Registration will open May 15th, 2009

Teams are competing to catch the five heaviest tuna during tournament hours.

It is the sole responsibility of the participating Captain, crew and angler(s) to obtain a copy, read, know, understand and abide by the tournament rules, including but not limited to, any final instructions that may be announced during the captains meetings. Rules are subject to change. By entering the event all participants agree to accept the rules of the tournament and accept all decisions made by the Board of The Washington Tuna Classic.

One registered team member MUST attend the captains meeting for registration and to be present for the safety briefing. It is recommended that the Captain and all crew members attend the Captains meeting. If they do not attend, they automatically accept and agree to be bound by the instructions given at the meeting. All anglers including the Captain must sign and return a Liability Waiver prior to participating in any event.

Start time will be determined at the Captains meeting. The official start is a shot gun type flare start which will be shot from a United States Coast Guard vessel or another official boat which will be determined at the Captains meeting. The location of each starting and ending line can be found on the web site and will also be confirmed at the captains meeting. All boats must be present 30 minutes prior to the start and must acknowledge their  team when roll call is done. Roll call will start 45 minutes prior to the shot gun start. Any team that does not acknowledge when called will not be allowed to participate in the event. In the event that it is determined that the flare start is not feasible due to weather conditions such as fog, the official start will be relayed by Tournament Control via the assigned VHF channel. Each team must be across the pre determined finish line by 4:00pm. The Board reserves the right to change and or cancel a starting time and ending time the morning of each event if in its discretion there is a possible threat of safety due to weather, ocean conditions or anything they deem to dangerous.

The official VHF frequency will be determined at the Captains meeting. This will be used as the means for morning roll call prior to the shot gun start. It is recommended that all teams monitor the USCG frequency as well as any specific frequency that will assure the best means of safety from other sport and commercial vessels.

Fish must be whole, but fully bled and no warmer than 50 degrees internal temp.

Fish donated at each tournament wins the following:

Each team will be issued 5 drawing tickets once signed up. 

Additional drawing tickets will be provided for each extra fish turned in up to 25, 1 additional ticket per 3 fish beyond 25.

The drawing will be held at the awards BBQ and prizes given away by drawn ticket.

Entry Fees…$250 per team/boat.

Option to Double Down, Captain may elect to donate an additional $250 of which, 95% will be paid out to the top three placing Double Down participants.

Anyone can bring 10lbs of non perishable food to donate in exchange for a drawing ticket. This will be donated locally.

A team consists of four (4) anglers for the purposes of the drawing but you may have six (6) anglers on the boat fishing. Charters cannot have more than 6 event participants per vessel. Multiple teams may participate on one vessel as long as there are no more than 6 total event participants. Each team must fly the 2009 WTC tournament flag so as to be visible

Registrations must be in 30 days prior to the event or pay late registration fee of an additional $100.

Rod and reel or hand lines only

By vote of the Board, rules may be changed as necessary.

Must fly tournament flag so it is visible

Contestants agree to conduct themselves with honor and integrity at all times, breaches of integrity will result in ejection and forfeiture of prizes.

Any and all disputes, protests, claims both in writing and verbal arising out of, or in relation to any event associated with the WTC shall be decided by the Board and shall be final and binding.

Cancellations…In the event of a cancellation due to rough ocean conditions the WTC committee will make the announcement after the 3:00pm NOAA update on Friday prior to the event.