Top spearfishing clubs from Rio de Janeiro took part in the Icaraí Iate Club’s 89th Anniversary Spearfishing Tournament. Twenty-seven divers competed for the best couple, best team, biggest bottom fish, and biggest pelagic fish. What makes this competition particularly interesting is that it was held at Maricás Island, one of the two zones for the upcoming CMAS World Cup of Clubs, scheduled for March. Not only was it in the same zone, but the top spearfishermen from Rio, all registered to compete in March at the World Cup, were in the water! This provides a good preview of what to expect from Rio’s best.
Competitors faced challenging conditions at Maricás Islands, dealing with a big swell and a cold, stirred-up bottom. A south current brought warm water to the surface during the 5-hour competition, so fish could be found in the shallow waters. However, the problem was that the shallow areas had big waves, making it very hard and risky for divers to hunt close to the island.
Veteran on the top
Paulo Sergio Pacheco, a spearfishing legend still at the top at the age of 63, conquered the first place, diving with his also veteran teammate, Eduardo Oliveira. They competed for the Yacht Club Rio de Janeiro, the host club of the 2024 World Cup. The second-place couples was taken by the Clube Náutico Cabo Frio, which hosted the 2022 Pan American championship, coincidentally also won by Pacheco. The CNCF 2nd place team included Gabriel Barra (who competed for Brazil in Laredo last year) and rising star Fabio Cruz. Kevin Sansão and Francisco Loffredi (Cressi) for Club Flamengo finished third, restoring a partnership that won the Panamerican Championships for Brazil back in 2015.
The Biggest Pelagic and Bottom fish
Yacht Club Rio de Janeiro took home the Team Trophy with the pair Rodrigo Fahham / Fernando Farina adding points to Pacheco / Oliveira’s great result. The second-place team went to Yacht Club Costa Azul, with young spearos Diego Santiago, Vitor Ribeiro, David Pinheiro, and Richtelly Viana. Club Flamengo won the 3rd place Team award despite competing with only three divers, thanks to the good catch of their third diver, Tarik Rumpenhorst, who competed alone. They defeated Clube Marimbás, ICI’s, and CNFC’s four-man teams!
The Biggest Pelagic fish award at the 89th Anniversary Spearfishing Tournament was won by Rumpenhorst’s 3.9kg Bluefish, while the Biggest Bottom fish award went to Fahham’s 4.45kg Black Margate.
It’s worth noting that the top three couples; Pacheco/Oliveira, Barra/Cruz, and Sansão/Loffredi, had final scores that were all very close. To the point that a small 500g white seabream would have given the third-place couple the victory. This seems like a sure indication of how highly competitive the next CMAS World Cup of Clubs will be!
