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May 7, 2007 To whom it may concern: It is with a heavy heart I have to send this letter. Due to circumstances beyond our control, the King of the Cape Classic King Mackerel Tournament will not be held in 2007. Holding a tournament is not an easy task, but be assured we did not arrive at the decision to cancel the tournament without much consideration and the pursuit of alternative means, dates and locations. Unfortunately, the end result was that we were not able to overcome some unforeseen obstacles and will not be able to present the tournament in 2007. We will continue looking for ways to return for 2008, but do not wish to foster false hope and unfortunately the outlook is not bright. There were several factors which forced this decision, with the major one being the rapidly increasing value of coastal, and especially waterfront, property. Working waterfronts are disappearing at an alarming rate coast wide and the old Southport Yacht Basin, including our locations at the Shrimp House Restaurants and Southport Watersports, has been consumed by this trend. It wasn't all that long ago, there were several shrimp houses and several fish packers working from this area that was considered the commercial basin for Southport. Now there is one part-time family fish house and one offloading site for a fish packing business with a remote storage facility. The locations formerly occupied by the other fish and shrimp houses have been sold to developers who are erecting multiple level buildings with businesses on the lower level and condominiums above. The King of the Cape Classic survived one buyout of our location and was fortunate to be allowed to relocate just down the block. Now, that property has been sold also and negotiations to find a new location, within the budget of the tournament, have proved futile. We would like to thank all the fishermen and sponsors that have supported the King of the Cape. You have allowed us to support the endeavors of the Long Bay Artificial Reef Association (www.lbara.com) and Special Olympics of Brunswick County. To the SKA – we appreciate being allowed to be a part of Division 9, which is the home of some of the best, and most generous, fishermen in the world. We would like to extend our gratitude to everyone for their support over the past years and hope this decision does not inconvenience anyone too severely. It was a very difficult decision to have to face, but we could not find a way to continue at this time. My best regards and good fishing to all, Jerry Dilsaver |
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