Eleven archers made it over the debris strewn roads to Onchan on Sunday. The round of the day was a WA 18 three spot, although the Juniors and Barebow archers had the option of shooting the larger single face. The round was shot as part of the Club’s handicap league.
The atmosphere was tomblike in the hall, Christmas fatigue appeared to have taken its toll and it all seemed like hard work. Danny Cowin was suffering from lack of practice and growled his way through the shoot; though this did not prevent him from taking the scratch honours in the Recurve. James Hill had made changes to his bow which affected his release and consequently his sight mark. By the time he had come to terms with the changes it was too late, and his score in nowhere near his usual best. Barbara Harris seemed to have her mind on other things and it wasn’t until after the break that she finally focused on what she was doing, but by then the damage was done. Toby Young put in the highest Junior score of the day, but it was poor by his standards and he joined Barbara and James at the bottom of the leader board after the handicap was applied. Peter Howland had another ‘all or nothing shoot’, as he seemed to be either in the centre of the target or off the paper completely. He ended up just one point short of his pb, and after handicapping came in second overall. Never having shot the round before, Chris Crompton (barebow) was guaranteed a pb, but he shot well enough to secure third place after the handicap was applied. Greg Altham put in one of his infrequent appearances and added 1 point to his pb which put him in fourth place overall.
On the Compound side of things, the field was very small with only Pete Mumford, Colin Moore and Joy Gough present. Joy got off to a good start before having an unaccustomed miss which put a dent into her score. Too many 8’s along with a 7 and a 6 put her score well below par and she finished down in seventh place overall. Colin started slowly, unable to find the centre with his first six arrows, before settling into a rhythm which put him just ahead of Joy on the leader board. Pete Mumford was disappointed to hit three 8’s on his way to the highest score of the day which after handicapping was good enough for fifth.
The day however, belonged to Nathen Kinrade. The youngster was using his new blue bow for the first time. With a different bow and no sight marks a few misses were to be expected, but Nathan adapted so quickly that he was able to add 18 points to his pb and take first place into the bargain.
Three other archers turned up in the afternoon session but elected to shoot the Rhubarb Round. The Rhubarb is a Club specialty, which involves using one of the Club’s training bows and to shoot a Portsmouth round. The prize is a watercolour painting of a stick of rhubarb strung like a bow. The round was born out of a comment made in the Club’s early days that ‘a good archer could shoot a stick of rhubarb’. The Rhubarb is a bit of fun which usually generates a great deal sarcasm and gamesmanship between the archers.
Each archer is allowed two attempts and last year’s winner Dave Moore had already staked a claim to the trophy by putting in a personal best score the previous Sunday afternoon. Barbara Harris was in last place, in spite of doubling her score of the previous year, with Dave Berry and Peter Mumford slotting in between. Sunday afternoon saw Dave Berry improve upon his first attempt but still fall 34 points short of victory. Rhys Moore once again showed that he should stick to a Compound bow by recording a score that was quite good for him and laughable for everyone else. Fourteen-year-old Tilly Ashton made her first ever attempt at the Rhubarb and promptly outshot Rhys by about 100 points. Last year’s Junior Rhubarb champion James Hill is yet to shoot.
Results WA18 Handicap: 1.N.Kinrade 1474 (56/395/5)pb, 2.P.Howland 1460 (47/367/5), 3.C.Crompton 1450 (58/380/4)pb, 4.G.Altham 1435 (59/474/4)pb, 5.P.Mumford 1431 (60/559/22), 6.C.Moore 1428 (60/545/11), 7.J.Gough 1417 (59/532/13), 8.D.Cowin 1411 (60/501/11), 9.B.Harris 1399 (57/480/11), 10.J.Hill 1377 (58/403/1), 11.T.Young 1367 (60/445/9).
Isle of Man Archery Club 