How the Atlantic Division Stands Halfway Through The Season
The Hunt for the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs, brought to you by Xotic Outdoors
Two months after SFC kicked off 2026 at the Key West Classic, the Atlantic Division has already reached the halfway point of its regular season. The schedule was planned this year to focus heavily on the Atlantic Division at the start of the year due to the bluefin tuna spawning and migration season that takes place in the Gulf of Mexico in the late spring.
That means our first three tournaments of the year all featured the seven Atlantic Boats. Both divisions were fishing in Key West, but next week’s Gulfport Mississippi Open is the first time we will see the six-boat Gulf Division in their true element.
Before we shift gears to the Gulf for a few weeks, here is how the Atlantic stands after three stops:
Divisional Standings Halfway Through the Season
New Jersey Sea Birds Angling Club - 9,100 Points
South Florida Sails Angling Club - 8,900 Points
Lights Out Boston Angling Club - 8,700 Points
East Coast Remix Angling Club - 8,400 Points
South Carolina Outcast Angling Club - 7,600 Points
North Carolina Flare Angling Club - 6,400 Points
Rhode Island Breakers Angling Club - 6,400 Points
Lights Out Boston took the early points lead after their season opening victory in Key West, followed by consecutive fourth place finishes at the Walker’s Cay Open and in a weather-shortened Carrier Cup last week in Charleston, South Carolina. Tournament wins are worth a significant number of points more than the runners-up, allowing the defending division champions to stay in the hunt, only 400 points behind their rivals, New Jersey Sea Birds AC.
A dominant victory in Walker’s Cay for Captain Mike King and South Florida Sails AC, a fifth place finish in Key West and a second place finish in Charleston have the Sails in second place, only 200 points behind the leaders.
The Atlantic Division leaders halfway through, the New Jersey Sea Birds jumped from third to top of the standings due to their lopsided Carrier Cup win. The Sails dominated Walker’s Cay with The Flock finishing in a distant second, but Capt. Blaine Birch and the ‘Birds returned the favor (with interest) in Charleston, tripling the gap to the second place Sails.
Consistency should be rewarded, but in the case of Captain JC Cleare and East Coast Remix Angling Club, they still need to consistently finish higher than third place to earn one of the division's two berths to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs. Remix, the Palm Beach-based sailfish dynasty has taken three-straight third place finishes. Looking back to 2025, they’ve finished third in six-straight SFC tournaments.
A win in the next tournament would guarantee Remix at least second in the season standings, setting up an extremely tight race in the final push for the divisional crown. The only problem is that the schedule shifts further north, right into the wheelhouse of both Lights Out Boston and the New Jersey Sea Bids. This was where Lights Out Boston in 2025 went on a tear, releasing 91 billfish in their three-consecutive tournament wins on their way to the divisional championship, including an SFC record 47 white marlin during the Oak Bluffs Bluewater Classic.
Should another club record a victory or place in the top three, particularly any combination of South Carolina Outcast, North Carolina Flare or the Rhode Island Breakers, it would throw the entire playoff and divisional championship picture for a loop.
The second half of the Atlantic Season looks like this:
Cape Cod Bluewater Classic (Falmouth, MA): July 17-19
Rhode Island Offshore Invitational (Newport, RI): July 24-26
The MidAtlantic (Ocean City, MD): August 21-23
Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride to the Zane Grey Championship Playoffs. In the meantime, we will be on the Gulf Coast for two tournaments, starting in Gulfport, Mississippi next week.
See you there.