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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
HIBT looks to keep
tradition aliveHave you ever wondered why some sporting events are successfully run year after year while others fall by the wayside?
For instance, in Hawaii, two diverse, long-lived ocean events come to mind: the 98-year-old Transpacific Yacht Race and the 47-year-old Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament.
I'm sure there are a number of good reasons for their longevity, but one they seem to have in common is they tend to place value on tradition and generational family involvement.
Transpac, for instance, announced two weeks ago that yachtswoman Patricia Steele will sail in next year's centennial contest. She will be her family's fourth generation to compete in that 2,225-mile race from Los Angeles to Honolulu since 1939.
Then this week, HIBT founder Peter Fithian announced that entry fees for the upcoming tournament in Kailua-Kona will be somewhat reduced for multi-generational teams.
Fithian pointed out that the special entry fee -- it saves a team about $500 when it includes a member under 21 years old -- is intended to encourage younger anglers to participate.
The notion of a multi-generational team rate, Fithian said, struck him two years ago when a team made up of members of the Reece family won the tournament. The idea was reinforced the following year when the same family came in a strong fifth.
Starting in the 1950s, one or more of the Reece family has competed in 33 of the HIBT's 46 tournaments.
"Grandpa Bob has been involved regularly since his days as an airline official in Honolulu," Fithian said. "Now at 80 and living in Africa, he is returning again this year.
"His 48-year-old son, Glenn, who lives in California and caught his first marlin in Kona waters at age 14, has also been a regular member of the team for years," Fithian added. "And Glenn's son Brian, now 14, will be here for his third tournament."
The three Reece family members will be joined this year by veteran wahine angler Ronda Brown of Florida and Ray Turner of Western Australia, to make up the team known as the Malindi Sea Fishing Club of Kenya.
"The team will fly the black, red and yellow flag of the East African nation where the elder Reece now makes his home," Fithian noted.
As the Malindi Sea Fishing Club demonstrates, the "International" in the HIBT's name is not just window dressing. Over the years, teams have participated from not only Pacific Rim countries like Japan, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Tahiti and the mainland U.S., but from several European countries as well.
"As a matter of fact," Fithian said, "it was the senior Reece who, after winning in 1963, brought the Duke of Manchester from Britain as a team member in 1965."
That same senior Reece has said there's no question the HIBT is the best tournament in the world. And with his son and grandson on his team, and after nearly a half-century of tournament fishing experience, I doubt we can question his word.
If you're an angler and this kind of tradition and family involvement is appealing to you, check with tournament director Sue Vermillion at (808) 329-6155, or by e-mail at hdc@aloha.net.
Even at this late date -- the tournament runs August 8-15 -- there might be room for one more team.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ray Pendleton is a free-lance writer based in Honolulu.
His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at raypendleton@mac.com.