It was Trophy time again at Greeba as the Club held the annual York/Hereford shoot. At one time the York/Hereford was held every other week but was so loathed by the archers that the Records Officer decided to limit the misery to once a year. As it was, none of the Gents fancied trying the York at all this year so it became the Hereford/Bristol Trophy instead – that is six dozen arrows at 80 yards, 4 dozen at 60 yards and 2 dozen at 50 yards. When men shoot these distances, it is designated a Bristol 1. When women shoot them, it is called a Hereford, as the Americans would say – go figure.
Given the weather conditions on Sunday it was just as well that the Gents were not attempting the 100 yards that makes up the first distance of the York round. The forecast meant most of the archers turned up expecting it to be warm with a moderate wind that would die down by mid-morning. What they got were chilly conditions with a brisk wind that got worse as the day went on. Danny Cowin claimed it was like shooting into the teeth of a hurricane. For once he wasn’t exaggerating by much. Shooting was “challenging” and the people who turned up in shorts wished they hadn’t.
A dozen archers turned up over the course of the day but there was only direct competition in two categories – the Gents Recurve and the Ladies Recurve. In the Bristol 1, Danny ‘why am I even here’ Cowin lined up with Peter Howland and James Hill. James had clearly come to grips with the feel of his new bow. He was one of only two adults to keep all of his arrows on target, the other being Dave Moore who went unopposed in the Gents Compound. By the end of the first distance James had a lead of 100 points over Danny, who was in turn a 107 points ahead of Peter. James was never under any pressure and romped to victory a clear 180 points ahead of Danny in second and almost 400 points ahead of Peter in third.
Joy Gough (Compound) kept Sarah Kennedy and Barbara Harris company while the latter two fought it out the Hereford Recurve. Sarah was shooting all day for the first time having hastily picked up sight marks on Thursday night. Sarah started slowly but gained in confidence and accuracy as the morning went on. Barbara, conversely, started well and got worse. By the end of the first distance, she was 10 points behind. Barbara staged a comeback at the second distance where she suddenly found the centre of the target and turned the 10 point deficit into a 23 point lead. She did enough at the final distance to stay ahead and retain the Hereford Trophy.
Pete Mumford was the only entrant in the Bristol II Barebow(60/50/40yds) division where he enjoyed a relaxed shoot, safe in the knowledge that a bottle of Bristol Cream Sherry (the prize for the Barebow competition) was his.
Erin Hainge took on the Bristol IV (40/30/20 yds) which is an age category up on the one she is required to shoot. Powered by hot chocolate Erin shrugged off the conditions and shot her first 6 Gold end, for which she can claim a badge, as well a lifting the Bristol Plate Trophy.
National Trophies were on offer for those only able to shoot for half a day. Ralf Mitchell lifted the Gents Recurve Trophy(68/344/8), Stan Gorry the Barebow(68/332/8), Cliff Graves the Compound(72/562/35) and Freddie Stevenson the Extra Short (the round, not Freddie) Junior Gents Recurve (70/458/22). Well done to all concerned.
Results: Bristol 1- Gents Recurve 1.J.Hill 144/933/39pb, 2.D.Cowin 135/753/18, 3.P.Howland 118/550/9. Gents Compound -D.Moore 144/1188/97. Hereford Compound -J.Gough 143/981/44. Hereford Recurve- 1.B.Harris 130/749/30, 2.S.Kennedy 137/727/21pb. Bristol 11 Barebow – P.Mumford 135/737/22. Bristol IV – E.Hainge 144/1016/53pb.
Isle of Man Archery Club 