Slightly later than usual due to Island Games, the Isle of Man Archery Club held their annual Club Championships. Shot in brutally windy conditions, it was to be a day of firsts and lasts. The first ever 50+ contests in the Gents Compound and Recurve, and the last ever appearance of Joy Gough in the Ladies Compound before she too moves on to the 50+ rounds.
The day was always going to be challenging given the gusty wind conditions, but the rain held off long enough for everyone to stay dry at least. Barbara Harris, unable to compete due to injury, acted as timekeeper and Judge for the day. Rhys Moore, nursing a tender midriff due to an over exuberant round of golf the previous day, stamped his authority on the Gents Compounds to retain his title. Dave Moore, almost 100 points behind came in second, while the under rehearsed Andrew Westmorland had to settle for third.
Competing in her last ever WA1440, Joy Gough hoped to go out on a high, but it was not to be. The strong winds played havoc with her tiny arrows, but Joy toughed it out to finish the round albeit some 200 points behind new Club Champion Aalin George.
There was a last-minute change in the line up for the Gents Recurve. Originally slated to be a three- way tie between Danny Cowin, James Hill and Alex Allen-Snell, Danny, having thrown his back out at work on the Friday, turned up barely able to move. Unwilling to give up on the Championships altogether and hoping that the exercise would help his injury, Danny switched to the shorter distances of the Gents 50+ round. Here, despite the weather, the pain, and not having a sight mark for the second distance, Danny thrashed his opponent Peter Howland by a margin of 355 points to lift the (currently non-existent) “Masters” Trophy. Meanwhile, James Hill continued his run of form against Alex Allen-Snell, setting new pb’s for the 90 and 70m distances, the blustery conditions seemingly having no effect upon him. Alex did manage to claw a few points back over the shorter distances, but it was no where near enough and James took the win and the title by a clear 57 points. Peter Mumford found himself in a league of his own as the only entrant in the 50+ Compound. Pete could have just shot 1 arrow and still have been crowned Champion, but he did the decent thing and shot all 144.
Aalin was not the only George in action on Sunday as older sister Charlotte made her return in the Ladies Recurve. Charlotte, having taken a 10-year break from archery, returned just a few weeks before the Championships. The weather had not been kind and she had only managed to make it to two practice sessions before the Champs rolled around. The title was decided on a Short Metric (50/30m) rather than the usual 1440 to open it up to as many contestants as possible and so Charlotte found herself up against Sarah Kennedy and talented junior Erin Hainge, who fancied the challenge of the Senior round. The relatively low poundage of Erin’s bow did her no favours in the heavy winds of Sunday morning and she had to settle for third, though she automatically became the u14’s Champion. Sarah Kennedy started well but a tendency to shoot too quickly meant that she tired and began to lose form. Charlotte meanwhile was shooting as though she had never been gone. Leading from start to finish, Charlotte lifted the trophy almost 100 points ahead of her nearest rival to mark a spectacular return to the sport.
Colin Moore shooting Barebow in the morning session and Tradbow in the afternoon had the distinction of becoming a double Champion. Colin just edged out Chris Crompton for the Barebow title, with Stan Gorry coming in third, before he went on to defeat Stan again to lift Tradbow Trophy.
Isle of Man Archery Club 