Reel Cast Wins the 24th Annual Los Cabos Billfish Tournament
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – The participants in this year’s Los Cabos Billfish Tournament enjoyed perfect weather and a great bite at the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez. The fleet of 53 teams caught and video-verified 138 billfish, including 91 striped marlin, 26 blue marlin, 19 sailfish and two black marlin. A total of $862,350 in cash was awarded. Team Reel Cast, a 48-foot Cabo with Capt. Zach Morrow, mate Hiram Ruelas and teammates Bill Pino, Doug Berg and Javier Ruelas earned 1,225 points from one weighed 500-pound blue marlin caught by Bill Pino, one blue marlin, five striped marlin and two sailfish—all released—to win the 2022 Los Cabos Billfish Tournament. The team’s blue marlin, caught on the second day, earned all levels of the Daily Marlin Jackpots and first place in the Largest Marlin Jackpots, a total of $354,000. They also took home an invitation to compete in the 2023 Costa Offshore World Championship.
Team El Suertudo, an 80-foot Weaver with Capt. Greg Distefano, mate Oswaldo Ortega and teammates Guy Yocom, Scotty Walker, Jeff Richardson, Bruce McDonald, Alan Ortega and Alfonso Ortega scored 1,000 points from two blue marlin and 16 striped marlin releases to place second in the tournament. El Suertudo picked up a Daily Release Jackpot and First Place Overall Release Points Jackpot, earning a total of $94,800. Team Salty K, fishing aboard a 78-foot Garlington and led by Capt. Keith Hilton, mate Ryan Thurner and teammates Harry Okuda, Bryan Zulka, Antonio Colorado and Ed Noonan scored 925 points from three blue marlin and one striped marlin release to place third in the tournament. Salty K added a second-place Overall Release Points Jackpot to win a total of $48,900.Team La Chingona, a 46-foot Viking with Capt. Antonio Bojorquez, mate Luis Gonzales and teammates Milinda Smith, Richard Bradbury Jr., Jeff Zimmerman, Kirk Russell, Sergio Aviles Cota and Marcos Aviles Cota started the tournament in a big way weighing a 349-black marlin caught by Cota to win the Day One Daily Marlin Jackpots and third-place Overall Marlin Jackpots, winning a nice check for $189,810. Team Stella June, a 46-foot Jarrett Bay with Capt. Evan Salvay, mate Darian Silva and teammates Ivan Van Ortwick, Jakob Gonterman, Jazz Moorhead, Hugo Pino and Paco Ruis landed a 389-pound black marlin on the second day, caught by Moorhead. The team earned second-place Overall Marlin Jackpots of $80,190.
The Los Cabos Billfish Tournament is just one of the big-game tournaments in the Bonnier portfolio, which also includes the Bermuda Triple Crown, Scrub Island Invitational and Costa Offshore World Championship.
About Bonnier: Bonnier is an outdoor adventure company that fuels passion for fishing, boating, sailing, motorsports, hunting and travel. Bonnier has the nation’s leading portfolio of experiential events and iconic media brands in the marine category and an extensive series of nationwide motorsports and hunting events. Bonnier is the publisher of Salt Water Sportsman, Marlin, Sport Fishing, Boating, Yachting, Cruising World and Sailing World, produces the award-winning TV series SFTV, and hosts world-class fishing tournaments, sailing regattas and educational events across the US and in Mexico, Bermuda, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australia and the Virgin Islands. Bonnier is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating conglomerate with more than 200 years in publishing.
Guy Harvey Enterprises Teams Up with Bonnier to Produce Guy Harvey Magazine
July 21, 2022 – Bonnier LLC and Guy Harvey Enterprises have entered into a new partnership for the custom publishing and production of the award-winning Guy Harvey Magazine, the official publication of the Guy Harvey brand now in its 12th year. Bonnier will act as Guy Harvey Magazine’s full-service publishing house, handling all aspects of design, production and sales for the title.
“Having worked with the Bonnier team on a number of projects for many years, I’m truly excited about this new partnership,” Dr. Guy Harvey said. “They are consummate professionals and leaders in the marine media genre. Bringing together our expertise in research, education and conservation with their knowledge and broad reach to our collective audiences is a perfect partnership.”
Guy Harvey Magazine was launched in 2010 with an editorial focus on the Guy Harvey lifestyle, specifically on marine conservation, education, fishing, boating, scuba diving and adventure travel. It is distributed to readers nationwide, as well as to numerous teachers and students interested in marine science and conservation. A primary source of readership is members of and donors to the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation. The GHOF is dedicated to promoting, fostering and funding ocean conservation and research, and nurturing the next generation of marine scientists and guardians of our seas. The magazine is also used as a teaching tool at schools around the world.
“For more than 30 years, Guy Harvey has established himself as one of the sport’s preeminent figures, first through his art and photography, but later through his philanthropy and advocacy for the marine environment and its many inhabitants,” said David Ritchie, Bonnier CEO. “Through this partnership, Bonnier will be in a position to help power that message of sustainability to benefit the anglers of tomorrow.”
This is not Harvey’s first collaboration with Bonnier. Together they produced two of Harvey’s books: Guy Harvey’s Underwater World and Portraits from the Deep. Harvey and Bonnier also co-produced the Portraits of the Deep TV series from 2003-2007.
About Bonnier: Bonnier is an outdoor adventure company that fuels passion for fishing, boating, sailing, motorsports, hunting and travel. Bonnier has the nation’s leading portfolio of experiential events and iconic media brands in the marine category and an extensive series of nationwide motorsports and hunting events. Bonnier is the publisher of Salt Water Sportsman, Marlin, Sport Fishing, Boating, Yachting, Cruising World and Sailing World, produces the award-winning TV series SFTV, and hosts world-class fishing tournaments, sailing regattas and educational events across the US and in Mexico, Bermuda, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australia and the Virgin Islands. Bonnier is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating conglomerate with more than 200 years in publishing.
About Guy Harvey Enterprises: Guy Harvey Enterprises is an international organization comprised of Guy Harvey Inc., the Guy Harvey Research Institute at NOVA Southeastern University, and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the company. While the for-profit company markets lifestyle apparel and numerous Guy Harvey-branded products, the GHOF and GHRI conduct scientific research, create and distribute marine science education programs, and fund scholarships for students interested in the marine sciences.
- Published in Corporate
“Overproof” Wins 2022 Bermuda Billfish Blast with Final Day Heroics
July 08, 2022 – Hamilton, Bermuda – Team Overproof, a 50-foot Topaz based out of Bermuda led by Captain Peter Rans with mate Morgan Outerbridge, came from behind to win the 2022 Bermuda Billfish Blast. Overproof angler Jason Friedman released one blue marlin on the first day of fishing but the team scored a blank on the second day. The third and final day of competition started well with angler Martin Estis releasing a blue at 9:16am. Team Overproof was tight again at 9:35am with Estis back in the chair. After an hour-long battle, Captain Rans called in the boated fish that ultimately weighed 610 pounds to bring their score to 1,610 points, giving them first place team honors and winning them $38,587.50 and an invitation to the Costa Offshore World Championship. Captain Rans has weighed seven qualifying marlin over the many years he has fished the Bermuda tournaments but this is his first outright win of a BTC series event. Team Overproof leads the Bermuda Triple Crown Billfish Championship with 1,610 points heading into the second leg of the series.
The 35-team field of 197 anglers caught 73 billfish including 44 blues, 26 whites and three spearfish over the three days of fishing. The tournament culminated with the traditional gala awards banquet in the Harbourview Ballroom at the historic Hamilton Princess Hotel. The tournament awarded $303,000 in purse plus prizes.
The Bermuda Billfish Blast is sponsored by many industry leading companies including: Bermuda Tourism Authority, Hamilton Princess, Bacardi, Costa, GPlink, CAT Marine, Gregory Poole CAT, Pantropic Power CAT, Foley CAT, Ring Power CAT, PW Marine, Miles Market, The Waterfront Residence, HAWKINS, Satcom Direct, Garmin, YETI, Lindgren-Pitman, Bodo Muche Studio, Butterfield & Vallis, Spar Yard Marine Solutions, Dassalt Aviation, Viking Yachts, Merritt Boat & Engine Works, Spencer Yachts, Willis Custom Yachts, Blue Water Desalination, Steve Goione Marine Artist, WEDCO, Royal Naval Dockyard, AFTCO, King Sailfish Mounts, Release Marine, Fishing Tease, Island Construction, IWS Scales, PENN, OluKai, AIRMAR, QUICK, Island Glass, Vanmark Jewelery, Coastal Carolina Cutting Boards, Rego-Sotheby’s International Realty, MEATER, City of Hamilton, RUBIS Energy Bermuda, Big T Lures, Marlin, Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing and Out Your Front Door.
About Bonnier: Bonnier is an outdoor adventure company that fuels passion for fishing, boating, sailing, motorsports, hunting and travel. Bonnier has the nation’s leading portfolio of experiential events and iconic media brands in the marine category and an extensive series of nationwide motorsports and hunting events. Bonnier is the publisher of Salt Water Sportsman, Marlin, Sport Fishing, Boating, Yachting, Cruising World and Sailing World, produces the award-winning TV series SFTV, and hosts world-class fishing tournaments, sailing regattas and educational events across the US and in Mexico, Bermuda, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australia and the Virgin Islands. Bonnier is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating conglomerate with more than 200 years in publishing.
Epic Final Day of Blue Marlin Fishing at the Costa Offshore World Championship Presented by Continental
May 06, 2022 – WINTER PARK, FL – The Costa Offshore World Championship presented by Continental, held Sunday, April 24-Friday, April 29, brought 37 teams with 168 anglers from 18 different countries to Quepos, Costa Rica, all with hopes of winning the coveted championship rings. This year’s competition released 673 billfish including 606 sailfish, 65 blue marlin, one black marlin and one striped marlin for an average of 18.19 billfish per team.
The teams spend four days on the water fishing out of Marina Pez Vela aboard a different Costa Rica flagged charter boat each day including the world class Maverick Yachts game boats. The tournament anglers follow International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) angling and tackle rules targeting marlin, sailfish, tuna and dorado using video verification to earn points.
The competitors represent an international group of offshore teams that earned an invitation through OWC qualifying events. The competition has a demanding format that requires angling skill to convert the bites into catches.
Sitting in sixth place heading into the final day, the Kenyan team that qualified via the Watamu Fishing Festival would need all the luck to place in the tournament let alone win the competition. The team managed to release eight blue marlin, setting a daily record for the tournament, ultimately scoring a total of 8,300 points from 14 sailfish and 11 blue marlin releases to pull off the biggest come from behind win in the history of the tournament.
The tournament is also the subject of a three-part TV series that will showcase the many sides of this global event: the fishing competition, qualifying events, team profiles, behind-the-scenes action and more. The series will debut on Discovery on Labor Day Weekend.
The Costa Offshore World Championship presented by Continental is sponsored by Costa, Marina Pez Vela, Continental Tire, YETI, Guy Harvey, Parador Resort & Spa, Garmin, Maverick Yachts, Bodo Muche Studio, AFTCO, Flor de Caña, IGFA, King Sailfish Mounts, Pacifico Travel Services, Outdoor America, Imperial Beer, 2Costa Rica Real Estate, VanMark Jewelry Designers, Marlin, Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Big-T Lures, Diesel Premier, Penn, Hilton’s Realtime Navigator, IWS ScaleMaster and Tropic Star Lodge.
About Bonnier: Bonnier is an outdoor adventure company that fuels passion for fishing, boating, sailing, motorsports, hunting and travel. Bonnier has the nation’s leading portfolio of experiential events and iconic media brands in the marine category and an extensive series of nationwide motorsports and hunting events. Publisher of Salt Water Sportsman, Marlin, Sport Fishing, Boating, Yachting, Cruising World and Sailing World, Bonnier produces award-winning SFTV television programming, and hosts world-class fishing tournaments, sailing regattas and educational events across the US and in Mexico, Bermuda, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australia and the Virgin Islands. Bonnier is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating conglomerate with more than 200 years in publishing.
Bonnier Transforms into an Outdoor Adventure Company
April 26, 2022 – WINTER PARK, FL – Bonnier LLC, a media company respected for its iconic publications in the marine category, has restructured its business across all operations to prioritize experiential events as its growth engine for the future. The Florida-based company is harnessing the power of media as a means to accelerate consumer interactions across a wide spectrum of outdoor activities. With its new mission to fuel the passion of outdoor enthusiasts, Bonnier is reshaping itself to become the nation’s leading outdoor adventure company.
“We see ourselves almost back in startup mode,” said Dr. Jens Mueffelmann, Executive Chairman. “We’re taking on the mindset of a new company with a new mission and branding, a new leadership team and investors, a new structure and way of working, and a new future. We are now fully focused on growth. Game time!”
In adopting its new “We Are Outdoor Adventure” branding, Bonnier is doubling down on its core mission: to fuel passion for fishing, boating, sailing, motorsports, hunting and travel. This mission is also reflected in the company’s new corporate website, bonniercorp.com, launched this month, which showcases Bonnier’s integrated brands and category dominance.
“What we needed as a company was a strategy for harnessing our individual efforts into something powerful, something meaningful,” said David Ritchie, CEO. “As we work to align our teams on the mission, we find that we are unlocking significant new opportunities. We see ourselves now on a path to double our revenues within five years.”
Bonnier spent nearly 18 months working with investment bank Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips to divest off-mission brands in categories as diverse as cooking, science and corporate diversity in four transactions, thereby shaping a group with pure focus on outdoor adventure. The new structure also incorporates a legal entity change, in which management has taken equity positions in the business. Bonnier AB, based in Stockholm, Sweden, remains the company’s majority shareholder.
A new five-executive leadership team was put into place, which includes Glenn Sandridge and Jonathan Moore in positions responsible for revenue growth across all properties, as well as Shawn Bean as head of creative, David Butler as lead for all digital initiatives, and Tara Bisciello to oversee financial services.
In making the appointments, Ritchie redefined each member’s traditional line of responsibility. “Where previously senior managers held a specific role for a specific department, in the new organization, executive leaders hold functional responsibility across the entire organization,” Ritchie said. “Our head of creative, as an example, doesn’t just oversee our editorial and design teams, but he also has free purview to help shape our company culture, ideate new event concepts, pitch custom-content packages to clients, and more. His role is not limited by an org chart; it is limited only by his creativity in how he can impact the business.”
Bonnier also transformed its way of working by migrating its workforce to a fully integrated virtual model. Where previously the company had office locations in New York, California, Indiana, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, today a startup-like warehouse in Florida and workshops across the nation serve for brainstorming and team collaboration.
About Bonnier
Bonnier is an outdoor adventure company that fuels passion for fishing, boating, sailing, motorsports, hunting and travel. Bonnier has the nation’s leading portfolio of experiential events and iconic media brands in the marine category, and an extensive series of nationwide motorsports and hunting events. Publisher of Salt Water Sportsman, Marlin, Sport Fishing, Boating, Yachting, Cruising World and Sailing World, Bonnier produces award-winning SFTV television programming, and hosts world-class fishing tournaments, sailing regattas and educational events across the US and in Mexico, Bermuda, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Australia and the Virgin Islands. Bonnier is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating conglomerate with more than 200 years in publishing.
- Published in Corporate
New Original TV Series Documents the 2022 Offshore World Championship
April 14, 2022 — WINTER PARK, FL — The Costa Offshore World Championship Presented by Continental will be the subject of a three-part TV series documenting the most globally diverse sport-fishing tournament in the world.
Mixing high-level competition with reality TV, the docu-series will showcase the tournament’s four days of fishing action in Quepos, Costa Rica, and present a 360-degree view of this global spectacle: the 90-plus qualifying events, target species, judges, fans and roughly 40 competing teams with anglers from 20 countries including the U.S., Brazil, Bermuda, Mexico, Croatia, Canada, Panama, Kenya and the Seychelles.
“For more than two decades, the Offshore World Championship has represented the ultimate achievement in big-game fishing. This new series will bring the global story of this tournament to life,” says Dan Jacobs, the event’s longtime tournament director.
The televised Offshore World Championship will reach an international audience of more than 3 million with primary and secondary airings on Discovery, Outdoor America, Bally Sports Sun and Outdoor America’s digital streaming and video-on-demand platforms. It will air in the third and fourth quarters of 2022.
The series is the latest project from the producers of SFTV, the award-winning fishing-travel-adventure series on Discovery that began its 21st season on April 2.
“Developing a national and regional broadcast component for the Offshore World Championship was the right move for the sport and will help grow the audience exponentially,” says John Acosta, Costa Del Mar Vice President of Marketing. “It’s a first-class event and we are proud to have an ownership position that reinforces our brand’s presence in competitive saltwater angling.”
The Costa Offshore World Championship Presented by Continental is one of several international fishing tournaments produced by Bonnier, the outdoor adventure company with a portfolio that also includes Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Marlin, Boating, Yachting and SFTV.
For more information on the Costa Offshore World Championship Presented by Continental, visit offshoreworldchampionship.com, and follow @offshoreworldchampionship on Facebook and Instagram. Click here for the TV series’ full creative brief.
Bonnier Events Introduces Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series
February 1, 2022 — Newport, RI — With the 2022 racing season now underway, Bonnier Events continues to build on the rich tradition of the iconic brand of Sailing World magazine and its long-running racing series by introducing the rebranded Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series.
Featuring both a new name and event branding, the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series will kick off its 33rd season in St. Petersburg in February. Formerly called, the National Offshore One-Design Regatta, the format was an immediate success with its unique concept of racing level in larger production boats, its unrivaled post-racing social experiences and its professional race management. The Sailing World Regatta Series grew nationally and remains the most popular weekend racing series in the United States.
The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series today encompasses more than larger one-design raceboats. Embracing popular fleets at each location, the regatta series now features many different boat types: dinghies, multihulls, and keelboats that race under established handicap systems.
This year’s series will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., San Diego; Annapolis, Md., Chicago, and Marblehead, Mass., thanks to the premier host yacht clubs located in these renowned sailing venues.
The Helly Hansen Sailing World series will continue the traditions that have made it a sailor-favorite series like its post-racing parties and social events at each yacht club, and awarding one top-finishing team at each regatta a chance to compete in the overall season championship, held in the British Virgin Islands in October.
“The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series has grown exponentially since its inception and now reaches a very broad audience. It only made sense to evolve with the all-inclusive nature of our events,” said Sarah Renz, Director for Sailing Events, Bonnier Corp. “The sport has evolved dramatically since Sailing World started this series more than 30 years ago, and our goal is to reflect the evolution in our name and branding. It remains a national series, but there’s now much more than just offshore one-designs. With the support of our longtime partner, Helly Hansen, we can’t wait to get the 2022 season underway.”
In 2022, the regatta series will feature races for cruising sailors, long-distance sailors, one-design fleets, handicap keelboat classes, dinghies and even remote-control sailboat racing. Competitors can expect the ever-popular social events with new and exciting additions to the nightly parties.
More information, including registration and race updates for the series can be found
at sailingworld.com/regatta-series/
- Published in Events
Bonnier Corp. Hires Olsewski to Fuel Motorsports Media
January 25, 2022 — WINTER PARK, FL — Bonnier Corp. has hired Steven Olsewski as the editorial lead for its motorsports brands. Olsewski, who has a long history of content creation within the market, will oversee editorial-content creation as Bonnier expands its offerings within key motorsports segments.
“As an event producer and publisher of world-leading content across an array of markets, we have long believed our authoritative voice in motorsports represents a tremendous opportunity to provide value to our engaged audiences,” said Jonathan Moore, Bonnier’s executive vice president of events.
Olsewski previously served as editor of Power Automedia’s leading brands, Off Road Xtreme and Diesel Army, and more recently was the driving force behind Off-Road Assassin.
Beginning with Off-Road Expo and Sand Sports Super Show, Olsewski will develop the editorial plans for motorsports content, work to develop content partnerships with key stakeholders, build out new editorial offerings, and leverage Bonnier’s market-leading events as year-round content engines.
“I am excited to be joining the Bonnier team and have the opportunity to further develop their motorsports business. Having been a lifetime participant and advocate of these markets, this is a tremendous fit for my experience. Creating the content in support of authoritative brands such as Off-Road Expo and Sand Sports Super Show will generate new value for the passionate enthusiasts, sponsors, and exhibitors who support those events, as well as the industry at large,” Olsewski said.
About Bonnier Corp.
Bonnier Corp. is an American outdoor adventures company with a broad portfolio of experiential events, supported by iconic media brands. Notable brands include Boating, Off-Road Expo, Yachting, Sand Sports Super Show and Salt Water Sportsman, among others. Bonnier Corp. is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating media conglomerate.
- Published in Corporate