Not only did CruiseCraft provide the major draw prize of a 575 Outsider, but a strong contingent of CruiseCraft boats were also among the huge competition fleet taking part in the annual Boyne-Tannum Hook-Up fishing competition.

The Boyne Tannum Hook-Up attracted over 3000 entries from across the eastern seaboard. Staged over the Queens Birthday Holiday weekend, the annual competition is the hallmark fishing event for the Gladstone Shire and CruiseCraft senior management Kevin Nichols and Peter Benston were on hand to witness the stunning event.

“CruiseCraft has proudly supported the Boyne Tannum Hook-Up for the last 5 years but we have never witnessed such a CruiseCraft turnout,” said CruiseCraft Sales and Marketing Manager, Peter Benston.

“There were in excess of 30 CruiseCraft boats involved in the tournament including our Team CruiseCraft which comprised a bunch of mad keen CruiseCraft fans and their boats from across the state. Many of the Team CruiseCraft owners travelled in convoy from Brisbane and the Gold Coast to participate.”

The weather proved less than favourable for a fishing tournament with steady breezes in excess of 25knots and waves averaging 2.5m for most of the weekend. On top of the rising swell, over 130mm of rain fell on the Saturday forcing the evening’s entertainment and prize draw rescheduled for the Sunday night.

Not daunted by the swell, Team CruiseCraft members travelled over 60 kilometres offshore to take advantage of the fertile waters around the Curtis Channel. While many local boats stayed closer to shore, the CruiseCraft Team took the opportunity to head out for fishing success.

“Many of the locals were surprised by the number of CruiseCraft Boats being launched for offshore fishing,” said Peter Benston.

“We ended up doing a 120 kilometre round trip in washing machine like conditions. I was delighted at just how well the CruiseCraft boats performed with several of our Team CruiseCraft boat members pulling an all-nighter on the leeward side of an island.”

The persistence of Team CruiseCraft paid off with Kevin Nichols landing the Largest Cobia category on Sunday with an impressive 26kg specimen, Largest and Overall Winning Snapper caught by Rod Watt at 6.5kg and Largest Red and Overall Winning Emperor caught by Ray Jansson at 6.55kg. All competition fish were gutted and gilled prior to weigh in.

The Team CruiseCraft boat line-up consisted of Modern Boating’s Fishing BOTY Explorer 625, a Mercury twin-rig powered Outsider 685 plus vintage CruiseCraft models including a V14 Rogue, Mk2 V18 Reef Ranger and others.

The Sunday evening finale hosted a 7000 strong crowd at the Bray Park competition base on Boyne Island. With a CruiseCraft Outsider 575 on offer, the crowd anticipation peaked when local Gladstone Chiropractor Jean Pierre-Selsis was announced with major draw prize winner.

“The crowd on the last evening was completely unbelievable,” said Peter Benston.

“We knew the Boyne Tannum Hook-Up was popular, but to have over 7000 people waiting to hear who would win the Outsider 575 was just an awesome experience. With a huge crowd and sensational fishing on offer, we can’t wait to be apart of the action next year with an even bigger Team CruiseCraft.”

CruiseCraft is a wholly family owned, third generation Australian boat manufacturing business, operating from their Brisbane manufacturing facility. CruiseCraft boats are distributed exclusively through a network of authorised Dealers throughout Australia and selected international markets.

For further information on this story contact:

Peter Benston
Sales & Marketing Manager, CruiseCraft
Tel (07) 3390 4877
Fax (07) 3390 5756
Email peterb@cruisecraft.com.au