CROWNING WORLD CHAMPIONS

A down-to-the-wire finish on the final day results in victory

- SAM WHITE

In perhaps the most hotly contested tournament in recent memory, this year's Costa Offshore World Championship presented by Continental had all the excitement we've come to expect from this event: a team representing the host marina nearly going wire-to-wire; another team of seasoned veterans who refused to back down from a challenge, even after scoring just a single sailfish release in the slowest-of-slow starts; and a top angler who kept his cool after four days of grinding it out in the cockpit. All of this happened amid the tropical paradise of the central Pacific and the scenic community of Quepos, Costa Rica, perched on the coastal edge of the rainforest of Manuel Antonio National Park. This year's storied event took place April 16-21, where a total of 29 teams comprised of 138 anglers representing 19 nations headed to sea to determine who would earn the title of Offshore World Champions. Each team had to qualify in order  to participate by winning one of more than 75 qualifying tournaments around the world, where they would then receive an invitation to participate in Costa Rica, representing their qualifying event as well as their home nation. This year the OWC hosted teams from Australia, the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Cape Verde, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Fiji, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Mexico, Panama, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Collectively, the 2023 OWC angler teams and their guests traveled a total of more than 750,000 miles to attend this international championship - the equivalent of circling the globe more than 32 times. Marina Pez Vela in Quepos was the center of the action each day, while the luxurious Hotel Parador was the host resort for the participants and event staff.