2026 SFC Key West Classic: Lights Out Boston and Third Coast Renegades Open the Season With Trophies

The Sport Fishing Championship dropped its 2026 season-opening flag at Conch Republic Seafood Co. on April 17, and three days later it was Lights Out Boston Angling Club standing alone at the top of the Atlantic Division — with the highest overall score in the field — while Third Coast Renegades claimed the Gulf Division side of the Citizen Trophy. Both clubs walked away from Key West with the first hardware of the year.

Tournament at a glance

• Event: SFC Key West Classic, presented as the Atlantic Division season opener and a dual-divisional regular-season stop
• Dates: April 17–19, 2026 (Friday–Sunday)
• Location: Key West, Florida — Conch Republic Seafood Co. host venue
• Target species: Atlantic sailfish (primary), with bonus points for any billfish release
• Format: 8:00 a.m. shotgun start each morning; lines-out, live-broadcast scales and awards each evening
• Hardware on the line: The Citizen Trophy, presented by Citizen Watch, awarded to the winner of every regular-season SFC event — both divisions

Atlantic Division: Lights Out Boston rides six sailfish to 450

The Atlantic crown came down to a release race over three days of light-tackle sailfishing off the Keys, and Lights Out Boston had the deepest bench. Five different anglers shared in six sailfish catches across the tournament — a tournament-best 450 points — and the crew never let the lead slip after Day 2.

Team owner Drew Dolben framed the win as an offseason story as much as an April one: "The SFC has raised the bar for competitive billfishing. If you want to stay at the front of the pack, you have to treat the offseason like part of the season."

Boat owners and captains Rob Carmichael and Jackie Hayes ran the program from the Viking 62 Lights Out, and Carmichael credited a winter of high-rep sailfishing in Quepos, Costa Rica with the synchronization that paid off in Key West: "Quepos is outstanding because you get a lot of sail bites, teaser bites, doubles, triples, quads. That kind of fishing really tightens up a crew."

Gulf Division: Third Coast Renegades quietly takes the second trophy

On the Gulf side, the Citizen Trophy went to Third Coast Renegades, who outpaced the rest of the visiting Gulf clubs in their first SFC stop of the season. The Renegades' win means the only two clubs to leave Key West with hardware were the ones that turned a single weekend of Atlantic-style sailfishing into a divisional advantage they now carry through April and May.

Why this event mattered

The Key West Classic is the first time the SFC's 14 clubs put a number on the board in the regular season, and the format — a primarily-sailfish event run as the Atlantic opener — rewards crews that can string together teaser bites and doubles in a hurry. Lights Out Boston did exactly that. Throwing the league's top overall score at the season opener is also a useful tell for power-rankings watchers: the clubs that arrive in Key West already in offseason-program shape tend to keep showing up at the scales in May and June.

For the Gulf Division clubs, Key West is also one of the few chances all season to fish head-to-head against Atlantic competition outside of the playoffs. Third Coast Renegades used it.

What's next on the calendar

From Key West, the league rolled north to the Atlantic mid-season tour and then east to the Bahamas for the Walker's Cay Open in May — where the points started landing in much bigger chunks. The full 2026 SFC season runs through September 7, with the top two finishers from each division advancing to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs in Cabo San Lucas.

Sources: Sport Fishing Championship — Week 1 Highlights From Across the League; SFC — Key West Classic event page; PR Newswire — Lights Out Boston AC Kicks off the 2026 Sport Fishing Championship Season with a Big Win in Key West Classic; Lights Out Boston AC — Picks Up First Win of the 2026 Season: Key West Classic.