It was the last chance to get a full day’s shooting in over yard distances ahead of the annual York /Hereford Trophy to be shot on the 21st of the month and the archers took full advantage of the decent weather to lay down some scores.
In the Ladies Recurve division, Charlotte George was unexpectedly joined by Erin Hainge in the Hereford round of 80/60 and 50 yards. This meant that Erin was shooting three age groups up, with the shortest distance of the Hereford being the longest distance she had competed over at the Junior National Championships of the week before. Charlotte naturally won the contest by a considerable margin, but Erin recorded a decent score, which was of course a pb and it will be interesting to see if she enters herself for the Hereford Trophy on Sunday.
The Gents equivalent, the York 100/80/60 yards was only attempted by Richard Hainge (Recurve) and Andrew Westmorland (Compound). Richard’s inexperience over the most challenging distance went against him, but he made up ground over the shorter distances and it is likely that he will get a walkover in the upcoming championships. With Rhys and Dave Moore practicing a WA 720 ahead of an off island shoot the following weekend, Westy also found himself unopposed in the Compound division. He seemed to enjoy the shooting if not the long walks to retrieve his arrows and posted an excellent score over distances he is unaccustomed to. If he can spare the time away from his other sporting activities the York Trophy is his for the taking.
David Craine (Recurve) and Pete Mumford (Compound) took on the challenge of the masculine version of the Hereford, designated a Bristol 1. David struggled with longer distances but as ever enjoyed his time at the field. Archery is supposed to be fun, but he seems to be the only one that thinks so!
With only half a day at their disposal Johnathan Gordon (Barebow) and Marie Hainge (Compound) shot the National round of 60 and 50 yards. Johnathan had three misses but is clearly hoping to add the National Trophy to the Barebow title he picked up at the Club Championships earlier in the season. His likely opponents Stan Gorry and Colin Moore elected to shoot a St. Nicholas on Sunday as part of the Morecombe Bay Masters Postal Challenge. Colin as usual took the win. Marie Hainge, becoming steadily more confident, posted another terrific score in what is, her first outdoor season.
Catherine Irving-Potter tackled a Short National for the first time, had only one miss and recorded a score just short of the 500 barrier.
Results: Hereford-1.C.George 144/1122/69, 2.E.Hainge 126/724/24. York Recurve- R.Hainge 130/720/23. York Compound- A.Westmorland 144/1116/73. Bristol 1 Recurve- D.Craine 101/471/11. Bristol 1 Compound- P.Mumford 144/1186/93. National Barebow- J.Gordon 69/393/12. National Ladies Compound- M.Hainge 72/548/37. Short National- C.Irving-Potter 71/485/18. St.Nicholas- 1.C.Moore 84/688/53, 2.S.Gorry 84/638/36. WA 720- 1.R.Moore 72/681/37/9, 2.D.Moore 72/632/16/2.
Isle of Man Archery Club 