A new World Record was shattered!

[RichT]

Records are made to be broken and the St. Pete Underwater Club (SPUC) shattered the previous record of largest Tournament in the World with an announced PAID attendance of 336 shooters with 290 people actually weighing in fish this weekend!

As the tournament director who held the previous record for 8 years I proudly hand over the title to Scott Lucas (SPUC President and tournament director) who directed this great event which primarily benefits the spear fishing community.
Much needed funds were raised for the Fishing Rights Alliance (who fights for all of our fishing rights) and hundreds of pounds of fish were donated to benefit the homeless as well as fish for a fish fry to benefit a police officer battling cancer.
The FWC was also on hand to gather much needed samples in order to gather better data on several fisheries.

If you’ve never been to this event I would encourage you to check it out next year. There are a bunch of ways to win at the Open that include mystery tickets and category prizes. Heck, even the last place finisher won a brand new spear gun!

The fish this year were incredible and I was bummed that my 67.85 Black grouper only placed me a measly 5th.
Fortunately, I still was able to pick up a brand new BC in the 5th round!:)

Somewhere in the neighborhood of 60+ Thousand dollars in trophies and merchandise were given away this weekend and I want to thank all the sponsors and participants for truly being a part of history!:toast:

[Powers]

Congratulations!

Where can we see the results?

[RichT]

Congratulations!

Where can we see the results?

A lot of people are still hungover and/or tired from a reeeeealy long weekend but i'm sure it will be less than 2 weeks before they are all posted.

[PrincessSlaya!]

great tourney as all ways......

[kmoose]

Sounds like you guys had a great turnout! I heard about the Carbofest....... quite a good year for big carbos..... not so much for the carbos themselves I guess :D

[RichT]

Full results are up here!
http://www.stpeteopen.com/

[SpearMax]

Full results are up here!
http://www.stpeteopen.com/

Here is the direct link to the results:

http://www.stpeteopen.com/SPO_2011/SPO_2011_Final_Scores.htm

Congratulations everyone! :notworthy

Great turnout! :toast:

The html lines are scrunched together on the link and some names are hard to read, so I reformatted the list here:

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157963&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157964&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157965&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157966&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157967&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157968&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157969&stc=1&d=1314158235

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157973&stc=1&d=1314161011

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157974&stc=1&d=1314161011

http://spearboard.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=157975&stc=1&d=1314161011

[spearhunter11]

249th at least I didn't finish last, Did get offshore hunter out of the deal had fun and seen some really big fish holy shizzle 83 pound grouper, a 10 pound lobster, 19 pound hog, and massive 100 pound reef donkey.

[Surface Tension]

Thanks to the SPUC for putting on a spectacular event. I can't even imagine how much work it must be to organize, round up sponsors, etc.

Dave

[Full Eclipse]

I guess Im surprised at the small number of free divers. Where it says freediver then no below it, does that mean these fish were taken on scuba?
Please forgive my newb question.

[RichT]

Full eclipse,
I believe there were 40 individuals that registered as freedivers with 35 of them making it back in time to turn in fish.

BTW... many of the top fish are shot by freedivers every year.

[Mr. Bonafide]

Way to Go Spucs for putting on the best tournament to date!

[salvor6]

The only name I recognized was Bill Hardman. What happened to the regular big-time spearfishermen like the Zumwalt brothers? How about Mike Cave or Paul Renner? Steve McAdoo? And I miss Ray Odor in the sheephead category. On the other hand, I'm glad there are more and more new faces in this sport.

[stevemc1]

Pete, I was in the Bahamas this year and last year. Missed it.

[Denny]

Time changes everything. Paul Renner has two sons who will be making a show upon their certification. He was at the tournament.

The history of the OPEN is rich. The Zumwalts just burned out after 30+ years. They still voice their opinions and are consulted on club issues.

It was great to see those big azzed carbos come up. AJ really rocked the house with his first place grouper.

As always, the OPEN is put on by volunteers. The only people who get paid are the hotel staff and the stage/sound guys. Other than that, it is the SPUC President relying upon the SPUC members to show up, stand up and put on another epic party for a thousand or so friends, including a few hundred shooters. My SPUC brothers never fail to deliver.

Thanks to all who showed up, shot or watched on the live webcast....