Sunday’s shoot was designated as Yankee Doodle Day, as those with the stamina shot a Western (4 dozen arrows at each of two distances: 60 and 50 yards) in the morning session and an American (2 and a half dozen at each of three distances 60, 50 and 40 yards) in the afternoon. Pete Mumford suggested that the tagline should be ‘a long day in the saddle’, but the Records Officer thought ‘home on the range’ was more fitting.
The forecast for Sunday had been poor but the rain blew through overnight, and the day dawned cloudy but dry. It was also a little on the cold side and those who hadn’t dressed appropriately suffered. Danny Cowin’s usual huffs and puffs were almost drowned out by the sound of his teeth chattering. He stuck around long enough to come third in the Western behind Barbara Harris, who broke the Ladies Club Record, and winner Alex Allen Snell who was shooting the round for the first time. Author, beekeeper, and YouTube icon Ralf Mitchell added 46 points to his pb for the round but had to settle for last place.
Pete Mumford and Stan Gorry faced off in the Barebow division. Stan took a little while to get started but even with three misses to Pete’s one, Stan was only 2 points behind at the halfway stage. After the break it was Stan’s turn to get a good start, and he turned a 2 point deficit into a 2 point lead. He was helped in his endeavours by Pete who not only had a couple of misses, but also shot seven arrows instead of six on two separate occasions. Both times he had to discount his highest scoring arrow. Some very consistent shooting saw Stan build a lead of 40 points going into the final dozen of morning. Pete suddenly found his range and manage to claw back 16 points, but Stan still rode out the winner by 24 points.
Joy Gough found herself up against Andrew Westmorland in the Compound division. Andy had never shot the round before and was guessing at sight marks. Joy made an almost perfect start, dropping only 4 points with her first dozen arrows. Andy needed a little longer to zone in, but once he did there was no stopping him. He carried a 6 point lead going into the second distance, which he turned into a 14 point lead to take the win.
Danny, Ralf, and Andy left at lunch but were replaced by James Hill and Peter Howland who arrived to try their hands at the American. Neither man had shot the round before and for James it would be his last shoot at the Club before leaving for university. Peter Howland started and stayed in last place. James and Barbara found themselves in joint second after the first distance, while Alex Allen-Snell had a terrific start to lead by 26 points. Barbara kept pace with Alex at 50 yards, while James fell away slightly. With the sun in her eyes at the 40 yards, Barbara was shooting blind. The result was that her arrow groupings improved dramatically but while Alex’s arrows were less central, they were good enough for him to take his second win of the day.
Stan Gorry and Pete Mumford continued their barebow feud in the American, with Pete looking to even the score. This time round it was Stan who had the better start and carried an 8 point advantage into the second distance. Pete bounced back and by the end of the second distance he had carved out a 20 point lead. This he immediately squandered by sending three of his arrows wide of the mark in the first dozen at 40 yards. Buoyed by this Stan suddenly found the right aiming point and began to pepper the gold, to have back to back victories.
Joy Gough had a slightly iffy start, winging an arrow wide into the five ring but she only dropped 8 of the available points at the second distance and maxed the final distance to equal her own Club Record.
Results Western: Recurve- 1.A.Allen-Snell 96/738/45pb, 2.B.Harris 96/718/40CR, 3.D.Cowin 95/685/34, 4.R.Mitchell 93/539/14pb. Barebow- 1.S.Gorry 93/567/18pb, 2.P.Mumford 93/543/17pb. Compound- 1.A.Westmorland 96/816/72pb, 2.J.Gough 96/802/65.
Results American: Recurve- 1.A.Allen-Snell 90/720/47pb, 2.B.Harris 90/696/48pb, 3.J.Hill 90/666/37pb, 4.P.Howland 90/624/30pb. Barebow- 1.S.Gorry 86/500/16pb, 2.P.Mumford 83/461/11pb. Compound- J.Gough 90/784/78=CR.
Isle of Man Archery Club 