The America Cup 2011 - Vail, CO

[John Knight]

The America Cup International Fly Fishing Tournament has just wrapped up its 4th year, September 16-18, 2011.  Held in Vail, Colorado, the catch and release tournament hosted 70 anglers from around the U.S. and Europe, all competing for the right to take home ‘The Cup’. The picturesque venues of The Colorado and Blue Rivers, Lake Nottingham and Sylvan Lake were excellent locations for anglers and spectators. The weather was challenging at times, but the fishermen adapted and all venues produced high numbers of trout.  

Thank you to all the teams and supporters that traveled from far and wide to get to 8,150 feet above sea level to compete in the golden fall colors of the rocky mountains.  The expenses and time involved to journey to Vail, CO was deeply appreciated by The America Cup committee.  

Team Winners:  Team Emerger from Ireland took home gold medals and earned ‘The Cup’, Team Wyoming the silver medals and Team Caddis from Colorado got bronze medals.

Individual Winners:  Rob Kolanda of Littleton, Colorado won gold and ‘The Cup’, Riley Cotter of Denver, Colorado, silver and Dejon Hamann of Buffalo, N.Y. the bronze medal. Kolanda was part of Team Emerger, taking home double gold!  It was an impressive tournament, filled with talent and camaraderie amongst all.  

The 3 day fish count of scored trout was 2,189, a number that truly shows the quality of fly fishing in Colorado.

The Evergreen Lodge in Vail was the host hotel providing great lodging and accommodations for anglers and volunteers. Timberline Tours supplied easy, efficient and comfortable transportation to all fishing venues.  For many attendees it was their first time visiting Vail. They were impressed at the town’s beauty and location and stated they were excited to return for next year’s competition.

Sector Judges:  Thank you all for stepping up and making the venues run smoothly.  Adam for taking on a daily variety of drama on the Colorado, Streb and Chris for moving tons of boats to Sylvan, Tate for doing the late night put ins at Nottingham, Michael Johnson for showing up ready and willing, and Lance Glaser and Sherri Topping for helping set the beats on the Blue and for helping to run the show on the ranch.  Camp Machete - Big thanks to the Sylvan Lake crew who went way beyond the call of duty from staying on site with the boats for 4 nights to entertaining the nearby campers for the weekend.  Bob, Chris, Zim, Larry, Kitty, and others that will go unnamed.

Venue Owners:  Thank you for use of the land/lakes: Mike Oros for Blue Valley Ranch, Karl and Jenn Berger for Coyote
River Ranch, DOW & Colorado State Parks for Sylvan Lake and Town of Avon for Lake Nottingham.

Boat Owners:  Thank you to Boat owners: Bob Streb, Chris Sandoski, Charlie Card, Dan and Jill Chalfant, Nova Guides,
Noreen Galaba, Paul Zimmermann, Rick Messmer and Jeremy Sides, Minturn Anglers, Alpine River Anglers, Fly Fishing Outfitters, and Gore Creek Fly Fisherman.

Loch Me Amadeus - A big thanks to Rob Kolanda and Russ Miller for the Hardy drogues!  The worked perfectly and we fully endorse these competition level drogues.

Supporters:  Thank you to Coco Melin and Ricci Jo Martinez at the Evergreen Lodge, The Vail Daily for the local coverage and front page stories, TV8 for all the interviews, Scott Willoughby from the Denver Post, Russ Miller and Rob Kolanda for getting us the drogues, Morgan Grimshaw for hats and t‐shirts, Darrell Miller from Riverside Trophies for the medals, Bruce from High Country Custom Impressions for the Cups, Sherry at Eagle Embroidery for the logos on the shirts, JD Murphy, Robert Valuck, and Brad Befus for the Colorado Youth Team, Kari Miller Social Media Coordinator for Vail Resorts, Jeff Place for the lanyards, Larry Grossman  Vail sneak Peek, and to Mark Tamborino for the Kirby Kosmos lunches each day, Timberline Tours for the professional drivers and comfortable transportation, Matthew Clark for controlling and assisting with scoring until late into the nights.  Thanks to Tim Ramey, John Wright, Lisa Chioffi, and others for the awesome photos for the website!!   Thank you to Tred Barta for supporting The Cup and for providing a screening of his show The Best & Worst of Tred Barta.

Sponsors:  Thank you to all the sponsors and partners that supported The Cup this year. Town of Vail, Town of
Avon, Blue Valley Ranch, Coyote River Ranch, DOW & Colorado State Parks for Sylvan Lake, Bozeman Watch Company, Hardy Greys, Ross Reels, Scientific Anglers, Smith Optics, Mountain Beverage, Nova Guides, PFFL, Emerger, Minturn Anglers, Alpine River Anglers, Fly Fishing Outfitters, and Gore Creek Fly Fisherman, Dr. Slick, NuCast, Seagur, Trout Legend, Eagle Valley Trout Unlimited, and Ammala Rod.

Special Thanks to the Town of Vail, the Town of Avon, CDOW and Colorado State Parks, Coyote River Ranch and    
Blue Valley Ranch for providing the anglers access to these wonderful venues.

Dates for 2012 will be posted soon!

John Knight
www.theamericacup.com