The first Handicap round of the season took place at Onchan on Sunday. The round was a WA 18 three spot for all archers except the juniors and those shooting barebow. The triple face targets are smaller, consisting of only the centre portion of the full-size WA 18 target with 6 being the lowest score available. The full-face targets score all the way down to 1. The scratch scores are then adjusted by handicap using a set of arcane tables to produce the overall result. In this way archers of all bow types, ages and genders can shoot against one another.
The Club’s style icon, Pete Mumford, was looking much happier now that he had found a hat that perfectly matched the colour of his new bow, courtesy of the internet. Pete put in the highest score of the day, beating fellow Compound Joy Gough by 4 points. After the handicap was applied however, Joy finished two places above him.
Highest scratch Recurve score of the day went to Alex Allen-Snell. A slow start prompted Alex to make some changes to his clicker and mind set. A better set up and attitude saw an improved performance after the break, which was good enough for third place overall. Staying on in the afternoon to practice, Alex built upon his improved form of the morning. Ralf Mitchell had an erratic session notching up sixteen misses but enjoyed himself as usual. Peter Howland also had a few misses, including one which he put into someone else’s target, but nevertheless managed to add 55 points to his pb for the round. After the handicap was applied Mr Howland finished second.
Barbara Harris, the only female Recurve in action this week, started well but faded alarmingly as the morning progressed and she finished well down the field.
The battle of the Barebows was won by Colin Moore this week. Improved form from Colin, coupled with Chris Crompton’s dabbling with string walking (a means employed by longbow/barebow shooters to help adjust their aim) during the first half of the shoot, saw the men enjoy very different outcomes. Chris finished bottom of the table after handicapping, while Colin’s efforts were good enough for fourth place.
Scratch honours amongst the Juniors who took part went to Toby Young, but he had to settle for sixth place after the handicap was applied. James Hill kept all his arrows on the target but struggled with his form and release throughout, putting in the lowest of the boys scores and finishing well down the table. Nathan Kinrade, in contrast, put in an excellent round, adding a whopping 64 points to his pb and taking the overall win into the bargain.
Results WA 18 Handicap- 1.N.Kinrade 1470 (60/469/4)pb, 2.P.Howland 1464 (54/422/3)pb, 3.A.Allen-Snell 1447 (59/507/15), 4.C.Moore 1437 (60/420/3), 5.J.Gough 1435 (60/542/12), 6.T.Young 1432 (60/476/10), 7.P.Mumford 1426 (60/546/13), 8.R.Mitchell 1413 (44/320/3), 9.B.Harris 1412 (58/493/12), 10.J.Hill 1344 (60/382/5), 11.C.Crompton 1341 (58/354/2).
Also shooting was Simon Kenyon, who represented the IoM at the Island Games in Guernsey in 1987. He has just decided to return to archery and, if his benchmark score on a Portsmouth face of 511 is anything to go by, it looks like being a good decision.
Isle of Man Archery Club 