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Rum Bum Racing to Start on Pole at Road Atlanta

Atlanta, Ga. (19 April 2013) – The No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche will start from the pole in Saturday’s PWC 250 At Road Atlanta for round four of the 2013 GRAND-AM Championship.

The grid was set by point order when qualifying was cancelled due to heavy rains in the Atlanta area. Nick Longhi will open the two hour, thirty-minute race before handing the Porsche over to co-driver Matt Plumb to take to the finish.

Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing, who has finished in the top-five in each of the three opening rounds of GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge competition this year – including a victory in the previous round at Barber Motorsports Park, currently leads the Grand Sport championship.

“It would have been nice to show what we could do in qualifying but at the same time it’s really great to be starting up front at Road Atlanta,” said Plumb. “With this being a challenging track as well as a new track for GRAND-AM, I think we could see some attrition tomorrow so it’s all the more important to be starting at the front. The team has just been fantastic so far this season and has put us at the top of the championship so a big thanks to the Rum Bum guys. We’ve had good pace so far this weekend so hopefully we can stay out of trouble and convert our pace into another strong finish.”

The event marks the fifth time Rum Bum Racing has started on the pole. The team has scored 12 wins and 18 podiums since its debut in 2010.

The 2.5-hour PWC 250 at Road Atlanta race is set to begin Saturday at 11:30 AM (ET). Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com.

SPEED will televise the event Saturday, April 27 at 2:00 PM (ET).

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Rum Bum Racing to Start on Pole at Road Atlanta

Atlanta, Ga. (19 April 2013) – The No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche will start from the pole in Saturday’s PWC 250 At Road Atlanta for round four of the 2013 GRAND-AM Championship.

The grid was set by point order when qualifying was cancelled due to heavy rains in the Atlanta area. Nick Longhi will open the two hour, thirty-minute race before handing the Porsche over to co-driver Matt Plumb to take to the finish.

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Rum Bum Racing Revved Up for Road Atlanta Debut

Orlando, Fla. (17 April 2013) – When Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing team arrives at Road Atlanta, the driving duo of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi will be targeting the team’s 13th victory in just three years of racing as the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge makes its debut at the historic 2.54-mile world-class circuit.

Fresh off a dramatic victory in the previous round of Barber Motorsports Park, where the team rallied back from a lap down to take the win in the No. 13 Porsche, Rum Bum Racing leads the GRAND-AM championship heading into Round 4.

“It truly was one of our greatest wins just because we had to come back from such unfortunate circumstances,” said Plumb of the Barber event. “We had a rough pit stop and went a lap down. We got our lap back with the wave around, but you have to keep digging the whole time. We thought we were down but this team never, never gives up. (Team owner) Luis Bacardi put together this team and all the pieces of the team just work together.”

Though the Road Atlanta facility is a new venue to many of the drivers competing in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series, both Plumb and Longhi already have years of experience at the circuit – with Plumb having raced at the track in the open wheel ranks as well as in World Challenge competition and with Longhi having competed in ALMS GT competition.

“I drove at Road Atlanta quite a bit in both two liter formula cars and Barber Dodge and then World Challenge,” offered Plumb. “And now I do a lot of iRacing which is amazing how similar it is to actually racing at the track. I think it’s really great that GRAND-AM is going back to Road Atlanta. It’s one of the cooler tracks that we have in North America so the fact that we’ve been missing it, is a bit of a bummer. Now that we’re there again it just adds to the excitement of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge racing!”

“Road Atlanta is a track that I like a lot – it’s one of my favorite ones in North America,” echoed Longhi. “It’s a real race course. It’s fast and up and down hill and it’s a lot of fun to drive. I like it personally, a lot. It has a great history. It’s really fun to drive. It’s a really great atmosphere in terms of the fans – they appreciate what they’re watching. I’m very, very excited to go there. I’ve raced there before in ALMS in various cars years ago. But obviously in GRAND-AM we haven’t been there in a few years so I’ve missed it a lot. It’s great to be able to race there again. It’s one of the greatest race tracks in North America for sure.”

Rum Bum Racing Crew Chief Joe Varde, who calls the strategy for Rum Bum Racing and played a major role in securing the team’s championship title last year, also has a vast amount of experience at the track. Varde is one of the most successful championship-winning road racers of the last 25 years and has plenty of knowledge of the Road Atlanta road course having driven in ALMS, Cayman Interseries and IMSA Firehawk competition – among others.

“I think it’s great,” said Varde of the Road Atlanta addition to the GRAND-AM schedule. “We grow up road racing and we go to all of these tracks and then when the big separation came we didn’t go to Road Atlanta anymore and we missed that a lot. And now that (the two series) are back together we’re going to be racing those tracks and I think it’s going to be good for everybody. I’ve got a lot of great Road Atlanta memories. In 1983 I won the (IMSA Firehawk) race there and I had my son there on the podium – he was very young at the time and I had a picture with him on the podium and I thought that was very cool.”

The weekend kicks off with a promoter test day on Thursday, April 18. Official practice and qualifying takes place on Saturday with the race set to go green on Saturday, April 20 at 11:30 AM (ET).

Live timing and scoring is available throughout the weekend at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will televise the event April 27 at 2:00 PM (ET).

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Rum Bum Racing Revved Up for Road Atlanta Debut

Orlando, Fla. (17 April 2013) - When Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing team arrives at Road Atlanta, the driving duo of Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi will be targeting the team’s 13th victory in just three years of racing as the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge makes its debut at the historic 2.54-mile world-class circuit.

Fresh off a dramatic victory in the previous round of Barber Motorsports Park, where the team rallied back from a lap down to take the win in the No. 13 Porsche, Rum Bum Racing leads the GRAND-AM championship heading into Round 4.

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Surrender The Fall: NewOrleansLocal.com review

Surrender The Fall Video for ‘Some Kind Of Perfect’ is MTV Buzzworthy Festival Dates This Summer Debut Album ‘Burn In The Spotlight’ out Now

“Surrender The Fall’s stock in trade is pounding pedal-through-the-floor rock, a loud abundance that includes first single “Love Hate Masquerade”-Billboard

“Surrender the Fall finds its own ‘spotlight’”-Flint Journal

Surrender the Fall’s new video for Some Kind of Perfect is premiering on MTV.com Buzzworthy right now.

“The music of Memphis’ Surrender The Fall is a throwback to the days when glammy hard rock bands ruled the airwaves, so it’s no surprise that their videos would call some of the classic tropes of the hair metal period as well. Their new clip for “Some Kind of Perfect,” from their recent Burn In the Spotlight album, is a collection of those timeless rock video themes that we remember from back in the day, but with a contemporary update. Clearly, Surrender The Fall has learned from their forefathers — and they wanna ROCK. Which, I might mention, they totally do and they totally do well.” – MTV Buzzworthy

The band’s debut album, Burn in the Spotlight was released via Rum Bum Records on September 18, 2012 and has already spawned two Top 40 Rock Singles with Love Hate Masquerade and Some Kind of Perfect.

Check Some Kind of Perfect out here:
http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/04/09/surrender-the-fall-some-kind-of-perfect-video/

Credit: http://neworleanslocal.com/surrender-the-fall-video-for-some-kind-of-perfect-is-mtv-buzzworthy-festival-dates-this-summer-debut-album-burn-in-the-spotlight-out-now/

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Edwards Bobbles, Rum Bum’s Plumb Wins At Barber

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 6, 2013) – Matt Plumb took advantage of a rare mistake by John Edwards to win Saturday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race, giving the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche Carrera its second consecutive victory at Barber Motorsports Park.

Edwards was seeking his second victory of the day when he missed a shift in the No. 9 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro with 24 minutes remaining. Plumb led the final 14 laps, beating Edwards to the checkered flag by 2.407 seconds. It was the team’s sixth victory since switching to Porsche at the 2012 Barber event.

“I never thought I’d love Alabama so much,” Plumb said. “It was awesome. It was truly one of our greater wins, just because we had to come back from such unfortunate circumstances. We had a problem on a pit stop and went a lap down, got the lap back with a wave around and I just had to keep digging the whole time.”

David Empringham finished third in the No. 15 Multimatic Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage started by John Farano.

Tom Long led a podium sweep of Mazda MX-5s in Street Tuner. Long and Derek Whitis won in the Freedom Autosport No. 25, edging teammates Andrew Carbonell and Rhett O’Doski in the No. 26, and Jason Saini and Chad McCumbee in the No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing entry.

“It was a 1-2 for Freedom Autosport, but better yet, it was a 1-2-3 for Mazda,” Long said. “I just couldn’t be happier. To have three Mazdas up on the podium here at Barber Motorsports Park, I don’t believe this track could suit these cars any better.”

The race was slowed by three cautions, with the longest coming after an impact by Rob Ecklin Jr. into the guardrail at the exit of Turn 12. Ecklin was uninjured, but the No. 99 Invisible Glass BMW M3 sustained major front-end damage.

Charles Espenlaub won the pole and dominated the opening stages of the event in the No. 48 Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3. He led 36 of the 83 laps, finishing seventh with co-driver Al Carter.

The next Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race will be on Saturday, April 20, joining the Rolex Sports Car Series during GRAND-AM’s first visit to Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.

Story Credit: www.grand-am.com

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Rum Bum Racing Returns to Victory Lane at Barber Motorsports Park

Grows Championship lead with strong run to victory

Birmingham, Ala. (6 April 2013) – Last year, Rum Bum Racing flipped the script. This year, it was a re-run.

Rum Bum Racing returned to victory lane at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday to score a repeat win at the Alabama road course. Drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb fought back from a lap down to score Rum Bum Racing’s 12th GRAND-AM victory.

Longhi opened the race from the fourth row after having qualified the No. 13 Porsche eighth on the grid. He ran a strong opening stint among the top-six throughout the first 20 laps before the team called him to pit lane just past the 30 minute mark for a routine pit stop and driver change.

A traditional quick Rum Bum pit stop was thwarted when a problem with the refueling system saw the stop take much longer than it should have and the No. 13 fell a lap down. Fortunately, a yellow flag was displayed soon after the pit stop which saw Plumb pick up the pace car ahead of the race leader and earn the ‘wave around’ to return to the lead lap.

Plumb restarted from the 20th position but wasted no time in moving forward as he made a charge through the field to run fourth with just under an hour remaining in the race.

A caution late in the race saw Plumb circulating with a clear shot for a podium finish. When asked by the Speed pit reporter if he was thinking about a win or the championship, crew chief Joe Varde didn’t hesitate as Luis Bacardi looked on.

“I am thinking ‘championship,’ but the boss likes to win so we are going to go for it!”

Indeed, Plumb was on the same page as he out-dueled the leader to score the point before one final full course caution. Plumb led the field to the green and never looking back, scoring Rum Bum Racing’s first victory of the season.

“I never thought I’d love Alabama so much!” exclaimed Plumb. “It was awesome. It truly was one of our greatest wins just because we had to come back from such unfortunate circumstances. We had a rough pit stop where we had a problem with the fuel system and went a lap down. We got our lap back with the wave around, but you have to keep digging the whole time. When the boss is in town, you got to make sure you win!”

“This team is just unbelievable and Matt is an amazing driver,” said Longhi. “The combination of this whole team working together is incredible. We were a lap down and the strategy early on was just to be careful. Try to keep the car in one piece and keep the tires underneath you and it was a bit hectic. We were doing okay. The yellows were timed the wrong way and we thought we were down but this team never, never gives up and Luis Bacardi put together this team and I just can’t get over how strong it is all the time. All the pieces of the team just work together. I’m really so happy to be a small part of this amazing operation.”

The victory extends Rum Bum Racing’s championship lead with a 17-point advantage. The team will return to race action at Road Atlanta in two weeks, April 18-20.

SPEED will televise the Barber Motorsports Park event Saturday, April 13 at 2:00 PM (ET).

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Rum Bum Racing Returns to Victory Lane at Barber Motorsports Park

Grows Championship lead with strong run to victory

Birmingham, Ala. (6 April 2013) – Last year, Rum Bum Racing flipped the script. This year, it was a re-run.

Rum Bum Racing returned to victory lane at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday to score a repeat win at the Alabama road course. Drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb fought back from a lap down to score Rum Bum Racing’s 12th GRAND-AM victory.

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Shortened Qualifying Puts Rum Bum Racing Eighth on Porsche 200 Grid

Birmingham, Ala. (5 April 2013) – After starting the 2012 race at Barber Motorsports Park from fifth, Rum Bum Racing took a dramatic victory in the team’s first-ever outing with a Porsche 911 on the way to scoring the 2012 GRAND-AM Championship. Drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb will look to defend last year’s victory with another strong outing as the duo enter the race weekend leading both the driver and team championship standings ahead of the third Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge round.

The picturesque track has not featured post card weather to go with the high quality of facilities, with cold temperatures and variable precipitation keeping the drivers busy on the 2.3-mile circuit during the opening two days of testing.

The weather started to turn for the better on Friday as the field was ready to set the grid in a 15-minute qualifying session on Friday morning.

The session proved to be a stop and start affair, as an early yellow flag saw Longhi forced to cool his heels in pit lane before the track went green again with just over four minutes to go. Unfortunately, Longhi, along with several other competitors, was judged to have been a little too eager to get out of pit lane.

A quick roll back through the pit lane to serve a pit speeding penalty meant that he had only one more flying lap to set a time, and he made the most of it with a fast lap time of 1:35.699-seconds to score eighth on the grid.
“On my first lap, the tires were just too cold because it had been raining,” said Longhi. “I really thought there’d be more grip. And so I went through the last corner with a lot of understeer, and I should have known it was going to take a couple of laps to warm up, but I didn’t want to take “no” for an answer. So I was sideways and sliding around too much, figuring that the next lap it would settle in.”

The weather has kept the drivers and engineers on their toes, but with a more consistent and hospitable forecast for race day, the team is optimistic for a strong result.

“I felt like if I could have done one or two more laps before the black flag, we would have been faster, but I don’t know if we had the pole,” said Longhi. “But this is what happens in this series. There’s a lot of black flags, especially at a track like this where there’s going to be a lot of cars off track and a lot of contact. But it is what it is, we are where we are, we have a great team, and we’ll win anyway.”

The 2.5-hour Barber race will go green on Saturday at 4:00 PM local time. Live timing and scoring is available at www.grand-am.com.

Saturday’s race will be broadcast on SPEED, April 13 2:00 PM ET.

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Shortened Qualifying Puts Rum Bum Racing Eighth on Porsche 200 Grid

Birmingham, Ala. (5 April 2013) – After starting the 2012 race at Barber Motorsports Park from fifth, Rum Bum Racing took a dramatic victory in the team’s first-ever outing with a Porsche 911 on the way to scoring the 2012 GRAND-AM Championship. Drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb will look to defend last year’s victory with another strong outing as the duo enter the race weekend leading both the driver and team championship standings ahead of the third Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge round.

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Rum Bum Technology launches Rum Bum Gear!

Rum Bum Technology worked to develop a full e-commerce website location for all associated Rum Bum brands including but not limited to Rum Bum Records (Includes Saliva & Surrender The Fall), Rum Bum Racing, and coming soon Rum Bum Outdoors. The shopping site will have tab pages for each separate brand and is designed accordingly to their website which the pages are linked to their shop sections. Rum Bum Gear was placed so that fans of one brand might be able to discover and support the other brands associated with Rum Bum. The shopping was also built scalable so that more brands could be added accordingly with their subsection and merchandise offering. Check out what its all about by visiting www.rumbumgear.com

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Rum Bum Racing Brings Championship Points Lead to Barber Motorsports Park

Looking to Defend Last Year’s Race Win

A look back at Rum Bum Racing’s Rolex 24 Effort

Notes:
*Rum Bum Racing will be guests of the Birmingham area Porsche Club of America during the event, with drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi featured guests for a race-day Q&A and tech talk


Orlando, Fla. (1 April 2013) – With just over a month between Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2013 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship, Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing is ready to go at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend as the team is set to defend its 2012 victory at the track.

Looking to mount a vigorous defense of its 2012 GRAND-AM team title, Rum Bum Racing currently sits atop the championship standings heading into Round 3 after strong performances in the first two rounds.

The 2.3-mile, 17-turn scenic road course located in Birmingham, Alabama is one of the most technical tracks on the 2013 calendar, and drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi are eager to return to race action.

Last year’s Barber victory came in the team’s first Porsche start after making the transition from BMW. Despite driving a brand new car with a nearly empty notebook, Plumb and Longhi showed that Rum Bum Racing preparation and team execution are second to none, no matter what the equipment is. The victory kicked off a string of wins for Rum Bum Racing as the team went on to claim five victories in 10 races on the way to securing the 2012 team championship title after taking a dramatic victory in the season-finale race at Lime Rock Park.

The team has delivered two strong performances in the first two rounds – scoring a second place result at Daytona International Speedway and a fourth place finish at Circuit of the Americas in GRAND-AM’s Texas debut. As the Rum Bum squad returns to Barber Motorsports Park, the team would like nothing more than to take a repeat win in Saturday’s 2.5-hour event.

“It is always great to come back to a track where you won the last year,” said Plumb. “Winning on debut with the Porsche was to me a great display of what this Rum Bum team is capable of. So far this year, we haven’t won a race, which is always the ambition, but with two races under our belts, we’re happy with where we are in the points. Every weekend, we know that we have to pull out as many points as possible and stay out of trouble. We saw that in Texas–some very strong championship contenders had issues. We just have to focus on our game plan and hope to have a little racing luck in there as well!”

Barber Motorsports Park tends to flatter the high horsepower V8s with its low speed corners and high-speed straights and due to the track’s technical layout, it’s all the more important for Longhi to qualify the Porsche machine toward the front of the nearly 60-car combined class grid.

“We’ve found that this car has a good race pace, but on a track like Barber you need a lot of grunt to pull out of the slower corners,” said Longhi. “So with our Porsche, the more track position we can earn in qualifying, the better we’ll be in the race as this car runs well out front. The big thing is keeping the nose clean and turning the car over ready to go in the final laps of the race. Barber can be a messy track for contact, so hopefully we can just stay out of trouble and be at the front when it counts.”

The weekend kicks off with a promoter test day on Wednesday with official practice on Thursday. Qualifying will take place on Friday at 11:15 AM (ET). The green flag is set to wave on the 2.5-hour race at 5:00 PM (ET) on Saturday.

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com throughout the weekend. SPEED will televise the event Saturday, April 13 at 2:00 PM (ET).

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Rum Bum Racing Brings Championship Points Lead to Barber Motorsports Park

Looking to Defend Last Year’s Race Win

A look back at Rum Bum Racing’s Rolex 24 Effort

Notes: *Rum Bum Racing will be guests of the Birmingham area Porsche Club of America during the event, with drivers Matt Plumb and Nick Longhi featured guests for a race-day Q&A and tech talk

Orlando, Fla. (1 April 2013) – With just over a month between Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2013 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge championship, Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing is ready to go at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend as the team is set to defend its 2012 victory at the track.

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TBF Assists with Caribbean Billfish Workshop in Fort Lauderdale

Participants of the March Caribbean Billfish Management Workshop

Fort Lauderdale, FL – On March 19 and 20, stakeholders and experts from over 11 countries and 10 organizations descended upon south Florida and took part in a workshop to discuss and develop a billfish management and conservation plan for the nations and overseas territories under the jurisdiction of the Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission (WECAFC). The Billfish Foundation (TBF), the International Gamefish Association (IGFA), the World Bank, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) worked to together to host this workshop that is a steps in the right direction for billfish conservation in the region. Currently there is minimal management for the species and the importance of the recreational sector is not recognized by many countries.

The initial meeting in November 2012 took place in Santa Marta, Columbia where participants discussed the Socioeconomic Impacts of Recreational Fishing and understanding the role of recreational fishing in the Caribbean. This workshop’s goals were met by meeting the key objectives of creating a Consortium on billfish management and conservation, discussing the initial draft structure of the management plan, as well as finalizing pilot projects in the Caribbean. These pilot projects will be submitted to the World Bank for funding consideration in the near future.

Updates from Caribbean Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, and Colombia on the progress of the pilot studies utilizing the “Manual on Economic Impact Assessment of Recreational Fisheries in the Wider Caribbean” were presented and discussed. Much progress is being made on these progress and TBF will continue to provide consultation as the projects continue in the future.

The Western Central Atlantic Fishery Commission compliance area

While the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) oversees billfish management for the Atlantic, the workshop’s discussions are important for the future management for the area and empowering the local stakeholders. The workshop brought up a number of options to strengthen relationships and possible collaborations between user groups – from local artisanal fleets to the tourism boards – who might be affected by changes in fisheries management. To that end, TBF was an active participant during the workshops but also published and distributed a report on the economic importance of sportfishing in the US territories of USVI and Puerto Rico. The hope is that all the stakeholders can learn, work together, and share the benefits of these new management schemes.

The next meeting is being proposed for the seventh World Recreational Fishing Conference which will be held in Sao Paulo State, Brazil on September 1st -4th, 2014. To learn more about WECAFC please visit their website and to read TBF’s report on the economic importance of sportfishing in Puerto Rico and the U.S.V.I. please click here.

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United SportsCar Racing To Debut In 2014

SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2013) – With uniqueness and modernity at the forefront, the new United SportsCar Racing platform was revealed (#TheReveal) today at Sebring International Raceway, resulting from the merger of GRAND-AM Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.

United SportsCar Racing will debut in 2014 with the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“The new name says it all,” said GRAND-AM President and CEO Ed Bennett. “In only six months since we announced the merger, GRAND-AM and the ALMS have taken huge strides to become one organization that will redefine sports car racing in North America. United SportsCar Racing reflects the fundamental spirit of how we are working together toward a common goal.”

Today’s announcement culminates a four-month project that involved New York-based SME Branding, one of the nation’s leading agencies with a client list that includes the NFL, NHL, UFC, the New York Yankees, Kentucky Derby, Madison Square Garden and NASCAR. SME conducted stakeholder research as well as fan input to develop the series’ name, logo and brand identity. The selection of United SportsCar Racing was derived from a submission by Cocoa, Fla.’s Louis Satterlee in GRAND-AM’s “Name The Future” fan contest. The logo, with its race helmet-like imagery, was developed to be an icon with a modern feel, representing a part of motorsports that is immediately recognizable.

Bennett, ALMS President and CEO Scott Atherton and SME Senior Partner Ed O’Hara collectively introduced United SportsCar Racing today in the Chateau Elan Hotel and Conference Center’s Le Mans Ballroom, adjacent to the famed Sebring’s Hairpin turn. Saturday will mark the 61st running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida – the opening race of the 2013 ALMS season.

A historic backdrop, indeed, for discussion of the future of North American sports car racing.

United SportsCar Racing Announcement

“When it came to the branding of our newly merged entities, we felt we had one chance to get it right – and now we believe we have done just that,” Atherton said.

“We began the branding process by listening to everyone – manufacturers, corporate partners, drivers, teams, tracks – and of course, the fans. The input was invaluable and helped lead us to today’s milestone announcement.”

O’Hara said the goal of the new name and logo is “to be modern, aspirational, authentic, unique and obviously, exciting. We want fans and the sports car industry to feel like they ‘own’ this new brand.

“We also want them to feel like that ownership is a long-term proposition. This new brand is made to order for the future, without a doubt.”

Also announced was the retaining of the storied International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) as the sanctioning body for United SportsCar Racing, with an updated version of the iconic IMSA logo unveiled. IMSA, co-founded in 1969 by John Bishop and the late Bill France Sr., also will sanction the new organization’s various ancillary series, including the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Ferrari Challenge, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Series, the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda Series, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin and the newly announced Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo.

In addition, the new competition class names for 2014 were announced:
• The lead Prototype (P) class, combining GRAND-AM’s Daytona Prototypes plus the ALMS’ P2 and DeltaWing cars;
• Prototype Challenge (PC), retained from the current ALMS class structure;
• GT Le Mans (GTLM), consisting of the ALMS’ current GT class;
• GT Daytona (GTD), consisting of GRAND-AM’s current GT class and the ALMS’ current GTC class;
• GX, coming over from the current GRAND-AM structure.

As part of today’s developments, regarding the GRAND-AM/ALMS merger, the holding company for GRAND-AM, IMSA/ALMS, Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway and Chateau Elan Hotel and Conference Center was changed from International Sports Car Auto Racing, LLC (ISCAR) to Grand American Holdings, LLC.

United SportsCar Racing also launched today a microsite, www.unitedsportscar.com, where fans can enter to win two tickets to the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona as well as official merchandise.

credit: http://www.grand-am.com

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Fisheries Economics of the United States Report Released

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has released the annual edition of Fisheries Economics of the United States for 2011, highlighting the economic impact of both recreational and commercial fishing.  In 2011, 11 million recreational anglers took 70 million saltwater fishing trips and generated $70 billion in sales impacts, $32 billion in value added impacts, and supported over 455,000 jobs nationally.

 

Taking a further look at the expenditures of U.S. anglers in 2011, a total of $4.5 billion in angler expenditures were related specifically to fishing trips with $2 billion of this for private boat-based fishing trips. Shore-based fishing trips generated $1.5 billion and for-hire-based fishing trips brought in $1 billion. The angler expenditures on fishing-related equipment for 2011 totaled over $22 billion with most related to boat expenses ($11 billion). Other major expenditures incurred by anglers included vehicle expenses ($4.1 billion), fishing tackle ($3.8 billion) and second home expenses ($2.1 billion).

 

This is great news for the recreational fishing industry because of the rise seen between 2010 and 2011, especially in the Southeast portion of the United States (South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Regions) where recreational fishing is economically important and a large driver of tourism. In 2011, around 70% of all recreational fishing jobs in the US were occupied by fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Regions. Recreational Fishing in these two regions generated $15.9 billion in fishing trip and durable equipment expenditures with $6.1 billion and $9.8 billion in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions respectively.

 

In 2011, 5.5 million of the 12 million saltwater anglers nationally fished in the Southeast United with 2.3 million anglers fishing in the South Atlantic region and 3.2 million anglers fishing in Gulf of Mexico region. Anglers in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico took 20 million trips and 23 million fishing trips in 2011, respectively. The large importance of the recreational fishing industry in these regions demonstrates the importance of the fisheries and the further need for conservation efforts to ensure that fishing opportunities are available for future generations.

 

The Billfish Foundation knows the importance of socioeconomic studies for the recreational fishing industry and has successfully used socioeconomic studies to further conservation and influence governments to place greater importance on their recreational fishing industries. Only with an increased knowledge of the socioeconomic impacts of anglers around the world can a unified voice be created for anglers to demonstrate their importance as an industry that needs to be recognized.

Read the Report Here

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Eenie Meenie Miney Moe World Premieres at MIFF 2013

Friday March 8th, 2013

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe had its world premiere for the Miami International Film Festival at the Olympia Theater on Thursday March 7th, 2013. The film was written by J. Bishop and Jokes Yanes as well as directed by Jokes Yanes. The film was produced by BV Productions and co-produced by Luis Bacardi and Michael Zoyes for Rum Bum Film and HD Studios. The film is focused on three men in their 20’s with visionary dreams of making it out the cycle that continues in the Magic City.  The story covers Raul, a tow truck driver who jacks card and delivers them to chop shops; Marco, a South Beach hotel concierge who has side drug hustle business on the side, and Vlad, a valet with big dreams of being ‘made” for the russian mob.  The film covers ever facet of their daily lives in the ‘real’ Miami from work, love, family and nightlife along with all the turmoils that come with it. As Ky Mani Marley’s character says in the film “Do you know what I like about Miami?…Everybody is dirty.” which sets the tone for the whole film.

Make sure you take a moment to view the trailer link below:

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Surrender The Fall: 850 Music Blog Review

The Memphis Tennessee band Surrender the Fall has exploded onto the modern rock scene in the last year. With a single currently at 40 on the active rock chart, lead singer Jared Cole granted an interview to talk about the past, future, and happenstance that makes up Surrender the Fall’s story.

Cole credits a musically inclined family for having an early interest in music at age thirteen. “As far as what got me into it; I just always loved music, always love melody, always loved the creative process of putting things together, and seeing things come to fruition.”

Calling he wide ranging tastes in music as ‘music without prejudice’ he gave up highschool football because his desire to play music came first. “I often wonder if I ever run into him,” Cole speaking on his high school football coach, “if he would be kind of sour about it or if he would be congratulatory. I don’t know.”

Don’t assume you have Surrender the Fall pegged as that lucky band that never had to pay their dues. “We are really excited about everything that has been going on. It puts us in a place that we haven’t been in before. As far as to the world, we are a baby band, but this band has been around for seven years.”

In fact, there was a time that the band had become so jaded that they nearly ignored the opportunity that catapulted them to the national stage. “We’d been around for a while, so for a band to be kicking it for years and not see as many results as they would like to see, we had gotten really jaded at that point. We had toyed with the idea of dissolving the band. At the last minute Luis Bacardi, who is the owner of the label, hits us up a third time.”

The third time was the charm. Surrender the Fall showcased at a Lollapalooza afterparty at the Chicago Hard Rock Hotel. About six weeks later, the band was recording at Sonic Ranch on Mr. Bacardi’s Rum Bum label.

Cole often uses phrases like ‘universal’ and ‘Cinderella story’ to describe Surrender the Fall’s path to commercial recognition  Each member has their own tale of happenstance, simply being at the right place at the right time, that led up to their joining the band.

Guitarist Eddie Tyre was displaced due to Katrina. One listen of the band’s demo convinced him to leave behind the idea of rebuilding his house and move to Memphis.

Guitarist Anthony Pitt’s life turned from football to music after one play managed to tear three of the four major ligaments in his knee. When a previous member made the decision to leave the band without much notice, it was Pitts that Cole thought of. A quick audition, less than a week’s worth of rehearsal, and Pitts was in New Orleans playing back to back gigs.

One of the things that most impressed me during my talk with Cole was his eagerness to share the spotlight with his bandmates. He is proud of the band, what they have accomplished, and is quick to talk about the importance of being equals. “None of us would be here if it wasn’t for the other person.  So it’s not like there is a rockstar in this band. Nobody gets paid more, nobody gets more credit here or there or anything like that. We split everything.”

“We have this saying that a band that gets paid together stays together. We couldn’t do it without each other and it is definitely a family.”

Surrender the Fall is hoping to return to the studio to record new material as soon as this Spring. “Fortunately we are constantly writing and constantly building the catalog. Throwing ideas and demoing and doing pre-production on our own. That is what we love to do.  The creative process keeps everything alive for us.”

However he becomes the most audibly excited when talking about the upcoming video for ‘Some Kind of Perfect.’ Cole wouldn’t give away much about the video’s content saying, “It is going to blow people away. This thing is insane. We had a great time shooting ‘Love Hate Masquerade’ and we sat down with said how are we going to one-up this one?”

“I have never been more excited about a video in my entire life. This thing is going to be savage and I can’t wait for people to see it.” The release date is tentatively set in the next two.

“We can’t wait to get back out on the road. We are a live,band, that is what we love to do. Touring for us, making the shit go down and having a good time is what we like to do.”

“We love what we do and love were we are at right now.  We are just making the most of it.”

Learn more at www.surrenderthefall.com

credit: http://850music.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/surrender-the-fall-interview-jared-cole/

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Rum Bum Racing Leads GRAND-AM Championship after COTA

Austin, Texas (2 March 2013) – After winning the 2012 GRAND-AM Championship, Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing is once again back on top as the team scored a fourth place finish at the Circuit of the Americas to move to the top of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship. Both Rum Bum Racing drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb led during the race as the duo once again made the most of the preparation from the Joe Varde-led crew.

The race (which will air on SPEED, March 9 4:00 PM ET) saw Longhi start from third in the order and run in the top four during his opening stint. The world-class facility set the stage for an exciting battle, with Longhi in the thick of the fight. But the New York-based racer has seen the ebbs and flows of championship campaigns, and knew that it was key to keep the nose clean and the big picture in mind.

“You always prefer to win, but you have to be smart,” said Longhi. “There were a couple of guys ahead of us who weren’t important as far as points. They were willing to take chances and wreck their cars just to get one spot on the track, whereas that is just not a good gamble for us. The team was flawless as usual, and the car was great. Onward and upward.”

After moving to the lead of the race, Longhi turned the car over to Plumb with the car in podium position – Plumb returning to the fray in fifth. A big battle for the podium ensued, with some close racing also leading to some hard and mis-judged contact from some familiar sources. But Plumb avoided any issues to be ready to fight at the finish. A final pit stop that featured a two-tire change didn’t harvest the seeds of the strategy call following an extended yellow period, but the the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche was able to still fight to the finish and score fourth, locking in 60 points to move to the top of the charts with two rounds of racing in the books.

“It was a good points race, and it’s great to get to the lead in the championship,” said Plumb. “Our pit stop strategy was great–had it not gone yellow everyone would have had to come in for fuel. You have to make the most of what the opportunity is, and we did that this weekend. The team did another great job, and we will just keep building on this. We are already looking forward to getting to Barber!”

SPEED will broadcast the event Saturday, March 9 at 4:00 PM (ET).

Rum Bum Racing will be back in action again April 6th at Barber Motorsports Park. The team debuted with the Porsche at the track in 2012, scoring a dramatic breakthrough victory and will target a similar outcome.

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Rum Bum Racing Leads GRAND-AM Championship after COTA

Austin, Texas (2 March 2013) – After winning the 2012 GRAND-AM Championship, Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing is once again back on top as the team scored a fourth place finish at the Circuit of the Americas to move to the top of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship. Both Rum Bum Racing drivers Nick Longhi and Matt Plumb led during the race as the duo once again made the most of the preparation from the Joe Varde-led crew.

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Rum Bum Racing Takes Third on Circuit of the Americas Grid

Austin, Texas (1 March 2013) – A new year, a new track, and a new state, but a familiar result as Nick Longhi wheeled the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche to third on the GRAND-AM of the Americas grid on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas.

The event weekend marks the debut for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series at the track for Round 2 of the 2013 championship season. Longhi will open the 2.5-hour race (SPEED, March 9 4:00 PM ET) from behind the wheel before turning the car over to co-driver Matt Plumb to take to the finish as the duo chase a 12th win for Rum Bum Racing.

Longhi’s fast lap time of 2:32.097-seconds around the 3.4-mile, Formula-1 grade circuit marks the second consecutive top-five start for Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing so far in the 2013 GRAND-AM season as the team looks to defend its maiden GRAND-AM Team Championship from 2012.

 

“I caught traffic on what I thought was going to be my fast lap,” said Longhi. “The team sent me out at exactly the right time for my second flying lap. But on my third lap, I caught two guys who were  stragglers. I  backed up to try to get another fast lap in, but just ran out of time for the session. With this team, you always expect to be strong. We were hoping for the pole, but all in all, this is a very good race car and we should be strong tomorrow.”

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will broadcast the event Saturday, March 9 at 4:00 PM (ET).

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Rum Bum Racing Takes Third on Circuit of the Americas Grid

Austin, Texas (1 March 2013) – A new year, a new track, and a new state, but a familiar result as Nick Longhi wheeled the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche to third on the GRAND-AM of the Americas grid on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas.

The event weekend marks the debut for the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series at the track for Round 2 of the 2013 championship season. Longhi will open the 2.5-hour race (SPEED, March 9 4:00 PM ET) from behind the wheel before turning the car over to co-driver Matt Plumb to take to the finish as the duo chase a 12th win for Rum Bum Racing.

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Rum Bum Racing Ready for Big Debut in Texas

Orlando, Fla. (27 February 2013) – The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series (CTSCC) has traveled to many diverse tracks around the country and this weekend will make its debut at the new state-of-the-art Circuit of the Americas. Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing is eager to return to race action for the highly anticipated Round 2 of the 2013 championship held at the 3.4-mile road course located just outside of Austin, Texas as the team looks to generate maximum points toward its GRAND-AM Championship defense.

The venue, which was purpose-built for the high horsepower Formula 1 machines, marks a new track and a new challenge for all of the GRAND-AM teams as each arrives with an empty notebook allowing for a fairly equal playing field heading into the race.

But with a track record that has seen the Rum Bum Racing team seamlessly rise to these types of challenges, the group is hoping to once again show strength on this new circuit.

In Rum Bum Racing’s 2010 debut season in which virtually all of the race events were held at tracks new to the rookie team, the group claimed three wins and five podiums that year. The 2011 season saw the CTSCC visit two new tracks – Road America and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – and in typical Rum Bum fashion, the team wasted no time in getting up to speed. Rum Bum Racing not only claimed the pole at Road America but also went on to stand on the podium in third. The team scored another podium with a third place result in its first-ever visit to Laguna Seca.

And as Rum Bum Racing travels to Texas, the defending champions are ready to carry the positive podium momentum from Daytona into this weekend’s race. After starting fifth in the season-opening event, a series of setbacks saw the No. 13 Porsche fall all the way to 34th position only to battle back to finish second through the combined efforts of crew chief Joe Varde’s shrewd strategy, quick pit work from the Rum Bum crew, and the superb driving talents of Longhi and Plumb.

“For us, as a team we just don’t get down,” said Longhi, who found himself spun from leading the race in Daytona. “Things happen – we got knocked back to last place and came back twice essentially. We never give up and keep coming back. For this weekend, it’s exciting for us to be going to a new circuit, especially one that is as remarkable as this. We had a very productive test there that hopefully will translate into another good weekend for the team.”

Rum Bum Racing tested the No. 13 Porsche machine at the 20-turn Texas track in December with both Longhi and Plumb giving the first-time facility rave reviews.

“Circuit of the Americas is a spectacular facility – it is really like no other place I’ve seen,” said Plumb. “The Formula 1 race here had some of the best racing I’ve ever seen. The track is configured so it has many passing zones and plenty of room so it should be another typical exciting Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race. We got the season off on the right foot at Daytona, and our main focus is to just keep that momentum going as the season picks up.”

The event kicks off with a promoter test day on Thursday, February 28. Official practice and qualifying will take place on Friday ahead of the 2.5-hour race on Saturday which is set to begin at 11:00 AM (ET).

Live timing and scoring can be followed at www.grand-am.com. SPEED will broadcast the event Saturday, March 9 at 4:00 PM (ET).

The post Rum Bum Racing Ready for Big Debut in Texas appeared first on Rum Bum Racing.

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Rum Bum Racing Ready for Big Debut in Texas

Orlando, Fla. (27 February 2013) – The GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series (CTSCC) has traveled to many diverse tracks around the country and this weekend will make its debut at the new state-of-the-art Circuit of the Americas. Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing is eager to return to race action for the highly anticipated Round 2 of the 2013 championship held at the 3.4-mile road course located just outside of Austin, Texas as the team looks to generate maximum points toward its GRAND-AM Championship defense.

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TBF’s Tag and Release Award Ceremony

On February 15, 2013 The Billfish Foundation honored conservation achievements at the 2013 Tag and Release Ceremony held at Miami’s Jungle Island Treetop Ballroom in front of a crowd of more than 170 individuals representing nine countries, the largest crowd in Tag & Release Ceremony history. The Tag and Release Ceremony sponsored by Bisbee’s Black and Blue recognized the 42 winners of the 2012 Tag and Release Competition and award winners received beautiful trophies sponsored by King Sailfish Mounts. All award winners in attendance received sunglasses courtesy of Costa and overall winners each received a lure from Bonze Lures.

 

TBF’s Overall Tagging Angler Winner for all species (any combination of blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin, white marlin, sailfish and/or spearfish) included Juan Cruz Anon (Miami, Fla., USA). Kumie Saegusa (Nishiki, Yokohama, Japan) took the honors as the Top Overall Lady Tagging Angler. Tyler Sudbrink (Greensboro, NC, USA), a multi-year winner in his last year of youth category eligibility, won the Top Overall Youth Tagging Angler and repeating as Top Overall Tagging Captain was Fin Gaddy (Manteo, N.C., USA).

 

In the release division, taking the honors as both Top Overall Release Angler and Top Overall Release Lady Angler was Tiffany Sisolak (Kitty Hawk, NC, USA). Jacob Pearcy (Tuscon, Arizona, USA) won the Top Overall Release Youth Angler and Brad Philipps (Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala) repeated his title as the Top Overall Release Captain.

 

The 2013 competition began Nov.1, 2012 and will wrap up on Oct. 31, 2013. TBF members from more than 70 countries are invited to participate and ‘Tag Data Reports’ and ‘Release Notifications’ can be submitted to TBF using either the traditional hard copies or reported online at www.billfishtag.org. Separate categories currently exist for each the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans with additional categories being considered for the 2014 competition.

 

To be eligible to receive an award active TBF members must have tagged and/or released five or more of a species to qualify. In addition, TBF’s Youth Program was created in 2001 and recognizes the conservation ethics and achievements of young anglers. It includes a three fish minimum in three separate age groupings for both tag and release categories.

 

The Billfish Foundation’s 2012 Tag & Release Award Winners

 

Top Tagging Anglers – Atlantic Ocean

Mike Brauser – Lighthouse Point, FL USA – Blue Marlin

Robert DeYoung – Lyndhurst, NJ USA – Sailfish

Richard Gudoian – Key Largo, FL USA – Swordfish

Sandra MacMillan* – Fort Lauderdale, FL USA – White Marlin

Peter Cherasia* – Rumson, NJ USA – White Marlin

 

Top Tagging Captains – Atlantic Ocean

Zak Conde – San Vicente, Cape Verde – Blue Marlin

Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA – Sailfish

Sean O’Connor – Key Largo, FL USA – Swordfish

Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA – White Marlin

 

Top Tagging Anglers – Pacific Ocean

David Richardson – Bangalow, NSW Australia –Black Marlin

Tsumura Yasuhisa* – Sumiyoshi, Osaka Japan – Blue Marlin

Kumie Saegusa* – Nishiku, Yokohama Japan – Blue Marlin

Juan Cruz Anon – Miami, FL USA – Sailfish

John Duvall – Kemah, TX USA – Striped Marlin

 

Top Tagging Captains – Pacific Ocean

Tim Richardson – Bangalow, NSW AU – Black Marlin

Yanagi Takaharu – Hyogo, Japan – Blue Marlin

Chris Sheeder – Miami, FL USA – Sailfish

Chuck Wigzell – Kailua-Kona, HI USA – Spearfish

Sean Holden – Newport Beach, CA USA – Striped Marlin

 

Top Tagging Captains – Indian Ocean

Bernard Vale – Coral Bay, Australia – Black Marlin

Ross Newton – Broome, Australia – Blue Marlin

Ross Newton – Broome, Australia – Sailfish

Pat Hemphill – Ukunda, Kenya – Striped Marlin

 

Top Youth Tagging Winners

Lillian Way – Houston, TX USA – Age 11-12

Shawn MacMullin – Key Largo, FL USA – Age 11-12 – Runner Up

Tyler Sudbrink – Greensboro, NC USA – Age 16-17

 

Overall Tagging Winners

Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA – Overall Captain

Juan Cruz Anon – Miami, FL USA – Overall Angler

Kumie Saegusa – Nishiku, Yokohama Japan – Top Lady Angler

Tyler Sudbrink – Greensboro, NC USA – Top Youth Angler

 

Top Release Anglers – Atlantic Ocean

William Thomasson – Molino, FL USA – Blue Marlin

Gray Ingram – Jupiter, FL USA – Sailfish

Scott Cooper – Mobile, AL USA – Swordfish

Gray Ingram – Jupiter, FL USA – White Marlin

 

Top Release Captains – Atlantic Ocean

Marty Bates – San Vicente, Cape Verde – Blue Marlin

Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA – Sailfish

Russel Craft – Mobile, AL USA – Swordfish

Fin Gaddy – Manteo, NC USA – White Marlin

 

Top Release Anglers – Pacific Ocean

Barry Alty – Gold Coast, QLD Australia – Black Marlin

Barry Alty – Gold Coast, QLD Australia – Blue Marlin

Tiffany Sisolak – Kitty Hawk, NC USA – Sailfish

John Rogers – Glendale, AZ USA – Striped Marlin

John Gregory – Keri Keri, New Zealand – Swordfish

 

Top Release Captains – Pacific Ocean

Chris Van Leeuwen* – Iztapa, Guatemala – Blue Marlin
Brett Alty* – Gold Coast, QL Australia – Blue Marlin

Brett Alty – Gold Coast, QL Australia – Black Marlin

Brad Philipps – Iztapa, Guatemala – Sailfish

Jose Nunez – Chino Hills, CA USA – Striped Marlin

John Gregory – Keri Keri, New Zealand – Swordfish

 

Top Release Anglers – Indian Ocean

Anders Jonsson – Ystad, Sweden – Sailfish

 

Top Release Anglers – Indian Ocean

Simon Hemphill – Ukunda, Kenya – Sailfish

 

Top Youth Release Winners

Gregory Benn – Great Falls, VA USA – Age 13-15

Wesley Davis – Malibu, CA USA – Age 13-15 – Runner Up

Jacob Pearcy – Tucson, AZ USA – Age 16-17

Tyler Sudbrink – Greensboro, NC USA – Age 16-17 – Runner Up

 

Overall Release Winners

Brad Philipps – Iztapa, Guatemala – Overall Captain

Tiffany Sisolak – Kitty Hawk, NC USA- Overall Angler

Tiffany Sisolak – Kitty Hawk, NC USA- Overall Lady Angler

Jacob Pearcy – Tucson, AZ USA – Top Youth Angler

 

* Indicates a tie occurred

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Surrender The Fall Tour / hardDrive Interview

Surrender The Fall kicks off the second leg of the tour with Eye Empire.  The tour began yesterday (February 17th) in Indiana and routes throughout the Mid-West / Pacific Northwest.  The band is currently on tour in support of their new single “Some Kind of Perfect”, which is currently #40 on the active rock charts.

This week catch Surrender The Fall’s interview with Lou Brutus on hardDrive, the respected and influential extreme rock radio show.  You can catch the interview all week on your local active rock station.  To request “Some Kind of Perfect” please call (877) MUSIC – 11.

The band recently filmed the music video for “Some Kind of Perfect” with Rum Bum Film and HD Studios.  Check out the gallery below for behind the scenes photos during the music video shoot.

Current Tour Dates:
https://www.facebook.com/Surrenderthefall/events

 

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Saliva – Recording New Album

Feb 5th, 2013

Platinum recording artist Saliva, is currently in Nashville, TN recording their eighth record (1st with RumBum Records) with producer Bobby Huff, and executive producer Luis Bacardi with new lead singer Bobby Amaru.

Bobby Huff co-wrote Saliva’s last single “Badass” and has worked with artists such as Meat Loaf, Three Doors Down, Cavo, Cold, Drowning Pool and Shinedown.

“Everyone has been able to get all of their ideas out and its really given the record a new life sonically and dynamically. Saliva is reborn again.  This is just the beginning”, says new front man Bobby Amaru.

Click the gallery below to see Saliva recording their 1st record with RumBum Records.

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White Marlin As Threatened or Endangered Species Not Warranted by NMFS

Provided by Capt. Fin Gaddy

On January 30, 2013 the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released the 90-day finding on the two petitions received from Mr. James Chambers and the Center For Biological Diversity (CBD) to list white marlin (Kajikia albidus) as an endangered or threatened species. NMFS concluded “these petitions do not present substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the petition action may be warranted.”

 

Previously petitioned by the same parties in 2001, NMFS determined that white marlin did not warrant listing according to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The possibility of white marlin listed as threatened or endangered also occurred in 2006 following the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) stock assessment for white marlin. As a result of a settlement agreement between NMFS, the CBD, and the Turtle Island Restoration Network, NMFS conducted the Atlantic White Marlin Status Review (AWMSR) and determined that the white marlin was neither threatened nor endangered.

 

The 2012 petition by the two parties, isolated the ‘North Atlantic sub-population of white marlin’, but NMFS declined their claims of sub-populations and determined that “the best available information indicates white marlin are a single species through its range without separation into populations.” NMFS evaluated the information presented in the petitions in addition to best available information in their files to determine whether there is a concern for impacts and threats that may be posing risk of extinction for white marlin. The petition stated three of the five possible factors of section 4(a)(1) of the ESA by looking at whether there was “(A) present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat and range; (B) overutilization for commercial and recreational purposes; and (D) inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms.  NMFS determined that there was not substantial information warranting a listing under ESA to any of these three claims.

 

This is an important issue for both the recreational and commercial fishing industries because of the negative impacts potentially resulting from a listing of either endangered or threatened for white marlin under the Endangered Species Act.

 

The post White Marlin As Threatened or Endangered Species Not Warranted by NMFS appeared first on The Billfish Foundation.

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Sinister Girlz Profiles Jared Cole from Surrender The Fall

Sinister Girlz – EP57 Surrender The Fall

Sinister Girlz profiled Jared Cole, front-man of Surrender The Fall where he talks about the bands new single and upcoming tour. Jared also discusses how the band came together and saved all of their lives.

Please listen to the podcast here: http://sinistergirlz.com/blog/2013/01/episode-57-surrender-the-fall/

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Rum Bum Racing Shines in Rolex 24 Debut

 

Daytona Beach, Fla. (27 January 2013) In its relatively short history, Rum Bum Racing has shown that when it decides to do something, it usually happens.

So for Rum Bum Racing’s many fans and those who follow the sport, it was hardly any surprise that in the team’s first-ever entry into the brutal Rolex 24 At Daytona, the No. 13 Rum Bum Racing with Audi Sport customer racing Audi R8 GRAND AM was doing battle for the top step on the podium in the closing moments of the race.

The late race charge was all the more remarkable after the team had lost crucial laps and track position to a pair of significant procedural penalties. But the Joe Varde-called strategy saw the team back on the lead lap, and fighting for yet another victory at Daytona as the world watched.

As the team raced to the checkered flag from second place, the car ran out of fuel, resulting in a seventh place finish for Matt Plumb, Marcus Winkelhock, Christopher Haase, and Frank Biela.

The weekend started out well for Luis Bacardi’s Rum Bum Racing with Audi Sport customer racing organization when Winkelhock qualified the No. 13 Audi R8 GRAND-AM 15th on the 34-car GT class grid. Just 40 laps into the 678-lap race, the GT-1 World Champion had already improved 10 positions to run in fifth.

In a race that saw 16 caution periods, the No. 13 never put a wheel wrong and continuously ran clean and consistent laps around the 3.56-mile speedway road course. Running among the top-10 through almost the entire 24-hour race, Plumb, Winkelhock, Haase and Biele each showed the perfect combination of patience and aggression behind the wheel of the Audi machine.

The announced merger of GRAND-AM and ALMS has many looking forward to the future, but the early integration of a new and revised rules and procedure package ultimately cost the team a great shot at a win, as the team fell afoul of a pair of procedural penalties, which came with them significant time penalties.

“Our radios weren’t working properly throughout the whole race,” offered Plumb. “I think there was a little bit of a language barrier between ‘Rum Bum speak’ and ‘German speak’ and the communication got a little tangled at one point in the middle of the night. We just had a miscue with the pace car-once where we didn’t pass it when we should have…and then, later in the race-we got penalized because we passed the pace car when we shouldn’t have! So we lost time with those penalties, but Joe (Varde, Crew Chief) came up with a scenario where we had a series of smart gambles on how to get the laps back.”

The race pace was slowed for a lengthy caution period Saturday morning around 7:00 AM when heavy fog enveloped the circuit which forced the field to circulate behind the pace car for 1 hour and 40 minutes. But once the fog lifted, it was back to high-speed running and the fan-favorite No. 13 led the GT class to the green.

Into the closing hours of the race, the Rum Bum Racing with Audi Sport customer racing Audi R8 GRAND-AM looked well-poised for a sure podium finish but the team knew the No. 13 would be close on fuel in the final run to the checkered flag. 

“Joe (Varde) called some strategies and they all worked, and before you knew it we were on the lead lap but then we had to figure out how we were going to make it fuel wise,” offered Plumb. “How it worked out we would have had to stop and fuel and would have finished seventh. As it turned out we still finished seventh but at least we made a go of it.”

The challenge of taking on not only a new category, with a new car, in one of the greatest racing challenges in North America with a new and unfamiliar partner like Audi Sport customer racing, was in the end, just another day for Rum Bum Racing. While the effort didn’t result in the win that the group had been targeting, it was a strong demonstration of just what Rum Bum Racing is capable of.

“We had a language barrier but I don’t think we had any communication issues,” said Varde. “We knew what we were talking to each other about, there were just different ways to get there. They (Audi Sport customer racing staff) were great guys to work with and they are going to be my lifetime friends now. Anytime you can do that is something special. We were going to finish seventh, or win, so it was an easy choice.”

Rum Bum Racing will return to race action at Circuit of the Americas March 1-2 for Round 2 of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series with the No. 13 Porsche.

The GRAND-AM 200 will be televised on SPEED this February 2 at 4:00 PM (ET).

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