Sharkipsy,

Your post is dead on topic. Don't care who takes exception to the post but running this tournament without a weather or cancellation date is not only ridiculous it's a COMPLETE disregard for everyone's safety. I woke this morning to small craft warnings but made the decision to head down to our boat at SRI. We thought we might be able to get one or two hours in and catch the one fish we needed before heading in. WRONG call. We headed out to the SGR and by the time we got out early it was blowing hard with building seas. Combined with the rain it was like being sand blasted at the rail. We fished for no more than a half hour which was in retrospect a half hour too much and headed in. Conditions were not safe....tournament should have been cancelled period. I'm actually shocked tournament officials don't cover their butts by having a standard provision when there's are small craft advisory's in effect the tournament is automatically cancelled. Whether there's a drawing to pay out the money or a new date assigned, it's the only right decision to make. Any other decision is simply putting money ahead of all anglers safety.

I have to laugh with the legal jargon in these tournaments that says all entrants sail at their own risk. I can assure you if someone lost their life today due to the conditions that existed, does anyone honestly think a law suit wouldn't be filed against JCAA and all tournament officials. Between the shot gun start at the Elk's which ignores safety every year and crap like what happened today with the JCAA, it's obvious it's all about money and not safety.

As Sharkipsy said someone will most likely take exception with this post but there is absolutely no way this tournament should have been run today. The Leonardo Fluke Masters tournament may have been a different situation as Sandy Hook Bay may have provided protection from the NE winds today but no way JCAA should have been run......plain and simple.

Question to the tournament officials, how would each of you feel if someone lost their life today because they ponied up $210 and took a chance early to get out and back before the winds kicked up only to find out the hard way they made a fatal decision. It doesn't matter what plans have already been made by the tournament, at minimum the prize money should have been raffled off if an alternate weather date can't be arranged so that all entrants have an equal chance of winning. How many boats that signed up for the tournament didn't sail today and just pissed away their entry fee. Even worse how many idiots took a chance and got caught in the 6 to 8 ft seas by 7 or 8 am.

Due to the complete disregard for anglers safety, this is one tournament I will never enter again and I suggest others to consider the same after the statement tournament officials made today by taking your entry fee and turning their backs on you from a safety perspective.

Sharkipsy thanks for starting this post....it's something which needs to be said and addressed!

Dakota