Slots Still Open for Costa Rica Classic Tournament

March 18-20 Event to Benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation

QUEPOS, Costa Rica (Feb. 16, 2005) The upcoming Costa Rica Classic (www.costaricaclassic.com) International Billfish Tournament March 18-20 has a number of slots open for anglers who wish to fish in Central America and at the same time help a worthy cause.

The tournament, organized by the Boomer Esiason Foundation (BEF) to heighten awareness, education and funding efforts of cystic fibrosis research, has had phenomenal growth in the past three years, according to the coordinator of the event.

“So far, we have 102 anglers and 20 boats entered, but there’s room for more,” said Rob Hodel, president of Tico Travel, in Ft. Lauderdale who is coordinating the tournament for the BEF. “The response has been great this year, with anglers coming from across the U.S. and Central America.”

The two-day, 17 hour on-the-water event honors the team that tallies the most points during the tournament. The contestants will achieve points for catching, photographing and releasing sailfish and marlin. The anglers will also collect points for catches of roosterfish, dorado, tuna and dog tooth snapper.

For more information on the Costa Rica Classic please call Tico Travel at 1-800-493-8426 or visit the Costa Rica Classic website at www.costaricaclassic.com or the BEF website at www.esiason.org or call 212-525-7777.

Joeseph Pagano and his teammates on the Tenacity are back to defend their title, said Hodel. Most of the teams from the first two years of the tournament are back as well, he said.

The tournament was created after Dave Rimington, the president of the BEF, New York City, N.Y., sponsored and participated in several Mercury Outboards Redbone celebrity fishing series events in the Florida Keys.

Among the celebrities fishing the event are Esiason, Rimington and Gary Dunn of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mark Cooper of the Denver Broncos, all who had award-winning careers in the NFL and college football.

The Costa Rica Classic has also been named by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) as a qualifying event for the sixth annual Rolex/IGFA Offshore Championship.

In addition to Tico Travel, sponsors include the La Mariposa Hotel, Outback Steakhouse, 107.5 FM San Jose, CR; CentralAmerica.com, Wacky Wanda’s, El Gran Escape Restaurant, Costa Rica Dreams, Casa Mar Lodge, Grupo TACA, Martin Air and Mac’s America Bar.

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