THE French team, led by Girard Aprile, won first prize in the 62nd Ernest Hemingway International Billfish Tournament, held in Havana with the participation of fishing enthusiasts from more than a dozen countries.

During the awards ceremony at the Marina named for the Nobel Prize winner and author of The Old Man and the Sea, Aprile said he was very excited to win the Cup at this traditional event for a fourth time and that he was thinking about going for a fifth.

The winner and his colleagues won the trophy in 2005, 2006 and 2009.

The Ukrainians, led by Oleksandr Tupyskyy, took second place, making their first appearance in the tournament, with their boat Marlin XI. Another French crew captained by Jean Yves, aboard the Veneciana II, took third place.

Oliviero Saltarelli, leading an Italian team, took the prize for the largest dorado, at 16.8 pounds, on their DC-9-III.

Attending were a total of 105 fishermen from 16 countries including: France, Ukraine, Mexico, Lithuania, Italy, Venezuela, Russia, Holland, Spain, Ghana, Canada, Guatemala, Ireland, Britain, the United States (challenging the U.S. government’s travel ban) and Cuba.

One of the oldest of its kind in the world, the Hemingway is a tag and release tournament, functioning in accordance with International Game Fish Association regulations, intended to make the sport more environmentally conscious and respectful of the species.

Other elements are also incorporated such as the use of circular hooks which cause less harm to fish caught.

The tournament’s competitors had Havana’s coastline as their range, waters which experienced fishermen have long called Hemingway’s Mile, since this was the area the renowned author chose for his fishing expeditions.

This edition of the tournament is part of festivities marking the 20th anniversary of the Club Náutico Internacional Hemingway de Cuba (May 21), the organizers of the event and the site west of the city from which the competing teams embark.