Conditions were brutal at Greeba on Sunday. A biting east wind played havoc both on the shooting line and at the target face. Those who had not layered up against the cold regretted it. The rest wondered just how many layers they could add before they couldn’t shoot.
The Recurves, as usual, had the worst of it. Standing in the most exposed part of the field and shooting 70m, their arrows were the most effected by the conditions. The Compounds, while still exposed on the shooting line, only had 50m to deal with. Rhys Moore who had broken his own Club Record for the 50m the week before knew he wasn’t going to be weaving any magic this time. Naturally he did enough to beat his dad David, but the margin of victory was only 26 points. Guest archer Nat Merry took the honours in the Ladies Compound division. Aalin George, shooting with a hot water bottle strapped to her stomach, took second and Joy Gough came third. Also shooting Compound was Pete Mumford but he elected to take full advantage of the new Archery GB system to have a go at 30m on a full-sized target face under the 50+ Senior banner. He did reasonably well for an old-timer.
On the Recurve side of things Peter Howland, Danny Cowin, Barbara Harris and James Hill took on the elements and a WA 70m. James, back from Uni for Easter and unable to bring his kit with him as a foot passenger on the Steam Packet, was forced to revert to the old bow he had left at home. The fact that he hadn’t shot it in a year did him no harm and he took the win a clear 70 points ahead of his nearest rival Danny Cowin. Barbara Harris had to be content with third place, while Peter Howland, who had to do running repairs on his bow after the sight pin sheared off, came in fourth.
Sarah Kennedy elected to shoot a Short Metric round as she didn’t have sight marks for the longer distance. Sharon Griffiths meanwhile put in her first ever Outdoor round by keeping junior Erin Hainge company at 40m. Sharon was privileged to watch a masterclass in archery. Standing on the sheltered end of the shooting line, muffled up, adding a blanket between ends and sipping on hot chocolate, Erin was in the mood to break more records, whatever the conditions. Shooting in both the morning and afternoon sessions Erin’s score for the Double 122-40m shattered the u14’s Club Record by a staggering 392 points. The adults need to pull their socks up.
Results: 50m(Compound) Men- 1.R.Moore 72/647/25/13, 2.D.Moore 72/623/14/2. Ladies- 1.N.Merry 72/634/19/4, 2.A.George 71/591/7/1, 3.J.Gough 68/541/10/1. WA 70m Recurve 1.J.Hill 72/482/2/0, 2.D.Cowin 70/416/3/1, 3.B.Harris 63/378/3/0, 4.P.Howland 56/261/1/0. 122-40m Ladies- SGriffiths 62/386/3/1pb. U14’s- E.Hainge 72/546/3/1(am) & 72/554/9/5(pm) Double 122-40m 144/1100/12/8 NCR. Short Metric – S.Kennedy 69/482/10/1. WA 30 50+ P.Mumford 72/621/25/10pb.
Isle of Man Archery Club 