Nraa queens

[plumbs7]

What wind ! It was the drop offs and pickups ( caught me out twice into the 4 ring) that were brutal at times ! But then there were people that just wind read the pants of the conditions leaving the rest of us picking up our jaws of the ground ! Great to see Steve N have a great day for 3 Rd in day agg!
And has been just fun meeting lots of people and copping a flogging in the process!
Plenty of tissues and 2 more days to go!

[Steve N]

I suppose someone's going to say it was windy today .

Would probably have been considered only a light breeze on the Rosedale rifle range...

[AlanF]

Yes well done Steve. Keep it up.

[RDavies]

I suppose someone's going to say it was windy today .

Would probably have been considered only a light breeze on the Rosedale rifle range...

And that was the problem. Nearly everyone did get brief periods of light conditions. But only for 2 or 3 shots before the gales returned.

[ecomeat]

I suppose someone's going to say it was windy today .

Fortunately for some of us, the 45 kph winds didn't get there, as it only peaked at a bit over 35 kph.
I have to say that the Kiwi contingent were noticeably unfazed, with Nik Chiew and Joey Meldrum in particular having a good day in F Open. I am right in the middle of a sea of Black and White team shirts , and on the same target as the lovely "rose amongst the thorns" FTR shooter Karyn Flanagan, plus Paul "Hoff" Hoffman, and Darren Swaney.
Any arse whippings achieved at Belmont today were simply a good excuse for them all to plan an assault on a local tavern tonight, so spirits are high.
Rod Davies scoring 60-5 on the first 600 was a simply "impossible" shoot while most of us were being belted all over the target......7 x 53's, 4 x 54's, 4 x 55's, 8 x 56's , 5 x 57's , just 3 x 58's ( inc Nik Chiew from NZ) and Bob Ped alone in second on a 59. An awesome display by the gentleman from Cessnock
Thankfully he did show some human traits and dropped 2 in the second 600 that saw Barry Lewis take the medal with a sole 60-5.
Matt had a great start with second place at both the 300 and 500, but was belted at the 600's. He had plenty of mates though, so shouldn't feel too lonely !
35 starters today in F Open and 29 in FTR are great numbers, hugely boosted by the Kiwi presence, so "hats off" to whomever made that happen at the official level. In FTR it's a class act by Lazzo and Nikki Slee out in front, one point clear of NZ'er Charles Watson.
Light winds only, forecast for tomorrow but a freezing cold start might see a few northeners running at speeds well below what they expected.
Total F Class numbers of some 88 shooters is well in front of the 77 in TR, so only about 21 targets being used (7-28) in total.
Mixed responses to the "Squadding" being used this year. We started off with F Open in first detail, then some F Open and FTR in second, some FTR and F Std in third detail and f Std in fourth detail......then a break till the last Detail 4 shooter was finished, before all the TR went through in details 5-8. All good at 300, but then we go "up one".....so the second range saw the original "detail one" .....21 of the 35 F Open shooters..... now shoot dead last, an hour plus after the first half shot.
Bob Pederaen took the mike this morning and explained to all that this was what they had to run with right here and now, and most are simply pleased to be shooting. It doesn't faze me greatly....at least I was shooting with 14 or 15 other Open shooters, and on a fairly shitty day like today I don't think any one group managed any sort of advantage over any other group. Changes in speed and angle were rapid and frequent so those who were good enough still shone through.
Very proud of my Beaudesert Clubmate Steve Nelson who finished the day in Third place overall in F Open. With dedication and practise and maybe a bit of help from his Mexican brother he has come a very long way in two years and can't get the grin off his face
The progress made by our friends from across the ditch in just twelve months is also bloody phenomenal. It's hard to believe its the same crew that were here twelve months ago. I wonder if it's got anything to do with the sea of SEB Neo's and Joypods..........

[ecomeat]

A quick check of last years results showed a total of 58 in F Class and 119 in TR for our National Championships. Twelve months on in 2016 it is 88 in F Class....up 30.( an increase of over 50%) ..... and 77 in TR....down 42 (down 35%)

[RAVEN]

And how are the TR attendance badges going Tony?

[ecomeat]

I had to go and look it up in a TR magazine, Richard.
It seems that the 57 in TR A are fighting it out for 30 badges......52%
10 badges for the 15 shooting TR B.......66%
3 badges for the 5 shooting TR C......60%

8 badges for the 13 in F Std A.......61%
8 badges for the 11 in F Std B........73%
8 badges for the 35 in F Open.........23%
5 badges for the 29 in FTR .............17%

[RAVEN]

Thanx Tony by the look of that FSB is the way to go definitely a high probability of a queen’s badge
possibly wouldn’t even have to shoot the whole match to get one great return on effort!

One day the NRAA will get it one can always live in hope

[superx10]

Good report Tony thanks for keeping us up to date .

[ecomeat]

Well that's Day Two done and dusted, and as can often happen, there have been a few alterations at the pointy end of the Leader Board.
You certainly wouldn't call it "brutal", as my 284 Win only had 2-3 minutes of right wind on all day, but drop offs and pick ups didn't stop till right at the very end of the day and many paid the price. When that big 800 yard target sees guys like Rod Davies, Barry Lewis , Spencer Dunstall , Ben Ferrara and Craig McGowan all drop 3, you know that its pretty tricky "out there" and that you need to be very aware if you don't want a big kick in the butt yourself.
Davies, Nelson, Lewis, Tillack and Carter are the top 5 tonight, while Nik Chiew from NZ didn't fare too well and has slipped from 5th last night, down to about 16th tonight.
I managed to leap frog around a couple to go up seven places to 8th tonight, but was apparently fairly lucky to avoid serious repercussions after going ahead and shooting at Number 5 on our target in the 500 yards thismorning, when everybody was supposed to break after Shooter 4. I was told by my scorer that "the target was mine", and I was ready....and I shot. I learnt later that I had 2 x X's on when the officials discussed whether to force me to stop or not. Luckily for me they let me keep going (and kicked my butt after i had finished) as I ended up with 60-8 and won the range.
Steve Rigby dropped out of the top ten after dropping 7 pts in the 900 that we finished with (and where Nik Chiew dropped 6)
Brent Knudsen would have been the last F Open shooter on the range at the final 900, and scored perfect conditions for his little 6BR to get up with 60-7 or 60-8 and win the range. That was the result of the not so perfect Squadding, seeing a lone scopey on the mound after every one else...inc all the TR shooters, we're finished.......good to see him get a bit of luck after a not so sensational couple of days when his 7mm just wouldn't perform.
NZ'er Colin Brown was a star performer prior to the Queens, but after getting a whipping on Day One, came back strongly today to finish with 60's at 600, 800 and 900, and while it's probably too little too late, his mate Frank Duckett finished with good 60's at 600 and 900.
F Std A has a good battle on, with Glenn Rush from Ipswich, the old master Ernire Mace, Ben Curley from North Arm, John Peters from Cessnock, Susie Ryan from Wodonga and Nick Williamson from the Goldfields separated by just a few points up front.
In FTR the top ten are just 8 pts apart, with North Qld's Chris Allman and Steve Lazarus leading the way from Mike Willment, Nikki Slee, Rod Mahon, Mark Fairbairn, Seb Lambang, Michael Hall from Bendigo, Jason Mayers and NZ'er Charles Watson. If anyone else can make a charge in FTR tomorrow at the 900 and 1000 it's likely to be the lovely Karyn Flanagan from NZ who finished very strongly today .
It was cold thismorning, and likely to be freezing cold tomorrow morning, so I am off to load my final 25 rounds with about 1/2 a grain more 2209 to try to compensate

[AlanF]

Thanks Tony. Appreciate your reports. Have good day tomorrow.

[Julian D]

Excellent write ups Tony, thank you.

[ecomeat]

Davies clean at 900 shooting last...took the bloody range off me so now he is two clear of Steve Nelson, who is two clear of Barry Lewis and Lowell Tillack, both down 11.
Peter Carter dropped two, so now sits with Denis McNamara whose 60-2 sees them both down 13 pts.
Dave Boreham dropped a single one point to come back with me on 14 down
Matt Paroz dropped one to sit on 16 down.
Spencer Dunstall and Bob Pedersen both just a point further back on 17 down.

[AlanF]

Well done again Rod, and also Glenn Rush in F-Std and Steve Lazarus coming from behind at 1000yds .

And Lowell showed that last year was no fluke. And a commendable effort from you Tony - you're knocking on the door .

I see that JC did it again in TR. He's been dominating the class for a long time.