aking delivery of your first CABO gives you admission to a

very elite club. While CABO owners come from all walks of life,

they all have in common the drive, passion and commitment to

own the best production sportfisher in the world.

Of course, once you’ve had the best, why change? This is why

CABO Yachts has the highest owner loyalty in the industry.

If you ask, CABO owners will tell you – with a wink - that own-

ership proves that you’ve finally learned how to treat yourself

right. Then they’ll tell you - with a pat on your back - that your

second CABO proves that you’ve got "treating yourself right"

Each CABO Yachts

Quarterly features a pro-

file of a CABO Yachts

owner. These are indi-

viduals who strive for

the best that life has to

offer, and have decided

that a CABO will best

help them achieve the

sportsfishing goals they

have set for themselves.

Most are highly success-

ful in their careers,

some are retired, some

are professional sports-

fishermen. In any case,

we believe these individ-

uals are worthy of

recognition, as they

exemplify the kind of

person most men aspire

to become, and quite

remarkably, exemplify

the kind of man who

buys a CABO.

CABO Yachts Owner Profile Ryan Cornelius

Once a CABO owner,always a CABO owner,...even in Africa

T

down to a science.

But every CABO owner knows that treating your-

self right is only a very small part of the big pic-

ture. CABO ownership instills a pride in sport-

fishing, a concern for marine conservation efforts

and a respect for nature, no matter which of the

seven seas you’re fishing and which of the

world’s ports you call home."

Such is the case for Ryan Cornelius, the proud

owner of a CABO 35 Express. Homeport for

Ryan’s Express is Kenya, on the east coast of

Africa. Cornelius came to the attention of CYQ

from Steve Boerma, CABO Yachts’ Director of

International Sales. Global sales are very strong,

giving credence to CABO Yachts’ claim that it

builds the best production sportfishers in the world.

Number 1

First off, Cornelius explained that the CABO 35

Express was the perfect size boat for him. "It had

a lot to do with the ease of maintenance,"

Cornelius said. "The facilities in Kenya are not

as elaborate as you have in the U.S. If I want to

dry dock my boat, it has to be hand-winched out

of the water. It takes a couple of days. I need my

boat to be easy to work on, I need all areas easily

accessible, and I need the best size for where I

fish. The 35 is perfect for me, even though I

could have gotten a larger CABO. In fact, this is

my second CABO 35."

Once a CABO owner, always a CABO

owner.

"The CABOs are just fabulous boats," said

Cornelius, "from the way they’re constructed to

the way they fish."

Construction is something with which Cornelius

is familiar, although not quite marine-related.

He owned a highly successful engineering firm in

the Middle East.

"I built my engineering company in Saudi

Arabia into the largest tunneling company in the

Middle East," says Cornelius. "Then, about five

years ago, I sold it to a larger concern."

Now, most men would rest on their laurels after

that, but Cornelius entered the land development

and real estate arena in Africa. There are

tremendous opportunities in real estate in Africa,

he said, especially in Tanzania. That he would

continue to seek out such opportunities is typical

of the kind of man who buys a CABO – Always

hunting for new possibilities, always aware of the

environment in which he lives and operates. "I

live in Bahrain, but I also keep a house on the

Kenyan coast for my African connection,"

Cornelius said.

Cornelius is married with three children. "All of

our children have grown up on the East African

Coast. Our home overlooks the sea and we all

love the fishing environment. I fish out of East

Africa because it’s about the most convenient

flight connections from out of Dubai, where I

have another office. It’s around a four-hour

flight from Dubai."

Sportfishing is something in which Cornelius has

been engaged for some time. "Growing up in

Zambia, it’s all river fishing," recalled Cornelius.

"But I always had this aspiration to go into sport

fishing. So I started sportfishing about 23 years

ago when I came on holiday to Kenya, in the

area that I have the house

now. I chartered a boat and

caught two marlin in the

same day! I became hooked

after that."

Who wouldn’t get hooked

after snagging two marlin in

one day? Now, however,

Cornelius has turned to catch

and release efforts.

"There are very active conservation efforts here

now. We are encouraging the release of billfish

and I would say that here in Kenya, there’s a

number of people who have taken the lead in

that. Fishing here, off the East African Coast,

probably like many other areas, has become over

fished with long lines and such. There is the

threat that a lot of new licenses would be issued

for long-liners, but we’re trying to promote the

conservation of billfish in this area."

“I came on holiday to Kenya... I chartered a boat and caught two marlin in the same day! I became hooked after that."

a fly at night."

Cornelius says that there are two things that

curtail his sportfishing. One is the weather.

"Generally speaking, we have the offseason, the

monsoon season, and it starts in about April

and goes through the middle of August. We get

winds blowing from the south, and the south-

wind brings strong winds and rain. In August,

we then start to get the northern winds, the

Swahili call it the katchikazi (SP) wind, and

that brings what we call booko (SP) - calmer

seas and good fishing and that extends to

about March. The prime fishing season is

January, February and March. That’s when we

have our main tournaments."

Cornelius puts his money where his mouth is.

"I also sponsor a program, a cash sponsorship,

here on the East African Coast. It’s a program of

shark-release. We put up a cash prize, and it

became known as the Anton Shark Release

Program, named after my son. He never liked

seeing the sharks hung up at the weigh station,

so we put up a cash prize and it has been suc-

cessful. It seems that sharks are hardly killed

anymore, because the sharker skippers are aware

of the prize."

Cornelius says the program has raised the aware-

ness of the local indigenous people as to the

potential income that could be generated from a

really successful billfish program. "We do have

here tremendous stocks of sailfish and to a lesser

degree, the black and blue marlin and striped

marlin. We don’t get the white marlin here. But

we get the other species here and we get them

fairly large, especially at certain times of the year.

In February, we get the larger size of fish – we

had our first 1,000 pound marlin just two years

ago. The striped marlin seem to be a quite rea-

sonable 200 pounds and we see quite a few of

those and we get smaller black marlins up to

around 500 pounds. We get the odd blue up to

around 800 pounds."

Interestingly, the East African Coast has its share

of world fishing records. "We do have broadbill

swordfish stock here," relates Cornelius. "In fact,

we get broadbill swordfish that have been caught

on fly here and it was one of the local skippers

here that perfected the technique. Not very large,

but there are people who go out and catch broad-

bill at night. Off the North Kenyan Banks, the

charters go out during the day and fish for mar-

lin and sailfish, and then at night they’d fish for

broadbill. There’s one gentleman here who goes

out with one of the skippers and he holds the

world record for catching broadbill swordfish on

Off the North Kenyan Banks, the charters go out during the day and fish for marlin and sailfish, and then at night they’d fish for broadbill.

Above photo is a sistership to Ryan’s 35X

Not one to sit at home, Cornelius has an

annual trip planned during the monsoons.

"During the monsoon season on the coast,

my family and I do an overland safari of

about 15,000 kilometers. We load up the

Range Rovers, drive from Kenya, and go

through the bush and Kenyan game parks

down to just about the border between

Zambia and Zimbabwe. It’s a great experi-

ence and very beautiful."

The other thing that curtails his sportfishing

is, of course, work. "The rest of the time

I’m running my businesses. I’m still self-

employed - I have to pay for all my toys!"

Successful, entrepreneurial, concerned for

the future, supportive of the sport and a

devoted family man. Ryan Cornelius knows

how to treat himself right, and along the

way, treat a whole lot of other people right.

We’re proud to call him a CABO owner.