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Tournament fishing is rarely a straight line.
It is a mix of missed opportunities and unexpected bites, long hours watching an empty spread and a few frantic seconds that can change everything. Over three days at the 2026 Bermuda Big Game Classic, the fleet experienced nearly every high and low the sport can offer.
Through it all, consistency proved to be the difference.
Builder’s Choice, Bree and Viking 82 did not rely on one dominant afternoon or a last-minute flurry to climb the leaderboard. Each team steadily added fish over the three fishing days, capitalizing when opportunities appeared and remaining within striking distance when the bite slowed.
In the end, Builder’s Choice, the 64-foot Jarrett Bay led by Capt. Brent Gaskill, emerged as tournament champion with seven blue marlin releases and 3,500 points, earning the team a total tournament payout of $394,533.
It was a fitting victory for the defending Bermuda Triple Crown champions, who again demonstrated why they have become one of the Atlantic’s most reliable teams. Builder’s Choice opened with three blue marlin releases and 1,500 points, then continued adding to its total one fish at a time.
Bree, helmed by Capt. Kyle Liane, followed a similar formula. The 88-foot Merritt remained close to the leaders throughout the tournament and finished second with five blue marlin and one white marlin release, including a “buzzer beater” blue released at 4:27 pm on the final day by junior angler Carter Simmons to secure the second place finish and an $88,630 payout.
Capt. Sean Dooley and the team aboard Viking 82 were equally steady. The team began with two blue marlin and one white marlin release for 1,100 points, then continued building its score over the final two days. Viking 82 finished third with 2,600 points and a payout just under $60,000.
The three podium teams reached the top in much the same way: staying productive when opportunities appeared and limiting the damage when they did not. In a sport governed by variables well beyond any crew’s control, consistency separated the leaders.
The 44-boat fleet competed for a total purse of $1,407,525, adding significant stakes to every release, hookup and decision made offshore. While the release race developed gradually, the weighed-fish competition followed a much different path.
For two full days, nothing came to the scales.
The Bermuda Big Game Classic carries a 500-pound minimum for blue marlin, forcing crews to make a consequential decision before boating a fish. A qualifying marlin earns one point per pound, while an undersized fish brings a 500-point penalty, plus an additional two-point deduction for every pound below the minimum.
That risk left Barr’s Park quiet through the opening two evenings.
Each afternoon, anticipation followed the fleet back toward Hamilton. Reports and rumors circulated around the docks, but the weigh station remained empty. Entering the final day, it appeared possible the tournament could end without a qualifying blue marlin reaching the scales.
Then the roller coaster took another turn.
After two days without a qualifying blue marlin at the scales, the weighed-fish competition finally came alive on the final afternoon.
Reel Priority was the first to call in a boated fish. Just four minutes later, Bobojo reported one of its own.
From there, the race was on. Capt. Kris Cameron and the Reel Priority team rushed toward Hamilton Harbour, while Bobojo remained offshore and continued fishing, waiting to hear what the first fish would weigh. Angler Joshua Crockwell and Reel Priority reached Barr’s Park first, where their blue marlin tipped the scales at 570 pounds.
Once that weight came over the radio, Bobojo turned for home.
The anticipation continued to build as the boat pushed toward Hamilton and another crowd gathered around the scales. When the transom doors finally opened, Bobojo delivered the tournament’s defining moment: a 621-pound blue marlin that moved the team into first place in the weighed-fish division.
The fish earned Bobojo $714,850, the largest payout awarded in the tournament’s history, and capped a dramatic final-day sequence that transformed two quiet days at Barr’s Park into an unforgettable finish.
Yet while the weigh-ins produced the biggest crowds and loudest celebrations, the overall result had been built much more methodically offshore.
Builder’s Choice did not win with one enormous fish or a single extraordinary day. Gaskill and his team won by remaining productive from beginning to end. Bree and Viking 82 stayed near the top for the same reason.
Builder’s Choice added another significant victory to its week by securing the Bermuda Triple Crown Manufacturer’s Cup for Jarrett Bay. The special winner-take-all competition pits participating teams representing elite builders—including Viking, Spencer, Merritt and Jarrett Bay—against one another for an additional purse and a feature advertisement in Marlin magazine.
The Manufacturer’s Cup victory added $8,000 to Builder’s Choice’s tournament winnings, bringing the team’s total earnings to $402,533.34 and delivering Jarrett Bay valuable bragging rights heading into the final leg.
The fleet now turns its attention to the third and final event of the 2026 Bermuda Triple Crown, the Sea Horse Anglers Club Billfish Tournament.
With the accumulated results of all three tournaments determining the Bermuda Triple Crown champion, every release will carry even greater weight. After the highs, lows and frantic final-day action of the Bermuda Big Game Classic, only one tournament remains.
After two dramatic legs, the final chapter of the 2026 Bermuda Triple Crown is ready to be written.
The Bermuda Big Game Classic tournament is sponsored by many industry-leading companies including:
Marlin, Bermuda Tourism Authority, Goslings, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Caterpillar, Gregory Poole Marine, Pantropic Power, Foley Inc., Ring Power, PW Marine, Miles Market, The Waterfront Group, Garmin, Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, Butterfield & Vallis, Yeti, Costa, Spar Yard Marine Solutions, Dassault Falcon Jet, Release Marine, Spyderco, AFTCO, Viking Yachts, Merritt’s Boat & Engine Works, Jarrett Bay Boatworks, Spencer Yachts, Island Construction Services, ICS Tires, Florida Detroit Diesel-Allison, Atlantic Detroit Diesel-Allison, Turtlebox Audio, Alexseal, OluKai, Airmar, VanMark Jewelry Designers, Coastal Carolina Cutting Boards, Island Glass, Rego-Sotheby’s International Realty, Sig Sauer, Icom America, City of Hamilton, RUBIS Energy Bermuda, XTRATUF, Bluefin USA, Alutecnos, Marine Trophies, BermudAir, Conch Republic Apparel, Gozney Pizza Ovens, Big T Lures, Ladies Love Pink, Davidrose Studio, and Dining Bermuda.
