After a quick trip to Cannes Festival of Yachting, my return would start at daybreak, followed by a gridlock at passport control in Nice and a mad dash for the gate. I relaxed when my feet touched the ground at London Gatwick.
What I thought would be a couple of days at home with my wife Gemma and our two kids Spencer & CoCo, all changed when a group WhatsApp message pinged up on my phone - the weather this weekend was expected to turn as the wind picked up - the 2024 STAFU Tuna Masters Tournament in Teos would be starting early so as not to cut the tournament short.
Swipe up. Phone unlocked. Open up EasyJet and book a flight to Dalaman - it would be an acceptable hour and a half wait before boarding. Not bad. I turn on my heel from Arrivals and take the escalator up to Departures. Whilst writing I am reminded how easy this iPhone super-computer we carry around in our pocket makes global travel and connectivity.
The flight boarded and I'd get into Dalaman at 10pm local time. I would beat my team member Kivanc from Channel.R Yacthing to the tournament by a couple of days - I had last seen Kivanc in Cannes at about 2am that morning - he had to stay on for commitments to the show. Thinking about how I really should have headed back to the hotel a few hours earlier the night before, I shut my eyes in my non-reclining EasyJet seat to catchup on what sleep I could.
Bosh! I'm in Dalaman, I disembark quickly, rush to the line to get my passport stamped, the wonderful Tatiana from Channel.R has a driver waiting for me to drive me to a hotel reservation she hastily made for my unplanned early arrival.
Ping. There it goes again. The fateful WhatsApp. Atilla, our captain for the tournament.
Hi Oliver,
Can you come with me with boat
Together we go to Teos
04.00 am
I wince at my life choices the night before - that will be 2am UK time.
I pick up the phone to Atilla, I can hear the concern in his voice. He was making the logistics work for getting our 33' Catamaran from Gocek to Teos for the Tournament's early start. His mate who was to accompany him had other commitments, he couldn't make the start a day before. It would be a full day in the boat to get there and understandably Atilla didn't want to do it alone. We agree on a 5am departure.
My alarm goes and I check my phone
Hi Oliver,
My friend came and we left already
I guess I'm off the hook. Disappointment washes over me, I'm grateful for the lie-in but, I had made the commitment to the trip and was looking forward to a proper journey on the Channel.R 33' Cat getting see the Turkish Riviera - Bodrum made headlines in August in the UK as the 'Turkish Saint Tropez' and the 'Aegean's answer to Ibiza'. Oh well - sleep and breakfast beckon.
When I visited Riza earlier in the year the waterfront was under construction, early September still in the height of season, it was alive and bustling with charter boats hurriedly loading up with guests and setting off to explore.
I grab a coffee and head to the Channel.R office to meet up with Hunker, we'd be making the 5-hour drive up to Teos together with Aydin, who would be another member of the fishing team.
Aydin, I would soon learn, is into just about everything. He spends his summers in Gocek but his home is Seattle, in the Pacific Northwest overlooking the Puget Sound, like us all he is a serious fisherman. I get the lowdown on the Tournament.
We're fishing for Bluefin Tuna. Outside of Teos there are a series of Bluefin Tuna farms. The tuna here are kept in pens and fed small fish to fatten them up for harvest. It's an intensive process.
Around the pens the sea is deep and there are plenty of wild tuna, the population spurred by the bait fish fed into the pens and, I suspect, some escapees!
We'd be chumming for the wild tuna to go for the biggest catches in the Tournament.
| Captain Atilla at the 2023 Tuna Masters
A big highlight for me travelling to see Invincible customers & dealers all over the world in their own locale is getting to try real local cusine and our 5-hour drive had to include lunch! Aydin's brother lives in Bodrum and they regularly meet at a favourite traditional restaurant between Gocek and Bodrum - we'd be in for a treat.
Turkish food is right up my street, with plenty of meat, fresh vegetables, generally grilled & of course, Turkish Tea - Lunch was a delight, thank you Aydin.
The venue for the STAFU Tuna Masters Tournament would be Teos Marina.
We arrive at our hotel, shower, change and head down. Wow. What an event. Organisers Murat and Elvio put on a great showcase, the tournament village with sponsors such as Can-Am, STAFU, Raymarine had a great presence and energy about the tournament.
Murat and Elvio take to the stage to go through the rules for the tournament, the fishing area, the shotgun start details and of course the fish in the tournament: -
| Species | Minimum Weight | Points / kg |
| – Bluefin Tuna | 28 kg | 6 |
| – Albacore Tuna | 7 kg | 6 |
| – Skipjack Tuna | 5 kg | 6 |
| – Swordfish | 24 kg | 10 |
| – Mediterranean Spearfish | 10 kg | 12 |
| – Dorado – Mahi-Mahi | 4 kg | 10 |
| – Greater Amberjack, Leerfish | 4 kg | 10 |
| – Dentex, Pink Dentex, Pargus etc. | 4 kg | 10 |
| – Other Fish Type | 4 kg | 10 |
A maximum catch limit of 2 (two) fish per boat per day will be allowed. Anglers may aim at larger fish and decide to release a fish if judged too small for keeping in that respect, however, they must declare that they do not expect points for that release. Fish released in compliance with the rules may still be awarded points. The total number of fish that can be awarded points per boat per tournament day is 4 (four).
It is fairly wide open in terms of what we can target but, this of course, is the Tuna Masters and everyone would be targetting tuna.
Shotgun start would be at 8am so, after exploring the trade village the team is almost assembled, we opted for an early night. With Kivanc still in Cannes an eager customer of mine had reached out to join us - he would be landing in Izmir at 6am on the Friday and transferring directly to the marina to join us where we would leave at 0730 - timing would be tight!
Up at daybreak and I immediately track Mr R's flight, it's making good time. We head down to Teos Marina, the event had laid on a complimentary breakfast of Turkish Tea, coffee and pastries. I'm almost euphoric - anyone who knows me knows how important my cup of coffee is to me to start the day!
Our sixth team member arrives in good time for a Turkish tea and I relax - now we get into the motions.
Team Invincible fully assembled, it's time to load up the boat with our bait and head to the shotgun start which will start promptly at 8 and not a moment too soon. We're GPS tracked by tournament officials so jumping the gun will be out of the question!
This is one of my favourite parts, the lineup for the shotgun, especially when debuting a new Invincible in a new market - the anticipation across the team is palpable.
As the start boat patrols the line we count down ready to go. The VHF wails and the entire lineup is immediately passed by a team who took a big running start! Hunkar opens the throttle and we're away.
We're immediately onto the plane and pulling away from the pack towards the leading team. Our twin engined 33' is making gains. It'll be about a 20-minute run to the fishing ground, so not far, and we're making gains on the quad-engined leader.
| Shotgun start from above - click to enlarge.
Into position, chums away, lines are out and sky hook is on. We have the pick of the spots as the other competitors pull up nearby and take their positions.
Not half an hour goes by and the first fight of the tournament gets announced over the VHF. Minutes which feel like hours pass by until the announcement comes through - the first Bluefin tuna has been landed and it is to be reeled is released without score - the team feels they can catch something bigger. The pressure builds!
I'm expecting to hear the VHF go again the next minute, announcing the team that just released has hooked a bigger fish, there's no announcement.
9am comes, silence, 10, 11 and around 12 a team pulls out a swordfish.
Today's fishing is hard and we're just chumming like crazy to bring anything close to our lures.
The day ends and only three qualifying fish are caught between 67 boats. The water is unusually warm which isn't good for bluefin fishing here in Teos. Murat give me the lowdown - he's hoping for northerly wind and cooler temperatures, but the forecast isn't due to change until Monday.
Back to the dock and we head for the hotel to shower. We're going to meet up again at 7 for dinner at a really quite wonderful traditional Turkish fish restaurant Milos Balik. Great atmosphere, incredible food, the sort of service you get from a family really passionate about their business. We're also joined by my comrade from Cannes, Kivanc who has just flown into Izmir. We have a great night, I confess to leaving a little earlier to get sleep for the early start - I want to be sharp for the next day's fishing.
Well, the days were warm, and the fishing was hard. With all of the effort that went into pulling the team together, getting the boat prepared, entered, round to Teos and putting great effort into getting there in time I'm almost ashamed to say that all we caught was some bait jigging with feathers. But then I think that isn't all we've done here, and I'll get to that in a moment.
| Team Invincible ChannelR, Kivanc, Sultan, Mr R, Aydin, Hunkar, Atilla & author Oliver.
Sunday night was the prizegiving and the organisers really shined here. They brought the energy and the recognition to the teams in what was a very challenging three days of fishing. Congratulations to all of the participants, but especially to the winning teams for their remarkable results in seriously tough conditions
TEKNE & EKIP / TEAM |
BALIK / CATCH |
||
| EN BÜYÜK BALIK / BIGGEST CATCH | SHAMU Sinan Kuran Halit Aslandağ Engin Çetinkaya Kürşat Çetin Emir Türkmen |
61.72 Kg Bluefin | |
| EN FAZLA BALIK 1 / OVERALL 1 | Fiume Serkan Sezginer Serdar Sezginer Veli Yılmaz İhsan Meletlioğlu |
46,50 Kg Bluefin 44,10 Kg Bluefin |
|
| EN FAZLA BALIK 2 / OVERALL 2 | MGS Murat Gürsoy Emir Gürsoy Kaat Dut Ömer Çağatay Sarıtaş Burhan Can Mustafa Özyakan Vahap Kavlak Burak Gürsoy |
54,74 Kg Bluefin | |
| EN FAZLA BALIK 3 / OVERALL 3 | STAFU Burak Galip Akkurt Ahmet Akıncı Serkan Aşkar Cem Akkurt Mehmet Çelik |
54,65 Kg Bluefin |
Captain Atilla noticed while we watched the prizegiving, it was chilly, almost cold. This was the forecast we had been waiting for it had been decided that we'll leave Teos Marina at 4am before sunrise.
| Daybreak in Teos, Turkey
It was around the moment I took the photo above I thought to myself, with fishing, there isn't always a destination, but it's always about the journey, the connections you make and the camaraderie along the way which makes it so special and, at Invincible, we're all about making that a really special journey. That's a great high for me, and for fishermen around the world, when we do land those big fish it just makes it even more special, that euphoria propels us forward onto the next adventure...
I'm very fortunate in my role to be able to visit and take part in many tournaments around the world, I have to say that the event village and organisation of Tuna Masters was world-class. Enormous credit is due to our hosts Murat Iyriboz & Elvio Pennetti for bringing it all together, here's a wonderful roundup of the event.
For more information about the tournament and to see more of the action of this wonderful event check out https://fishingteos.com/
If you're heading to Turkey and need anything to get on the water from a new Invincible to a charter or some advice contact Riza's team at Channel.R - they'll spoil you with first-class service.