When Anthony Hsieh's Bad Company "dream team," consisting of Capt. Steve Lassley, Pete Grosbeck, James Kingsmill, Andy Horner and Keith O'Brien-Morton (all tournament winners from California) and Hawaiian sport-fishing legend Randy Parker won an unprecedented $3.9 million in last year's Bisbee Black and Blue, what everyone wanted to know was how well they got along.

As it turned out, the first time team (which did not include Hsieh, who was running another Bad Company boat) meshed seamlessly, said Parker, who runs a third Bad Company sport-fisher for Hsieh in Kona, Hawaii. "I was worried about different styles of fishing at first because in Hawaii we fish more like they do on the East Coast," he said. "But 10 minutes in, I felt like I'd been fishing with Steve and Pete for 20 years."

While much was made in the press about the composition of this all-star roster, a winning team is only as good as its equipment.

Having the right boat, and more importantly, having it set up properly, is the secret to successful West Coast tournament fishing, says Hsieh, who will soon be trading his three-boat fleet of refitted Hatteras sport-fishing yachts for three custom-designed and factory-rigged Vikings for the 2008 California tournament season.

Through what is being called the Bad Company Edition 60', Viking represents what we believe is essential for a successful West Coast tournament boat, says Hsieh, who recently became an owner in Viking's West Coast dealership.  "It will be the first turnkey sport-fisherman available on the West Coast," he adds, complete with a West Coast style tower with 270 degrees of unobstructed visibility and a Furuno electronics package with side-scanning sonar."

When it comes to East versus West Coast needs, Hsieh says as different as seas in the Atlantic and Pacific are, the real difference is in how the boats are set up.

The former professional deckhand says: "To me the most perfectly suited boat ever built for this fishery was the Ed Monks-designed Elliott pilot house fisherman with its modified V-bottom. It provided protection from our cold weather with its modified V and had good all-around seakeeping performance. It also had an excellent livewell system."

In the years since, such boats have gone out of fashion, he observes, in favor of convertible sport-fishers that are popular for their styling – but not their setup. That's why West Coast owners are buying used boats and butchering and customizing to fit their fishing, he says.

It also explains why buying a new boat is such a challenge for West Coast yacht buyers. "It's not just cost – customizing can and often does double the price of the boat – but it's also the time it takes. Most such refits can take a year or more, which just adds to the stress."

Thanks to California's strict environmental rules, custom marine facilities have dwindled on the West Coast. "And the ones we do have with talented guys are so booked up, you just about have to take a number," said Capt. Mike Hurt.

Steve DeGroote, president of C-Fab Custom Fabrication in San Diego, did all of Capt. Steve Lassley and Hsieh's customization on the Hatteras 55 and 60 Bad Company boats, which have become the template for much of what is planned for the new Bad Company Viking Edition boats debuting at the Miami International Boat Show in February.

Thus demand for tournament-ready boats on the West Coast is behind the Hsieh and Viking collaboration, said Pat Healey, vice president for Viking Yachts. "With our engineers and partnerships with Palm Beach Custom Towers and Atlantic Marine Electronics we can deliver an engineered boat with everything West Coast fishermen need for their style of fishing - and it won't look like an afterthought. We are integrating the 400-gallon transom livewell Capt. Steve Lassley wants for storing up to 600 mackerel and/or 9 tuna tubes and the smaller well on the foredeck so that it looks it is part of the boat."

For West Coast fishermen this is a major step, said Hsieh. "Because we are much more into large volume bait systems, the usual flush cockpit gravity-fed livewells found on production boats and most custom fishing convertibles just don't cut it," he explains.

"Whenever we start cutting and rebuilding a boat, a lot of effort goes into where to place the thru-hulls so we don't create air locks and bubbles when backing or if seas are rough. It's not just a matter of cutting holes," he emphasizes. "The changes must add efficiency so a lot of thought goes into a West Coast refit. That's why we chose Viking. With Viking, we are able to do the engineering and planning upfront so we don't have to do an aftermarket installation."

Even the tuna tubes are getting the custom treatment. "We have perfected both the size and taper of each tube so it perfectly fits the head and mouth of the bait," explains Hsieh. [pagebreak]

On a 60-foot convertible there isn't enough room in the cockpit for a big chair and an oversized livewell system for 600 mackerel. Team Bad Company might burn through this in a day's fishing on striped marlin much less a separate tuna tube layout for nine baits for marlin fishing at Cabo.

"So we created a bait system that does double duty. The system allows us to change the livewell into a bank of tuna tubes with a small auxiliary livewell for the mackerel and sardines we use to catch the tuna. The design gives us full access to the cockpit," said Hsieh.

While the Bad Company 60 is specifically tailored for West Coast big-game fishing needs, Healey says he sees potential for some of these ideas crossing over to the East Coast market.

"The live bait systems designed by Steve Lassley on this boat are such an improvement over what you find on most East Coast boats that I definitely see the potential for fishermen in Florida especially wanting a similar setup. Frankly, with the high speed 2-hp, Jacuzzi-style pumps they use to power the split livewell system, which minimizes sloshing and stress backing down or when fishing rough seas, you get a lot more oxygen in the well. The dual system allows them to separate baits by species and properly oxygenate the baits for longevity. Without the usual clear panels we use, the water stays cooler, which would help goggle eyes stay fresher."  The removable tuna tubes are another asset I think fishermen on this coast are going to want, he adds.

Just like current California and Mexico-based Bad Company boats, the new Viking 60 will have a removable swim platform.

"Fishing standup 75 percent of the time, like we do, we don't have the need to lead or wire fish," said Hseih. "Driven by the rules of the Catalina tournaments, the platform allows us to measure and release fish more easily. Yet fishing for blue marlin at Cabo, we don't like backing on fish with a swim platform."

Another critical aspect of the new West Coast Viking Tournament has to do with the way outriggers and the tower are set up – and the electronics.

Steve Lassley has been called the fishing professor. The first to utilize dual fathometers in his tower – each tuned to a different frequency – to locate bait schools, the former commercial fisherman was also one of the first to utilize a side-scanning sonar in his fishing program. These days the professor utilizes a Furuno CH37 searchlight sonar unit that automatically deploys when the boat is under way, so there is no chance of it being damaged or more importantly, damaging the hull. He also wants his tower outfitted with repeaters and screens duplicating key electronics.

That's why a good West Coast spotting tower has to have more comfortable seating arrangements and better visibility than an East Coast tuna tower. No folding bench seats here. Team Bad Company's new Viking 60 will have two heavily upholstered pivoting bucket seats for use in spotting fish from the tower, along with a third Murray Brother's helm mounted to the bridge hardtop so three spotters using gyro binoculars can locate fish two miles out.

What Lassley asked for and is getting in his new Viking 60 is a larger platform tower that measures 43 inches fore and aft instead of the usual 34 inches - with an 8-foot gap between the fly bridge and tower instead of the usual 10-foot gap of a tuna tower, said Drew McDowell of Palm Beach Towers. 

As for the sunshade, outriggers and antennas, those are getting the custom treatment as well.

Tower legs and supports will be minimalist and aft-facing to eliminate any obstructions to their view from the side and looking forward. Early in the negotiations, Lassley specified 270-degree unobstructed visibility and Viking agreed. The challenge has been to create a strong structure that can handle the weight of three people and all the wiring for the electronics without compromising the integrity of the tower, said McDowell. Adding more weight to the equation is the oversized 10-foot sunshade they requested. "We're installing the big stick antennas for the VHF on an angle 12 inches off the centerline support facing aft. These will intersect through the tower floor."

As for the outriggers, those will be mounted to reinforced plates on the flybridge so Team Bad Company will have nothing to impede their movement to the bow or cockpit if they spot a fish, he said.  Fiberglass wings, if you will, are being added to either side of the deckhouse to accommodate the more than 26 rods they want to carry. "Rod holders will be incorporated off the back of the flybridge, the tower support and on the fiberglass wings."

The new model 60-foot Viking carries 1,620 gallons of fuel standard with an option for 1,920 gallons. With the capability of throttling back to a 10-knot cruise to conserve fuel, they can easily do their 800 mile run to Cabo without refueling, said Healey

"We've worked with them creating new molds for the transom livewell, mezzanine, deckhouse and foredeck. Tying to achieve what Anthony Hsieh and Steve Lassley need while working within the footprint of our design has not been without its challenges yet. In the end I think West Coast fishermen will see we've created something unique for their style of fishing – the kind of turnkey boat professionals have been asking for," he said.