The forecast for the weekend was distinctly difficult with rain and high winds forecast, mainly for the Sunday. Despite this, Class A was won by Robin Brown (Uckfield HGRC), shooting on Sunday, with a magnificent score of 597 ex600! A full 7 points ahead of Rob Dowling (Chichester) in second place with 590 which equalled last years winning score.
Fantastic news from Zac Webber!
He, supported by his family, have just spent a lovely weekend in Gibraltar where Zac competed at the Gibraltar Open with some spectacular results ...
Following this performance he was asked to compete in the 25m pistol events despite never having shot a .22 pistol before! He was on form with:
Although the sun shone for most of the weekend the wind was a bit tricky and definitely on the chilly side giving everyone something to think about! This lead to some very tidy groups with the occasional shot being anti-social and avoiding the crowd! Despite the tricky wind six of the prizes were decided on count back due to tied scores!
A new venue this year with the excellent Star Inn at Lingfield hosting the event. Good to see plenty of new faces enjoying themselves! A full list of prizes is below the images.
(Photo: Courtesy of Mike Kettle)
(Photo: Courtesy of Elaine Kettle)
This year the English Match included our inaugural benchrest competition. We were not sure how many would enter, or how many prizes would be needed, but several people have mentioned that it would be a good idea. So we were pleasantly suprised when twelve competitors entered! Many thanks go to Malcolm Brain for making the benchrest prizes for us.
A total of 23 competitors entered for the event with 3 having to withdraw at the last minute due to various issues. Although the rain stayed away for the first time in ages the wind remained tricky over the weekend and the temperature made it a bit difficult to feel the trigger!
However, this didn't stop David White maintaining his winning ways with top spot in Team of Three, Veterans Dewar, 40 shots @ 100yds, Single Dewar, and the Class A Aggregate.
Prior to the work party some preparation works and prototyping of the new target frames and boxes was undertaken by John Tadman and Mike Kettle. Also, many thanks to Richard and his colleague at Southern Sheeting for guillotining ten 8' x4' sheets of 9mm Stokbord into the much smaller sizes (288 of them) we need for the new bullet catchers.
Although several regular competitors couldn't make it there was still a slight increase in entries compared to 2022. Some new faces appeared at the club along with some friends from previous years, making up for those that couldn't make it. Class A again had several notable candidates going up against some of East Grinstead's top shots, with Charles White (EGTSC) coming out on top 5 points clear of the rest.
Image: Open Shoot in Full Swing ! (Source: Elaine Kettle)
While the number of entries continues to rise as we all work our way out of Covid, the weather had different ideas! The previous week had been warm and sunny but the weather closed in for the weekend of the shoot with temperatures dropping to single figures with overnight frosts.
