A small group of archers took advantage of the three-day weekend to travel across to compete in a couple of tournaments in England.First stop for Aalin George, Barbara Harris and Dave and Rhys Moore was East Bolden on Tyneside where Cleadon Archers were hosting a Double WA 1440. Back-to-back 1440 rounds shot on consecutive days, with the combined total for the two deciding the winners. Cleadon is home to a very strong line up of Compound archers, including Pam Duncanson and GB Team member Dylan Crow.
Day one was uncomfortably hot by 8am! Layers were shed and Barbara even went as far as putting on a gym skirt. Conditions were still, and the sheltered field presented a perfect opportunity for good scores. Rhys Moore took full advantage, posting his first Grand Master Bowman score under AGB’s revamped (and higher) system. He stayed within a few points of Dylan, but Crow was on fire and a couple of poor shots at 70 and 50m cost Rhys dearly.
Aalin George was taking part in her first competition for seven years and was a little rusty on the first day. However, her timing improved over the course of the day, and she finished strongly. One boss over Barbara Harris was struggling with the combined effects of the sun, changeable form and a virus. Harris managed to grind out one of her better scores for the season and was hopeful that having got sight marks properly dialled in the second day would be even better. Sadly, it was not to be. Day two was freezing cold and blustery. Only Aalin, who was much more relaxed, improved on her score of the previous day. Barbara was either in the middle of the target or nowhere and the much lighter poundage of her Recurve bow made her arrows more susceptible to the wind. It became a matter of damage control after a disappointing 50m, but Barbara did manage to reach the target she set herself and was happy to get second place, some valuable ranking points and a suntan. It was not a day for GMB scores but Rhys enjoyed himself nevertheless. It was impossible to overhaul Dylan Crow but Rhys took a solid second place. Pausing only to pack up and collect their medals, the group motored south to Retford and a well-earned curry.
The third day of competition took them to Welbeck Archers new shooting field for a Double 720. Conditions were not ideal. The field was exposed on all sides and temperatures were low to start with. The heavy and changeable wind meant that arrows were constantly vulnerable, and Barbara struggled to cope. Rhys put in another solid performance to take second place again, but Aalin George, back into the groove of competition, went one better and won the Ladies Compound division. All in all a successful weekend for the Manx contingent.
On home soil ten archers turned out to shoot a variety of rounds in a cold and tricky northerly wind. The only direct competition came in the Gents Recurve where James Hill took the win against Danny Cowin in second, an out of form Alex Allen-Snell in third and Peter Howland in fourth.
Isle of Man Archery Club 