Avalon Harbor, Santa Catalina Island, California - What's in a name? Sometimes, the answer is irony. Take the name "No Problem," for instance. Those are the words lettered across the transom of Captain Pernecky's 35-foot offshore sportfisher, and he found little problem winning what most bluewater anglers recognize as Southern California's most prestigious annual striped marlin fishing competition -- the coveted Zane Grey/CaboYachts Invitational marlin fishing tournament.

Serving as owner, team Captain and the angler bringing to boat a 226-pound striped marlin, Pernecky was one of a field limited to only 45 teams made up of the West Coast's most serious  and skilled billfish tournament anglers. After two days of excellent fishing and intense competition in late September, Pernecky's thick-bodied striper emerged as the first place fish, nudging out a 225-pound, second place  catch registered by team Gene's Machine and outweighing a third place, 216-pound marlin boated by team Buck Fever.
 
But the irony in names didn't stop there. This was the Zane Grey/Cabo Yachts Invitational, and fittingly, tournament winner Pernecky was fishing aboard his 35-foot Cabo Yachts convertible model. The word "invitational" didn't mean a captain had to own a Cabo to be invited; it did mean he and his team had to be among "the best of the West", marlineers to respond to an invitation. That distinction in itself meant several Cabo Yachts owners competed in an elite field. Because of the angling/demographic makeup of this pro-tournament field, in fact, several teams were aboard mega-yachts like a 72-foot Donzi, a 75-foot Mikelson or a 70-foot Elliot, but of the mid-size yacht class -- like Bob Pernecky's first-place winning 35-foot Cabo Convertible -- fully half of the tournament entries consisted of Cabo Yachts.

Results of the tournament reflected both the anglers' skill levels and the excellent marlin fishing enjoyed this season in Southern California waters. In all, 45 teams fishing two days hooked 97 marlin, boated 23 and released 38 of the billfish. The five heaviest stripers were all over 200 pounds, ranging from a 202-pounder to Pernecky's 226-pounder. Pernecky, a 71-year old resident of La Canada-Flintridge, CA is no stranger to blue water fishing. He accumulated much of his big game experience fishing off the famed Kona Coast of Oahu, Hawaii, where he operated a pair of charter boats. Three years ago, he began fishing Southern California waters. He credits his captain, Mike Arujo, with much of his (Pernecky's) success in the recent Zane Grey/Cabo Yachts event. "Mikes been fishing since he was 10 years old, "Pernecky explained. "He's fished in a lot of tournaments, including the [Catalina] Gold Cup and the [Balboa Angling Club] Masters tournament. He knows these waters like the back of his hand." Skipper Mike Arujo will also be learning the back of his other hand, with experience he'll gather along the purplish-blue drop-offs at Cabo San Lucas and it's world- renown billfishing grounds at the southern tip of Baja California Sur, Mexico. That's the fall/winter mooring site for No Problem, which will be competing an extended fishing tour since being purchased by Pernecky in February, 2000.

"I bought "No Problem" in Orange Beach, Alabama, then drove her to Cypress Cove, Louisiana, on to Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then to Bimini in the Grand Bahamas," said Pernecky. "I fished all along the way, and in Bimini, competed in the Billfish Blast [tournament, catching two blue marlin and a sailfish] and finished fourth."

Then it was back to Fort Lauderdale, where No Problem was shipped by truck to Newport Beach, CA. There she underwent re-outfitting, a christening and preparations to fish a pair of annual Southern California marlin competitions: the Zane Grey/Cabo Yachts event and the subsequent Drambuie Catalina Classic. "now we're off to the south. to Cabo San Lucas," Pernecky says, "looking forward to catching more stripers, some big blue marlin and giant yellowfin tuna."
After owning several boats, including a 28- and 54-foot Bertram, a 43-foot Merritt and a pair of Hatteras 27-footers, why has Pernecky settled with a 35-foot Cabo Yachts Convertible Sportfisher?

"Well for one, she's the most versatile of the boats I've owned," explains Pernecky. "This boat is designed and performs so she's equally adaptable for island fishing for yellowtail or white seabass, or for offshore work, after albacore, tuna, swordfish and all the marlins. And she's got quickness, responsiveness to the controls, high maneuverability and dexterity -- all the handling characteristics you need to make the boat an active member of the team while fighting and landing big fish." 

He proved the boat-and-angler team concept when his big marlin almost escaped. "Toward the end, I could feel the fight change," said Pernecky said. "The weight on the rod was different and I sensed the fish was almost dead and starting to sink away. That's when the get really tough to land." After most of the one hour, 10 minute tug-of-war had elapsed, the big marlin became entangled in the line, with one wrap of the leader around it's tail.

"We knew we had to do something fast, so we used the boat to slowly plane-up the fish, and it worked," Pernecky explained. "That's when wheel response and maneuverability really paid off. Once we saw the fish, we knew we had a contender."