It is with sadness that I announce the passing of a good friend and FT shooter Nick who passed away this morning. Whilst not a member of the club, he was instrumental in my FT journey when living on the island and a member of Vectis FTC at both Northwood and Arreton. This was a friend who shooting was better than mine and the only way to get near him was practice, practice and practice some more. I used to shoot over 500 pellets a week, or half a box of Premier 7.9s, just to get near him. Seeing him shoot for fun, driving an old dumped truck like a looney and the fishing trips bring back good memories. Some members knew him and could tell some stories. RIP Nick and you will be missed.

It seems such a long time since the last GP at Purbeck but round 9 at Blackbrook was last weekend. Last chance for me to qualify as I knew I was out of the running for positions in the B grade. Blackbrook is a Shotgun and Airgun club in about 80 acres of lane North East of Birmingham just off the M6 Toll Road. I went up on the Saturday with Richard Green who shot FT at Purbeck and Southampton but wanted to get a 3rd round in to give him a proper grade. Richard shot FT in the 90’s and a regular A grader back then, so really wanted to get and idea of where he might stand. For this round he borrowed Bazza’s Steyr again. Blackbrook had hosted the Inter-Regionals earlier in the year and the comments after that event was that it was a growler with most targets over 47 yards apart from those reducers. I took all that was said with a pinch of salt as the same was said of Tawd Vale but that was again a very enjoyable course. For this round we decided that we would shoot AM and then head back home, having booked nearly 3 weeks ago we could have only guessed on the weather conditions. The forecast during the week was for it to get hot, like really hot. Come Sunday morning, there was some light cloud cover and we left the hotel at 7am hoping for the cloud to stay, however by the time we got to the ground we could see the cloud was burning off very quickly. As the tea van was still being set up Richard and myself decided to walk the course after booking in. It turned out the course we walked was the club course and so our observations of crossed strings and the lengths of the targets on the lanes was not really any good but did give us an idea of what the actual course may look like. By the time we had got back to the tea van, it was up and running so after a breakfast sandwich and a drink before heading for a quick practice session. The ground had been filling up and the temperature was starting to go up as well. After the safety briefing we headed to the course. The wind seemed to come from the right as the course had a right to left direction. The course itself started at the edge of a clearing with the first 3 lanes on the outside edge of the clearing with the targets on the other side. Between lanes 1 and 3 the course had rotated by 90 degrees. These targets had long and medium targets with angles between them. Lanes 4 to 10 carried on through the wooded area with a few slight twists. These targets had various angles and a few up trees, again the targets were not all long but a very good balance of distances. Lane 11 was on the edge of the woods and in the opposite direction with left to right, compared to the Right to Left the rest of the course had. Lanes 12 to 18 ran along a thin strip of trees that had an open area between them and a woodland. This clearing was about 40-45yds wide and the targets placed between the middle far side. After lane 18 you entered what I could only call an oven. This area had been recently cleared and was covered in light brown dead bracken/brambles. The clouds had been burnt off by now and was quite relentless with the heat coming from both the sky and the ground. This open area ran slightly downhill, not steeply but for those right hand shooters you knew your feet were very slightly higher. So what were the scores, top score was a 48 shot in the morning and a 47 in the afternoon. I did a PB for a GP this year with a 38 and Richard a 31. Not bad from Richard considering it was not his rifle and every round had been over 30. For me, I have learnt a bit over the season and hope I can bring this into the CSFTA Winter season which starts in October some 6 weeks away.

Another weekend and I am off again travelling some 350 miles north to York, this time with a passenger, Barry, who I dropped off at Harrogate on the Friday. I then spent the Saturday wondering around York and visiting various places before returning back to my digs. Sunday morning and about a 35 minutes from my digs was the York FTC ground. Its in some Forestry Commission land and has been in nearly the same area for some 20 years just moved as required. The ground is made up of pine trees with a large central area for a car parking. After arrival and booking in I grabbed a tea and then wondered around the course as it had been my first time ever here. The quick look round showed they had used horizontal angles on virtually every lane with the occasional lane having a target up a tree or two for that change. So to the course itself, it started near the car park entrance road with lanes in small groups in a section. So the first 5 lanes started with a long target to start with at about 50yds with another slightly shorter one at about 46yds. The next was a pair of 30yds ish standers (the only 2 standers I got) this was followed by long and shorter targets which sometime had over 90 degrees angles between them. Then you got to the next group if lanes from 6-10 had some much closer targets as you neared the edge of the wood. However here you got a bit of wind from the fields on two sides and could catch you out with the unexpected directions. All the time in these first 10 lanes you had been shooting in the same general direction. However, over the next 3 lanes you swung around a corner until the targets were how in the opposite direction to the first lanes. Here also you started to get more distance in the lanes with the lane average heading towards 45-50 yds compared to what was nearer 40 yds before hand. By the time you reached lane 17 you then had a 90 degree change of direction with the finals set of lanes having a number of targets spread quite widely in angles and placed to catch what ever wind was present. Lane 25 having a 50yd target well up a tree. So what were the scores, well for me after a good start the wheels sort of fell off between lanes 12 and 22 wth me dropping 12 in these alone. I ended up with a 33, knowing in myself that I had pulled 4 of those misses myself. Barry finished on a 40 with him having a mare first 6 lanes. Looks like I need to get myself sorted ready for the next round in Dorset in 2 weeks.

About time I gave an update about this round that happened 9 days ago. The closest round for us just a short hop across the Solent followed by a 10 minute drive and we are there. This time 3 travelled across from the Island myself, Holly and Richard Green who I invited. Last time Richard had shot a FT GP was 5 years ago and he beat me. Forecast was for dry and sunny and a light wind but on the drive over a bit more cloud was in the sky. Plinking was in a field next to the ground and plenty of boards to check everything and actually a gusty breeze which went in both directions. So to the course, starting at one side of a wooded valley near the club's car park and booking in area. The first 3 lanes had the targets downhill with some reducer as well. The next 3 lanes were on the slope going down.the hill with the targets running along the slope. The 6th lane was on the lowest part of the course and flatest but targets now slightly higher than the shooter. These lanes were similar to ones we have shot before but the targets in very different and challenging positions. The next lane was on the way up the other side of the valley then the next 7 lanes ran along this side of the slope with the majority targets downhill but the occasional one high up a tree to keep you on your toes. This sectional had 2 other positional lanes and reducers mixed in there. All of the targets from the lowest point of the course were all new locations and had never been shot in Winter leagues before. At the end of these 7 lanes the course turned 90 degrees and the next 3 lanes were shot along the slope with some slightly uphill and some downhill. At the top of this slope you turned another 90 degrees but heading back towards the beginning of the targets on this side of the slope. Here the targets were even higher than the shooters with some up the trees that were across a open area that I know is there but not visible from.the gates. The 2 of the last 3 lanes ran along the slope as you headed towards the lowest point, the last lane again on the flat but shooting in the opposite direction. The morning shooters found the conditions a bit cooler than those in the afternoon. In fact I think the afternoon group had to deal with a much higher humidity. I know I drank about 2 litres of squash whilst going round and glad a clean shirt in the car. Score on the doors, well the highest was 49 in the morning and a 48 in the afternoon. Holly, doing open, along with Bazza shot 37. Myself and Richard shot 35. Considering Richard was borrowing Bazzas Steyr not a bad result, he knows he missed 5 due to poor and rusty technique. The next round is York this coming weekend with Bazza joining me for this whilst visiting relatives in the area.