2006 MackFest update...

[NCangler]

No matter how much planning you do for a fishing tournament there are at least two things you have no control over. The weather and the fishing. Several of us met for breakfast Friday morning including K9Reno who drove from Indiana and AstroDiver who came up from Atlanta. We were bemoaning the weather forecasts at that point that were calling for small craft advisories on Saturday, a long way from the 2-3 foot seas we'd seen forecast earlier in the week. By 7PM Friday evening when everyone arrived to register and enjoy a great pig pickin and fried chicken dinner (thanks Portside Marina and Triumph!), the decisino was made to cancel the offshore King Mackerel division and open a Flounder division instead. Well many of us came prepared to fish for King Mackerel, so obviously we were disappointed. My team decided to troll spoons all morning for Spanish Mackerel as did several others, but many opted for the flounder too. We waited a bit on Saturday morning, heading out the Beaufort inlet around 7AM. It was a great morning to break in my 215 Chaos and electronics. We had some good 5-6 footers in the inlet at times and had a short rainstorm blow through. The radar picked it up and showed it moving behind us so we kept trolling out the inlet till it passed then worked our way back in. We tried fishing along the beach, in/out the inlet, behind Shackelford Banks, etc. but the NCangler team got skunked! It turned out to be a pretty day on the water, although a bit rough at times. No one chummed on our boat so that was good.

When we got back in for the checkin it was apparent that fishing was not good on Saturday as only three boats caught anything that I am aware of. At the awards meeting one of the Triumph factory boat teams that won about $600 gave their award back to be raffled among the entrants and families present. We had lots of great stuff to give away in addition to prize money including multiple $100 gift certificates to West Marine and Merritt Marine, fishing rod/reel combos for kids present, hats, jackets, t-shirts, etc. And I have to say that the kids present really racked up!

I wish the fishing and the conditions had been better, especially for those driving so far. But it was great to see you all and I hope everyone had a good time. Thanks for coming and thanks to Triumph Boats, Portside Marina and Merritt Marine for their support of the event!

I'll post pictures when I get home and hope some others have photos too. There wont' be many that include fish though.

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

i would also like to thank all the sponsers and for Triumph having such a huge presence this weekend. we often think the factory does't even know we owners exist, but i'm here to tell everyone who wasnt there that Triumph was well represented from the upper manangement to the guys that fit and finish our boats. All the guys were receptive to sugggestions, questions and offered plans of things to come. we all came out winners 'cause they realize being a part of get togethers like this give them a chance to hear from their "field test group" !!!!

i would like to urge all Triumph owners and visitors to the site sitting on the fence trying to decide if you want a Triumph to come to the next get together even if you do not intend to fish. where else would you be able to meet and befriend fellow owners from as far away as Maine ,New York ,Indiana Virginia, and Georgia . i had a fellow 01 210 logic owner show me a different ball check system for our rump heavy models that kept the deck free of water and i cant wait to add them to my boat. there is plenty to learn and tips and how to's flying all over the place .

once again thanks to denard of portside and carl of merritt and paul and the guys from Triumph and most importantly randy for putting together the owners site and all the guys and gals that came out to the event.

btw i will be modifing my name so as to not confuse ya'll in thinking my name is al from illinois and i own a logic!!!!!!
robert
ILLOGICAL GGC

[daveh]

Sounds like a great time reguardless.Wish I could have made it,maybe next year.

[jergofish]

NCAngler, maybe something could be done for us west coast guys, like lining us up with similar boat owners that are attending the Mackfest, sharing accomodations, etc.

I know it would be impossible to do the whole thing on the west coast since the factory's in NC and for most of us WCers, towing our boats across the country just isn't an option.

If started early enough it might be able to be worked out.

It sure sounded like heaps of fun even if the fishing wasn't the best!

I'd sure be willing to reciprocate with someone. Either they could join me in Baja on my 215 in the summer or in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta in the winter months.

[NCangler]

Wouldn't you know it, today was absolutely beautiful in Morehead City! Smooth as glass, wind changed from 15-25 knots out of the SW to next to nothing out of the N. I spent the day with my family and before leaving this afternoon watched a boat come in where we were staying that had about 7 nice dolphins and about a 40 lb. King Mackerel. Oh well! I'm hoping that AstroDiver at least had a chance to dive today since he drove up from Atlanta.

Guys, I have suggested the idea of regional Triumph Boat Owners Tournaments and that can be promoted among the membership and through the Triumph dealer network. I'll keep you posted on what I find out.

[NCangler]

Here are a couple of photos of the 1st place Merritt Marine fishing team. Mike Johnson and crew donated their winnings to the Eckerd Youth Alternatives camping program for troubled youth, our tournament designated charity. Way to go guys! Triumph Boats also donated a check in the amount of $250 to the Eckerd organization. I'll try to get a total amount that went to Eckerd Youth Alternatives and I'll post that along with some more photos as I get them later this week.

[AstroDiver]

No Randy, we never got to dive. We went way out about 8.5 miles to the Whistle Bouy on Sunday. It wan't as bad as Saturday's seas. I took some video with my digital camera of the bouy doing it's thing. Now, I have to figure out how to down load the video part.

We left about 6:20 AM on Monday and I got back home at about 10:30 PM at night.

I had a good time meeting the guys and having a few meals with them.

I still need a bolt. I saw where my e-mail to Merritt Marine had bounced, so Dick never got my message about the bolt. I'll give him a phone call in the next day of so.

Any of y'all that missed this event, you should try for next year. There was a lot of swag given out. It was a good event.
I'm looking into learning about fishing as a back up if the conditions aren't good for diving.

Later.........

[AstroDiver]

OK, I've uploaded a few photos of the MackFest to the Member's area in the Photo Gallery. they are under AstroDiver.
Enjoy!

[NCangler]

I just uploaded a bunch of photos in the Photo Gallery under the "Family/Events" category, from the 2006 MackFest in Morehead City. We all enjoyed a great pig picking meal on Friday evening (thanks Triumph and Portside Marina!) and you can see some of the new boats and owner boats that were there and a bunch of the swag that was given away on Saturday. Thanks to all that participated and came this year.

[unkl jessie]

Hey guys

good pics. how about a little explanation/who's in the pictures. that way we can put a face with a name

unk