The Records Officer unleashed the first Vegas of the season on Sunday at Onchan. The round is
unusual in that it is shot at a triple target face arranged in a triangular shape, which must be shot in a
specific order: bottom left, top centre, bottom right which after a while plays havoc with the brain. If
that wasn’t bad enough, the Chairman decided to throw a bit of extra mayhem into the mix by
insisting it was shot as it would be in Vegas with X’s being counted. X’s are usually only used in the
Outdoor rounds. What happens in Vegas, should stay in Vegas frankly, as this novel approach made
everyone in Onchan go cross-eyed. All bow types suffered the same fate, with even the Barebows
and Tradbows were given no quarter.
As Stan Gorry sent the first of his arrows wide of the mark, he commented that it was going to be a
long morning, which the Records Officer mournfully seconded as she registered the first of her six
misses. Colin Moore also had a poor start but settled quickly and took the win over Stan in the
Barebow division by almost a hundred points. Bill Callow gamely had a go with his Tradbow. All three
men recorded pb’s as they had never attempted the round before.
The ranks of the Gents Recurve were bolstered by the surprise arrival of Danny Cowin in the morning
session and Alex Allen-Snell in the afternoon. Alex had been missing action since the Island Games
and his return caused a bit of a stir, even if his arrows didn’t. Johnathon Gorden, shooting the Vegas
for the first time, was the only Gent who seemed to enjoy himself as he romped to another easy
victory. Johnathon was the only Recurve to break the 500 barrier and finished 40 points ahead of his
nearest rival Alex, who in turn ended up 40 points ahead of Danny who came third. Peter Howland
had a nightmare of a morning and had to settle for fourth place.
With Charlotte George practising for the upcoming Indoor Nationals, Barbara Harris was the only
Lady Recurve to shoot the round. Being the only person in the competition is the one way she can
come first these days and she needs to find a bit of magic from somewhere soon.
On the Compound side of things Aalin George opened with three X’s and immediately wanted to go
home claiming she had ‘peaked early and it was all downhill from there’. She stuck around, and Joy
Gough had to settle for second place. Rhys Moore turned up in the afternoon session to push dad
David down into second, which he deserved for coming up with the idea of scoring the X’s in the first
place. Pete Mumford was third.
Results Vegas: Gents Barebow-1.C.Moore 51/402/2+2x’s(pb), 2.S.Gorry 40/307/2+0x’s(pb). Gents
Tradbow-B.Callow 39/296/2+3x’s(pb). Gents Recurve-1.J.Gordon 59/517/8+10x’s(pb), 2.A.Allen-Snell
58/477/2+6x’s, 3.D.Cowin 55/431/2+0x’s, 4.P.Howland 35/267/1+1x. Ladies Recurve-B.Harris
55/451/10+3x’s. Ladies Compound-1.A.George 60/549/12+9x’s, 2.J.Gough 59/528/15+2x’s. Gents
Compound-1.R.Moore 60/586/17+29x’s, 2.D.Moore 60/571/23+11x’s, 3.P.Mumford
60/558/12+15x’s.
Isle of Man Archery Club 