Online Open Spearfishing Competition

Imagine a spearfishing competition where you:

1. Have no long trips to the venue,
2. Dive at your leisure - there is lots of time, just enter some fish you get during September 2008,
3. Shoot what you select to shoot,
4. Anyone can take part anywhere in SA,
5. Use a unique scoring system that allows divers anywhere to compete with their catch even if they are not big fat fish,
6. Have a very slim chance of a weather wipeout
7. Have a very small entry fee (R80) that goes to the Springbok team

Well now you can take part in just such a spearfishing competition.

The objective is to have many competitors enter and participate. All registration fees of R80 per person go to sponsoring our Springbok team taking part in the World Championships in Venezuela in October 2008.

In the Online Open you can dive in different areas and compare catches as a percentage of the SA record, this allows someone shooting a big butterfish in False Bay to compete against a 40 kg kingfish taken in KZN.

Here is how it will work:

Who can take part? Anyone with, or without SAUFF membership, you do not need to be a club member, foreigners welcome too if you are in SA.

When? Diving between 1 September 2008 and 30 September 2008 - daylight hours only. You should be able to get a few dives in during that 1 month period.

Where? Anywhere in South African ocean waters - excludes reserves, dams, lakes and estuaries and any spot you may not dive legally.

Method of fishing with speargun only - no artificial breathing apparatus

Fish Species that may be taken: Any open season fish - excludes closed species such as brindle bass, Natal wrasse etc. Excludes sharks & skates.

Scoring: To allow divers in the Cape to compete with those of Natal the scoring will be based on record percentage.

How does record percentage work?

The SA record for cape salmon 13 kg. If you take part and in September you get a 10 kg cape salmon then your record percentage for that fish is = 76.9%

(to calculate record percentage you divide the weight of your fish by the SA records weight and multiply by 100. 10 / 13 times 100 = 76.9)

Weighing:

Weigh gutted fish with gills removed.

Weigh your best five fish(highest record percentages) and submit the pictures as specified by the weigh-in rules(to follow).

The record percentage of each of the five fish will be totaled and the person who gets the highest score is the overall winner.

What is required of you?

Get a fish or preferably five this September.

All you do is take a digital picture in the manner required(supplied later), record the weight accurately as possible and email the picture to the judges as evidence.

You keep your fish.

Prizes

Shane of Freedivers offered to sponsor a Freedivers Speargun and a pair of Freedivers Fins.

Gletwyn Rubidge (me) has sponsored an online spearfishing mentorship program, a correspondence spearfishing course, twp Len Jone’s Books and a CD divebook on PE divesites.

So far that’s about R3000 worth of prizes.

Other sponsors are welcome to donate prizes too.

There prizes for individual fish with the highest record percentage.

REGISTRATION

To enter deposit the entrance fee (R80) into the following account:

SAUFF

First National Bank,

Margate,

Branch Code: 220128,

Acc number 62067501132

As reference use your initial and surname e.g. P Woods and REC% to indicate it is for the record % competition

Online Open Web Page: http://www.freedive.co.za/onlineopen.htm

Do something different this spring and support our boys in Green and Yellow. The system is open for registration right now!