Key West Sailfish Tournament Returns With New Sponsors for 2026

The Key West Historic Seaport kicks off a three-day offshore competition Thursday when the Key West Sailfish Tournament presented by Deep Eddy Vodka and Raymarine gets underway, running March 26 through 28.

The sponsor lineup marks a clear shift from recent editions. The 2025 tournament carried the Patron Tequila banner, with weigh stations at Dante's Pool Bar and Restaurant on Caroline Street bearing that branding both Friday and Saturday. This year, navigation electronics company Raymarine joins Deep Eddy Vodka as co-presenting sponsor. Raymarine has appeared on the tournament's partner roster in prior years, including the 2024 edition that wrapped March 30, but this is its first year sharing top billing.

Thursday night opens with a kick-off party and mandatory captain's meeting at the Historic Seaport before competition begins Friday morning on the waters off Key West Harbor. The two-day, shoot-out format pits offshore teams against each other in a billfish release competition, with the leaderboard subject to rapid swings. Sailfish push into the Gulf Stream just miles from the reef during the spring Atlantic migration, and teams working live bait on kite rigs can rack up releases in clusters, meaning a single productive hour can reshuffle the standings entirely.

The tournament draws teams from across Florida and beyond, all chasing prize money in a format that keeps fishing tight to the Keys rather than requiring long offshore runs. Past editions have seen the full sponsor community turn out at weigh stations, with partners including the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, Tackle Center of Islamorada, Conch Harbor Marina, Galleon Sunset Tiki Bar, and Tattoo's and Scars Saloon, the last of which hosted late-night raffle celebrations in 2025 after the awards ceremony wrapped at Dante's Pool Bar.

No specific prize amounts or registration details were available ahead of the event. Live scoring for past tournaments has been tracked at the tournament's dedicated results page, which archived the 2024 competition in full.