An exceptional craze
Michel Polydor, President of the Fédération Française des Pêches Sportives (FFPS) Carnassier, announced the event in a press release dated June 28, and encouraged interested parties to register as soon as registration opened on Tuesday July 9 at 5pm. He was right: the strong interest in this competition and the numerous requests for information prompted the organizers to increase the number of boats to 80, compared with 50 the previous year.
Registration opened at 5pm on Tuesday July 9. In less than two hours, all places were sold out.
An increased gauge
Following this exceptional success, the organizers have had to increase the number of crews to 100. The announcement was published the following day, Wednesday July 10, at 6pm, on the FFPS/Carnassier and Mercury Marine France social networks.
The second wave of registrations opened at 8pm. Within an hour, the 20 extra places had been taken.
Alexandre Portheault, FFPS/Carnassier vice-president, says: "Whereas last year it took a few days to fill the gauge for the first edition, this year it took less than two hours. We knew we'd fill the gauge quickly when we saw the craze, but not so fast!"
A real craze for fishing competitions
Michel Polydor adds: "We've seen a real craze for competitions recently. We've also seen this in the Salmo Trek organized, like the MFC, by the FFPS/Carnassier via its club The Artists."
The Mercury Fishing Cup is the new format of the French championship for lure fishing for carnivorous fish in boats, organized by the Fédération Française des Pêches Sportives (FFPS) with Mercury Marine.
After Poses sur la Seine, Eure (27), it's the turn of Lac de Vassivière, straddling Haute-Vienne (87) and Creuse (23), to host the MFC on October 19 and 20. The winning duo will take home the title of Champion de France des pêches des carnassiers en bateau 2024, the MFC trophy and a cheque for 10,000 euros.
