By The Saltwater Insider Crew
The 23rd Annual Virginia Beach Billfish Tournament wrapped August 22 at Rudee Inlet, and Sarah Jean is going home with the cup.
Capt. Kurt Ward’s team put 830 points on the board — nine sailfish and a verified blue marlin, ten billfish releases total — to win an event that drew 61 teams competing for $943,450 in cash awards.
It was not comfortable. The VBBT blog described the Friday session as a straight showdown: two boats trading releases with the lead swinging between them until, as the tournament put it, Father Time settled it and Sarah Jean pulled ahead.
The Board
| Boat | Captain | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarah Jean | Kurt Ward | 830 — 9 sailfish, 1 blue marlin |
| 2 | Kimberly Dawn | George Powell | 740 — 2 sailfish, 3 blue marlin |
| 3 | The General | Max Weaver | 740 — 2 sailfish, 3 blue marlin |
| 4 | Bi-Op-Sea | Jesse Granitzki | 490 — 7 sailfish |
| 5 | Geddy Up | Wade Fehlig | 490 — 7 sailfish |
Look at second and third. Kimberly Dawn and The General finished on identical cards — same points, same species, same count — and the places were split on time. Same story at fourth and fifth. In a release tournament, when the fish come in matters as much as how many.
Kimberly Dawn made a run at it on the final day and came up short. Capt. James Breen’s Outnumbered took Day 3 with 350 points on four white marlin and a sailfish.
In the gamefish division, Weldor’s Ark took top dolphin with John Roberts’ 35.4-pounder, Fender Bender topped tuna with Bobby Whelan’s 65.9, and Saga won wahoo on Randy Abbitt’s 54.5.
The Lay Day Chess Match
Here is the part casual observers miss.
Day 1: 51 boats fished, 10 stayed at the dock. Day 2: 47 fished, 14 layed. Day 3: 24 fished, 37 layed.
By the last day, more than half the fleet was tied up on purpose. VBBT teams get lay days, and how a Captain spends them is a real strategic decision — burn one on a bad forecast, save one for a swing at the lead, or sit out entirely once the math says you cannot catch the leaders. Watching 37 boats stay in on Saturday tells you exactly how far ahead Sarah Jeanand Kimberly Dawn had gotten.
Sailfish on the Winning Card
Worth noting for anyone tracking what shows up off the Virginia coast in August: the winning card here was built on sailfish. Nine of them, plus the blue.
Compare that to 2025, when a hurricane-shortened two-day event with 39 boats produced 420 billfish releases — 409 of them white marlin, with only two sailfish in the whole fleet.
Different fleet size, different number of fishing days, different weather. We are not going to tell you it means something it might not. But a tournament on the Virginia line won on nine sailfish is not the card most people would have predicted, and it is worth watching whether next August looks the same.
The Format
The VBBT runs a modified release format: blue marlin must hit 110 inches or 400 pounds to be brought to the scales, everything else is release only. Entry is $12,500 with optional Legacy and 20-Year jackpots on top. It is invitation only, and the waiting list is closed.
The tournament is the fundraising arm of the Virginia Beach Billfish Foundation, a 501(c)(3) supporting youth and marine charities including Achievable Dreams, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southside and Peninsula, and The Billfish Foundation.
The 24th Annual is set for August 18–21, 2027.
See you on the water.