lb bft bringing the average weigh of its three tourney tuna to about 130 pounds per fish. Great job guys. Cap N Crunch had its second blue marlin release in as many trips. So close but so far for those savvy anglers.

The consensus read on what made this tourney stand out – short of the overly-perfect weather and the 113 entrants – was the total dominance by the usually rare (to the event) bluefin tuna. The prime factor in the pure dominance of this nearer shore tuna was the highly lackluster water in the canyons, some of which had no warm eddies – or any breaks of any sort, though things had cleaned a bit today. I had a couple knowing tuna folks say that there is quite knack to besting bft and that knack is not easy to master in a three-day event. I got the lowdown on the use of properly rigged ballyhoo, slower trolls, brighter colored plastics, Islanders and what Chris D. called a “bluefin mentality.”

The one utterly odd side of bft catch struck my chef-ing side. I heard maybe a dozen anglers badmouth bft as a not-great eating fish. Uh, might I point out that it is the most valuable fish on the planet. There is virtually no close second when it comes to the total number of pounds bought each year for amounts that trickle down to $1,000 a pound  – street value, when sushi-ed out in Asia. However, I reflect on the famed Pink Floyd song “Money,” with the words “Money … is the root of all evil today but … it’s no surprise that they’re giving none of it away.” Ditto on bft. I should know. I asked around enough for any unwated bluefin tuna.

Hey, where’s the J&J Express when I need them? Those were the fine folks that gave me their marlin filets last year. Sorry to hear that boat had serious mechanical problems after one day in the contest.

 

Another note to myself: Learn to better identify tuna on sight. I’ll have them wired within weeks. However, I’m not a big gamer. It sure seems that many (many) offshore folks still don’t know a bft from a yft from a bigeye from an etc. With regs and such being what they are – and getting stricter — that lack of ID-ability could get one into a load of trouble in short order.

I’ll be giving this website some more blog-age to round out the event. I’m still looking for any input.

POLLY WANNA SLACKER?: One final hookup is needed by anglers before taking home the big WMIT money they’ve apparently won via huge fish.

Due to the pretty packages of payout now being dangled as bait in the tourney, there is now the mandatory last rite of a polygraph test.  

The club’s polygraph is administered by an enormous guy wearing a black hood over his head, with jagged slits cut out where milky blue eyes peer emotionlessly outward. The administer also wears a black leather biker’s vest that buttons down the sides, where bear-like tufts of black hair leak out. He manipulates the polygraph with two incredibly monstrous arms, covered in demonic tattoos so large and nasty the tattoos have their own nasty tattoos. He calls himself The Truth Guy.

… Hey, wait a minute. Phil’s telling me I’m not allowed to talk about the polygraph guy. He says contestants might take it wrong. Well, let’s hope they don’t take the test wrong, eh?.

Just kidding. The simple and unobtrusive “poly” test is, in fact, a now-common practice in bigger fishing events and is meant to keep things on the up and up – lest you have to deal with The Truth Guy.  

 The fishing club I’m in often uses the polygraph. If you pass it, you’re banned forever.  

Friday July, 2007 — Welcome to the first marlin!

Friday, July 27, 2007:

What a day a difference makes – or something like that. The difference showed itself early on, as Reel Trouble, Capt. Billy D., brought in a major bluefin tuna. On hoist, it was easy to see the second day’s first serious weigh-in was on the tail of the event’s leader, yesterday’s 181.7 bft off  Ocean 58 – a DNF (did not fish) boat today. Well, the electronic digital scale toyed with the top weight then settled an unbelievably close 181.5. Wow.

Since I know the captain I can bring up the fact that a goodly chunk of flesh was pulled out with the gaffing. Cap knew that and skillfully noted, “We might not have the fish if we didn’t get that gaff in.” Touché.

Of import is the very exacting way the weigh-in team faithfully checks each gill plate for any ice cubes trapped therein. The guys even poke their finger in gaff holes to remove any embedded cubes. Seems a bit much until you see the event’s largest tunas (to date) coming down to mere ounces apart.

HOT:  But here I am talking tuna when the huge news is the first white marlin in the contest. Dragonfly brought in an 85.15 qualifying billfish – over 68 inches. I think I heard it was 70-some inches. The boat captain was Brian Lakefield and the fish-fighter was Alex Napolietto. This qualifying billfish instantly trumps all in the tuna of any size. Geez, might that be why it’s called a white marlin tournament? Damn straight. With the massive popularity of poker nowadays, you can relate any white marlin to a straight flush hand: even the lowest straight-flush outdoes every other hand except a higher straight flush. So where’s the better white marlin hand? It’s still swimming out there for the 31 boats going out for tomorrow’s final day. I know of a couple boats that take this first white marlin as incentive to hit the canyons and out do the Dragonfly.  

Now back to tuna. First, a quick dollar note that the big calcutta splits earnings between the biggest tuna and biggest white marlin — for those in that red-dot calcutta (that’s the color of the dot on the board). Interestingly, neither Ocean 59 (fishing tomorrow) nor Reel Trouble are in the big calcutta. This throws the whole thing into a complexity that eludes me except it say it’ll all works out tomorrow. I’m pretty sure that Fish Trap (yesterday’s 169 pound bft) is plying big calcutta waters with the new white marlin heading into the final day. How the three smaller calcuttas pay out will be perfectly clear to me when the wining are announced at the tomorrow’s banquet. I’m pretty sure I’m not in the running unless there’s a random writer in the audience category. I did almost score a tuna today as the Business didn’t pull up to the docks but had their two bft wheelbarrowed in. Their fish sat there after weigh-in and I was eying the two tasty bft with bad intent. They soon came and hauled them off. Pity.

And there were also some real nice also-swam today. The average size of bft today was almost double that of yesterday, as many captains took the lead of yesterday’s successful bft catchers and made the turn southward. Jersey Cape banked a 101.1; Hang Tough tallied a 146.4; Anthracite offered a 138.8; Business hooked a 139.3; Outer Limits bested a 139.8; and Eureka docked a 159.1. (Again, I had to scratch down weight numbers while doing a ton of other stuff – like trying to understands what the difference is between various marlin types — so sorry if the number aren’t all right-on. By event’s end the exact poundage will be certified and published.)

 Tomorrow will see an even split between those going canyon and those going closer-in and south. The weather will surely hold – making this year one of the finest skied WMITs in many years. By the by, the total boat number is now 113.     Friday, July 27, 2007:What a day a difference makes – or something like that. The difference showed it elf early on, as Reel Trouble, Capt. Billy D., brought in a major bluefin tuna. On hoist, it was easy to see the second day’s first serious weigh-in was on the tail of the event’s leader, yesterday’s 181.7 bft off  Ocean 58 – a DNF (did not fish) boat today. Well, the electronic digital scale toyed with the top weight then settled an unbelievably close 181.5. Wow.

Since I know the captain I can bring up the fact that a goodly chunk of flesh was pulled out with the gaffing. Cap knew that and skillfully noted, “We might not have the fish if we didn’t get that gaff in.” Touché.

Of import is the very exacting way the weigh-in team faithfully checks each gill plate for any ice cubes trapped therein. The guys even poke their finger in gaff holes to remove any embedded cubes. Seems a bit much until you see the event’s largest tunas (to date) coming down to mere ounces apart.

HOT:  But here I am talking tuna when the huge news is the first white marlin in the contest. Dragonfly brought in an 85.15 qualifying billfish – over 68 inches. I think I heard it was 70-some inches. The boat captain was Brian Lakefield and the fish-fighter was Alex Napolietto. This qualifying billfish instantly trumps all in the tuna of any size. Geez, might that be why it’s called a white marlin tournament? Damn straight. With the massive popularity of poker nowadays, you can relate any white marlin to a straight flush hand: even the lowest straight-flush outdoes every other hand except a higher straight flush. So where’s the better white marlin hand? It’s still swimming out there for the 31 boats going out for tomorrow’s final day. I know of a couple boats that take this first white marlin as incentive to hit the canyons and out do the Dragonfly.  

Now back to tuna. First, a quick dollar note that the big calcutta splits earnings between the biggest tuna and biggest white marlin — for those in that red-dot calcutta (that’s the color of the dot on the board). Interestingly, neither Ocean 59 (fishing tomorrow) nor Reel Trouble are in the big calcutta. This throws the whole thing into a complexity that eludes me except it say it’ll all works out tomorrow. I’m pretty sure that Fish Trap (yesterday’s 169 pound bft) is plying big calcutta waters with the new white marlin heading into the final day. How the three smaller calcuttas pay out will be perfectly clear to me when the wining are announced at the tomorrow’s banquet. I’m pretty sure I’m not in the running unless there’s a random writer in the audience category. I did almost score a tuna today as the Business didn’t pull up to the docks but had their two bft wheelbarrowed in. Their fish sat there after weigh-in and I was eying the two tasty bft with bad intent. They soon came and hauled them off. Pity.

And there were also some real nice also-swam today. The average size of bft today was almost double that of yesterday, as many captains took the lead of yesterday’s successful bft catchers and made the turn southward. Jersey Cape banked a 101.1; Hang Tough tallied a 146.4; Anthracite offered a 138.8; Business hooked a 139.3; Outer Limits bested a 139.8; and Eureka docked a 159.1. (Again, I had to scratch down weight numbers while doing a ton of other stuff – like trying to understands what the difference is between various marlin types — so sorry if the number aren’t all right-on. By event’s end the exact poundage will be certified and published.)

Tomorrow will see an even split between those going canyon and those going closer-in and south. The weather will surely hold – making this year one of the finest skied WMITs in many years. By the by, the total boat number is now 113.   

Thursday July 26 — BFT rule day one — 181.7 ahead

  Thursday, July 26, 2007:

So much for the tuna fishing be too slow or the first day of the tourney likely to see very few fish. I just watched the last boat weigh in their catches. There was something like 45 to 50 tuna weighed in, along with a couple nice wahoo and some undersized mahi).

The tale of the day wasn’t a huge surprise top me: bluefin tuna were the hit of the day. Fully 85 percent of the weighins were bft with yellowfin showing later in the day, along with one big eye and I think a couple albacore. As you know, the type of tuna is secondary to the size of tune — and the bft loomed large right off the bat and may do so for the last tow days of the event. More on that below

THE LEAD IS QUICKLY TAKEN: The first boat arriving at the docks around 4:30 had a hypothetical bar in tow – one it used to set things nice and high. Company craft Ocean 58 used some freshwater contest drama when the captain allowed the dockside tournament weigh-in crew to first hoist a chunky 105.6 tuna out for display and official weighing. Seems the captain had saved his best hookup for enhanced savoring by those of us watching the action. He had a second fish that the weighmaster attaché when the fish was still inside the boat, with winch straining, up rose a 70-inch, 181.7-pound bluefin of majestic fatness.

Seeing the day’s first weigh-ins looming so large, those of us there for the early dockside  action thought this was a sign of an epic tuna fishing weigh-in session. And to think, it was via fish not that far out (and south) in the Atlantic. Well, I’ll clue you in right now, that 181.7 biggy is still firmly planted in first place as of closing time today. 

After Ocean 50 departure, boat after boat arrived at the dock to offer up cookie-cutter bft in the 50- to 60-pound class, the average size for the day. Another beauty bft, 145.7, was brought in by the Relentless.

It wasn’t until the Reel Style offered a 58-pound yellowfin tuna an hour later that the canyon fish began to show up. Bank Shot had a 61.33 yft  a few boats later. The Sea Cure tallied a 64.85. Jassste had a nice yft triple-shwoing with fish of 64.70, 57.60 and 42.95. Capt. Chazz had a 68.1 yft, unofficially the day’s largest yft.

Still overall, the day saw only a handful of yft and they were not about to muscle into the bluefin side of things, a side that was to take a real “Calcutta” type turn with the arrival of the Fish Trap and its two book-end bft of 169.5 and 165.7 pounds. Those fish were weighed in fairly late in the day.

Satisfied with its fine double take, Fish Trap got a huge satisfaction enhancement when it was pointed out that Ocean 58’s day-leading bft was not in the calcuttas. As I saw it, the Fish Trap’s two BFT , which were taken about four hours apart, per Captain Bob B., seemed to have held up for the daily top spot. Of course, that all has to be ironed out officially. I’m told the “big” calcutta is pushing $96,000.

A well-rounded 139.8 bigeye tuna was caught by The Shark. A 43-8 albacore was caught as  part of a three-fish weigh-in by Spare Time.

Other fish of note included two fine wahoo, led by a 43.7  caught by  Smokin’ Again. J&J Express, former white marlin category winner, had a 42.95 wahoo.

The Cap N Crunch came real close to big things when it raised a white marlin and landed and released a 400- to 450-pound blue marlin.

Total number of tuna seemed to be in the vicinity of 50 fish.

WHO’S UP FOR TOMORROW: There’s been an odd shift in the strategy of many boats.

While virtually everyone had thought in terms of taking two days in a row (Thursday and Friday), I heard a slew of captains now talking about skipping tomorrow and rolling the final die on Saturday.

There’s a double rationale behind that thinking. First, it was, in deed, almost overly smooth out there today and the slight wind stir being called for on Saturday could bring billfish and larger yft up to the surface.

But even more significantly, I could tell on the faces of the hundreds of guys coming in to weigh fish that they were beat – sunburned and concentration-ed into lalaland. There really is a tripled effort when tourney money is on the line. Man, it’s gotta be tough to now think in terms of a few hours sleep and back at it again by, essentially, later tonight. Too much.

Truth be told, a rested crew is a better fishing crew. So, look for tomorrow to be the slowest day and (per usual) a huge rush to the finish on Saturday. However, I can’t see astute captains overlooking the lure on nearer in bluefin tuna.

(Note: please bear with me if I missed on some of these weighed in fish. It is brutal trying to get it all straight, then rush out and write up a web blog. I’m close on most of the numbers. I’ll fix up any I might have missed on. On that same line of thinking, I’m beat to hell and back for just five hours of sitting around taking weigh-in note. The BHM&TC  volunteers who are heavily working the entire 4-day tourney should be given some sort of awards.

Odd overheard quote: Some southern-accepted guys were talking about the many tourneys they’re in and how the fish in those events are almost always kept by the tourney sponsors. Wow, that’s a boot in the ass. After buying into a tourney for, say, a thousand bucks then having to hand over tuna or billfish worth a small fortune in value when frozen up for family consumption in the off season.

Any info about WMIT2007 – please email me at jmann99@hotmailcom.

And it begins — WMIT2007 is a go

Gentlemen, start your engines – somewhere around 2 a.m. tonight. Boats will be heading out through Absecon, Barnegat Inlet and LE Inlet.
What is looking to be the biggest White Marlin Invitational Tournament of all time, saw a meeting of the minds this evening as captains arrived to officially sign up, hand over money and, well, hand over more money for Calcuttas.
I’ll have the exact entrant number tomorrow but tourney director Phil Hiller said pre-registration, coupled with last-minute assurances the skies will be highly cooperative, could mean a 100 or more boats in the big water melee. By the looks of the intense crowds at the clubhouse for the kick-off dinner and beverage(s) affair, a slew of top trollers are in the game and the competition will be ceiling high.
Phil credits the super turn out to the year-long effort by club volunteers to build up this, the club’s biggest event. “The membership makes this all come together. It’s a lot of work,” said Phil during a short break he took before once again assuming the deluge of last-minute must-dos. Within minutes I got a strong sense of the logistics involved with properly executing this tourney.
In reference to enhanced efforts to get blogs, photos and media updates out to not only the anglers but also the public, Phil said that is now one of the big aims in improving the event. “It’s already historic so we want to get it out to the public.”
INSIDER CHATTER: The big word among the big-water boys is bluefin. Unlike most WMITs, when it is a veritable dash for the canyons, a far-too-distant Gulf Stream (try 200 miles to reach really nice tuna and billfish waters) and lackluster-looking water from the Hudson to the Baltimore, informed minds are closely monitoring the nearer-in bluefin tuna action. It is enticingly close (heading south) and giants are in the mix. Virtually every captain I talked to was wondering out loud whether it was worth it to make either a side-trip or a dedicated day out of bft hunting. On a whole, most of that wondering will likely go to the wayside later tonight as guys still make the long haul to the likes of the Lindy – my pick for the winning fish. That’s just a fun guess – not meant to transform anyone’s plans.
As for what two days out of three will see the angling action, every single captain I talked to was targeting tomorrow and the next day. The most I got to the contrary was from an angler who said they might consider Saturday “if” they did go bft.
Somewhat comically, entrants are talking about Saturday’s weather as if a hurriquake was on the menu. Truth be told, it will likely be very calm all weekend, with maybe some T-storms nearer inshore. That fear of Saturday is humorous only because previous WMITs have seen all three days of the contest sporting serious skies with small craft advisories or even gales. This year it’s gonna be a breeze – if that.
I had a chat with weighmaster Kurt H. He’s ready to roll when the weigh-ins begin arriving tomorrow. Kurt knows the event may be short on hoistable hookups. While that will make life a tad easier for the weigh-in crew, Kurt said, “I’d like to see everyone have a chance to get a fish. It only takes one good fish to qualify.”
On a more technical side, Kurt made a request that all contestants heading in to weigh a fish have the paperwork ready ahead of time. In the past, the whole weigh-in system bogged down when boat crews were busy filling out forms while idling just outside the club’s dock. “They make that long trip in then wait until they’re about to come in to start filling out the paperwork, said Kurt, adding. “We gotta keep these boats movin’ in and out.”
By the by, there will be a tournament boat in the bay outside the club lagoon. After boats are Ok’ed by that boat, captains will proceed into the lagoon for turn-around. Once west-facing, boats will proceed dockside where a dockmaster will direct docking.
For those crews a tad dazed by the day’s work, Kurt and his crew will hop aboard and hoist the weighable catches off the boat. Hey, that help is greatly appreciated in many instances. Helping this year’s weigh-ins will be high tides right at the right time. Thanks, planet.
More in here tomorrow – with a couple entries, so check back.

Skies looking bright for tourney — maybe a tad too bright

White Marlin Invitational Tournament

Beach Haven Marlin and Tuna Club

Monday, July 23, 2007:
Well, I don’t want to jinx things but the weather is lining up wonderfully for this year’s event. I just got off the phone (Monday afternoon) with my buddies at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. We talked about upcoming canyon skies – at length.
The long and short of it: Canyon winds not much above 15 mph — and 5-foot swells at largest – are likely for Wednesday and Thursday, with slightly harder south to southwest winds by Friday and Saturday – providing mainland weather patterns play out as the computers now foresee.
Now, to the technical side of sky-things.
This departing low has, in a sense, created a void in the nearshore weather. With the low high-speeding to the northeast, it is usually the mainland weather systems that step in, often with the proverbial post-storm cold front. It’s just not happening. In fact, a very rare phenomenon is taking place.
A low-pressure trough in the Midwest is being very obstinate, barely moving anywhere. It is essentially holding back any mainland weather that could reach us. So, the high-pressure system that was with us last week – and was forced well into the Atlantic due to the significant muscle of the short-lived low that buffeted the coast last night – is retrograding. It is literally moving against the grain – traveling in an ultra-rare east to west direction.
According to the Weather Service, it is tough to guess how this high-pressure will move as it returns our way. But, even if it comes right back to where it began, the winds associated with it shouldn’t be much to speak of.
Now here’s something quirky that could loom large for the fishing side of things. The retrograding high might very well plant itself near the NT2 zone (Hudson to Baltimore – canyons).
As you may know, the winds at the center of a high are light to, potentially, calm. That could mean that Wednesday and Thursday might well be lake-like offshore – problematic for those folks who like a nice surface stir to liven things up and disguise teasers and such.
It is not until Friday and Saturday that the stubborn low-pressure trough (by then over Ohio) begins to make serious moves on the coast, likely becoming part of a weak cold frontal system. By that time, the more typical pre-frontal winds will pick up out of the south (nearshore) and southwest (offshore). However, short of a surprise low pressure forming to our south, even the approaching system(s) will only minimally impact the offshore zone. Winds might rise to 10 to 15 out there, though folks heading back in by late afternoon could hit the far crisper flow nearshore, possible gusting into the 20s – typical late-day high pressure primer wind-age.
In a nutshell: The weather for the event could be almost too uneventful.
Of course, no one but the captains can make that final push-off determination of winds and weather. I foresee some smaller craft owners eying the calm weather as an invite to grab a bladder and zip out to play with the big boys. Such a move is always wrought with unexpected hazards. Best bet is to stay tuned to the OPC (Ocean Prediction Center).