GB F CLASS LEAGUE ROUND 5 - THE EUROPEANS - BISLEY OCT/NOV 2009
No fewer
than 116 competitors had booked-in from all over Europe, with most GB regulars
in attendance plus an increased showing from Europe with Spanish and Ukrainian
shooters attending for the first time. Including the four countries of the UK,
no less than eleven nations were in attendance - a true international event.
The trend towards
the F/TR class continued and clearly this class appears to have a great
potential for growth and the field was now split almost 50/50 between Open and F/TR.
F/TR also had the highest percentage of new faces with many of the Continentals
opting for this route.
Many shooters arrived on the Thursday to take advantage of some free practice time - remember, the Continental guys rarely shoot beyond 300 metres on their home ranges. For those who couldn't manage Thursday, Mik had allowed a couple of hours on the Friday morning before the comp started, to zero at 800 yards. But, best laid plans of mice and men etc....................
Yes,
although Friday dawned to dry, calm conditions with little prospect of rain, we
hadn't reckoned on an autumn mist which shrouded the targets and put paid to
the planned two hour practice session. Diggle's bad weather appeared to have
migrated south!
The
practice was therefore abandoned but, when the mist lifted - at around 9.30am
shooters dressed back to 900 yards for a few minutes practice before the competition
proper got under way. Conditions were calm and for most, it was probably
sufficient and at least we zeroed at the range we were now to shoot at.
With the
competition now underway at 900 yards, the wind was fairly light but it was
fish tailing and there was little room for error. Current European Champion,
Andy Wyspianski, proved that his win last year was no fluke and posted a superb
75.12v shooting his Walker Rifles BAT chambered in 7mmWSM. He was closely
followed by Cliff Warwick and Jim De Kort on 74.7v with Cliff taking second
place on count back. There were some good performances in F/TR with Irishman
Liam Fenlon's excellent 72.5v beating Andy Gent on count-back and Adam Bagnall
close behind on 72.4v.
Following
the lunch break we dressed back to 1000 yards and this clearly proved more
testing. Andy Wyspianski could manage
only 12th and the Brough brothers topped the list with Adam just
ahead of Dan on V bull count. 1000 yards is a long way for a 308 and although
the scores were down, Russell Simmonds' 88.6v was a great performance with Kate
Fitton in second place on 87.4v and Paul Dobson third with 86.1v.
With Day One
over, the scores looked like this:
Open Class Adam Brough 171.12
Dan Brough 170.9
Grant Taylor 168.6
F/TR Liam Fenlon 158.5
Russell Simmonds 156.9
Kate Fitton 155.8
The Spanish
guys announced that they would be holding a wine and ham tasting in the L&M
around seven and a good few of us were able to sample some traditional Spanish
fare. Thanks guys - it all adds to the atmosphere and camaraderie.
For day
two, Saturday, it was once again dry and mild and we were at 800 yards for the
first distance for a 2 sighters and 15 to count. Jan de Kok came off the line with a 75.6v so
could rightly feel pleased - until he saw that this was only good enough for 21st
place! To make the top you needed a 75 with twelve V bulls - and three shooters
managed this feat! On count-back, the stage win went to Mark Daish with Jim de
Kort second and Paul Hill third.
Interestingly
enough, scorer of the highest V bull count with 13 was Lee Tomlinson but
unfortunately for him, like several others, one shot had slipped into the four
ring.
It was a
similar story in F/TR and two shooters cleaned the target with Stuart Anselm's
75.7v narrowly beating Adam Bagnall into second place with 75.6v.
The weather
continued warm and dry for the 900 yard stage and another five Open class
shooters managed to get a maximum75. The top three were Mark Daish with 75.11v
, Lee Tomlinson on 75.10v and Shaun Baker , Christer Jacobsson and Grant Taylor
all on 75.5v.
Shaun took
3rd on count back.
Not too
many overseas shooters find themselves near the top of the score sheet so it's
worth noting that this was the second straight 75 today for Christer Jacobsson
from Sweden. Yes, others had done it but not with a 6mmXC.
In F/TR,
only one shooter managed a 75 and that was current World Champion, Russ
Simmonds. Adam Bagnall and Liam Fenlon were close behind on 73.7v with Adam
getting second place on count-back.
The final
distance of the Individual European Championships would be the usual 1000 yard two
and twenty shoot. The weather was good but the wind was definitely up and that
extra 100 yards makes all the difference - especially to the F/TR guys. The
scores did come down in Open class but amazingly two shooters, current World
Champion Gary Costello and David Kent, posted an incredible 99.10v. Think about
that for a moment please. The V bull is just five inches in diameter and these
guys put ten of their 20 shots in that tiny white disc! Fine shooting with
phenomenally accurate rifles. Gary won on count back and third place went to Paul
Sandie with 98.9v.
In F/TR big
points can easily be dropped at 1000 yards especially with a 20 round-count. Remember,
a two MOA wind-reading error will push you close to the 'one' ring! Andy Gent
prevailed with a great 93.9v with Mark Gray in second on 92.4v and Paul
Eggemann third, also with 91.4v after
count back. Russell Simmonds has dominated the League again this year but would
his 91.4v be enough to take the win and his second Championship?
Here's how
it all finished in the Open:
1st
Adam Brough 414.31v
2nd Grant Taylor 414.28
3rd Dan Brough 413.31
4th
Mark Daish 411.45
5th Andy Wyspianski 411.42
6th Gary Costello 411.41
7th Paul Sandie 411.34
So, Adam is
our new European Champion. The scores of the top seven were amazingly close
with some massive V bull counts.
In F/TR it
finished like this:
1st
Russell Simmonds 395.30v
2nd Liam Fenlon 391.21
3rd Adam Bagnall 388.23
4th Stuart Anselm 387.22
5th Steve
Rigby 384.20
6th Paul Eggerman 382.18
7th Andy Gent 381.29
Russell
Simmonds is now World Champion, European Champion and GB League Champion all in
the same year! It is possible that this may never happen again, unless he does
it of course!
We already
know that Russell is the 2009 GB F/TR League Champion but what about the Open
class? Grant Taylor won the very first League shoot of 2009 at Diggle and his second
place finish today was enough to secure the League Championship for 2009 and a
very popular victory it was. Grant built his own rifle and is one of the few to
shoot a 'straight' 284Win and make it work as well as a WSM.
So that was
it for the 2009 GB League. The meeting was rounded off with the Shoot Dinner in
the London and Middlesex Club but prize giving would have to wait until the
Sunday, following the Team shoots.
After three
days of great weather, heavy rain and high winds were forecast for Sunday and
for once, the forecasters got it spot on. We did get started but after an hour
or so the match was called off. Not only were the targets almost impossible to
see but water in actions can have a detrimental effect and in the interests of
safety and common sense, the shoot was reluctantly abandoned.
Finally, as
always, we thank those who gave their time to make this shoot possible - our
RCOs, butt crew and staff of the L&M, HPS for the tea and biscuits on range
and finally Mik and his crew for a great shoot and amazingly quick stats.
That's it
for 2009 but the GB League starts up again, with the opening shoot at Diggle in
April 2010. By request, this will be a short-range shoot - 5/600 yards, so ideal maybe for your first
foray into the F Class League. See you there.
| Grand Agg - Open | Score | V's | League | ||
| 1 | Adam Brough | 414 | 31 | 20 | |
| 2 | Grant Taylor | 414 | 28 | 19 | |
| 3 | Dan Brough | 413 | 31 | 18 | |
| 4 | Mark Daish | 411 | 45 | 17 | |
| 5 | Andy Wyspianski | 411 | 42 | 16 | |
| 6 | Gary Costello | 411 | 41 | 15 | |
| 7 | Paul Sandie | 411 | 34 | 14 | |
| 8 | David Kent | 407 | 35 | 13 | |
| 9 | John Carmichael | 405 | 29 | 12 | |
| 10 | Cliff Warwick | 404 | 39 | 11 | |
| 11 | Jim de Kort | 404 | 34 | 10 | |
| 12 | Gary Cousins | 404 | 29 | 9 | |
| 13 | Peter Hunt | 403 | 34 | 8 | |
| 14 | Anthony Dunne | 402 | 27 | 7 | |
| 15 | Lee Tomlinson | 399 | 37 | 6 | |
| 16 | Peter Hobson | 398 | 30 | 5 | |
| 17 | Eckbaur Rudolf | 398 | 29 | 4 | |
| 18 | Les Bacon | 398 | 23 | 3 | |
| 19 | Olaf Jones | 397 | 28 | 2 | |
| 20 | Martin Miles | 397 | 24 | 1 | |
| 21 | Pete Wilson | 395 | 30 | 1 | |
| 22 | Mick East | 395 | 28 | 1 | |
| 23 | Paul Hill | 394 | 29 | 1 | |
| 24 | Gordon Waugh | 393 | 23 | 1 | |
| 25 | Ian Chapman | 392 | 25 | 1 | |
| 26 | Kwade Ulrich | 392 | 25 | 1 | |
| 27 | Scholze Wolfgang | 391 | 28 | 1 | |
| 28 | Russ Gall | 391 | 25 | 1 | |
| 29 | Joerg Hanhart | 391 | 21 | 1 | |
| 30 | Peter Hofma | 390 | 20 | 1 | |
| 31 | Guido Amlinger | 389 | 23 | 1 | |
| 32 | John Dean | 389 | 22 | 1 | |
| 33 | Shaun Baker | 389 | 16 | 1 | |
| 34 | Christer Jacobsson | 388 | 20 | 1 | |
| 35 | Erichsen Olaf | 388 | 18 | 1 | |
| 36 | Zeitz Volker | 387 | 19 | 1 | |
| 37 | Les Holgate | 384 | 25 | 1 | |
| 38 | Des Parr | 384 | 23 | 1 | |
| 39 | Jan De Kok | 384 | 20 | 1 | |
| 40 | Alberto Aguado | 384 | 19 | 1 | |
| 41 | Hardy Behnke | 384 | 19 | 1 | |
| 42 | Robert Persson | 384 | 17 | 1 | |
| 43 | Rainer Lang | 383 | 22 | 1 | |
| 44 | Kaufmann Jan | 381 | 15 | 1 | |
| 45 | Matthias Kern | 380 | 23 | 1 | |
| 46 | Helmut Metz | 379 | 32 | 1 | |
| 47 | Mitera Horst | 378 | 20 | 1 | |
| 48 | Jo Wright | 378 | 16 | 1 | |
| 49 | Ian Bunting | 377 | 17 | 1 | |
| 50 | Knackstsdt Manfred | 376 | 23 | 1 | |
| 51 | Berg Jeurgen | 376 | 17 | 1 | |
| 52 | Micheal Meyer | 375 | 15 | 1 | |
| 53 | Schreib Konrad | 375 | 15 | 1 | |
| 54 | Liane Metz | 371 | 11 | 1 | |
| 55 | Tony Marsh | 370 | 11 | 1 | |
| 56 | Peter King | 363 | 20 | 1 | |
| 57 | Ceferino M Badia | 359 | 12 | 1 | |
| 58 | Eladio V Casals | 355 | 10 | 1 | |
| 59 | John Gardener | 351 | 14 | 1 | |
| 60 | Joe Melia | 309 | 19 | 1 | |
| 61 | Mik Maksimovic | 297 | 14 | 1 | |
| 62 | Hans Faber | 297 | 11 | 1 | |
| Grand Agg - F/TR | Score | V's | League | ||
| 1 | Russel Simmonds | 395 | 30 | 20 | |
| 2 | Liam Fenlon | 391 | 21 | 19 | |
| 3 | Adam Bagnall | 388 | 23 | 18 | |
| 4 | Stuart Anselm | 387 | 22 | 17 | |
| 5 | Steve Rigby | 384 | 20 | 16 | |
| 6 | Eggemann Paul | 382 | 18 | 15 | |
| 7 | Andy Gent | 381 | 29 | 14 | |
| 8 | George Barnard | 380 | 12 | 13 | |
| 9 | Paul Harkins | 376 | 23 | 12 | |
| 10 | Paul Dobson | 374 | 13 | 11 | |
| 11 | Kate Fitton | 373 | 14 | 10 | |
| 12 | Vince Bottomley | 370 | 20 | 9 | |
| 13 | John Snellin | 370 | 19 | 8 | |
| 14 | Anthony Donnachie | 369 | 14 | 7 | |
| 15 | Glenn Jones | 367 | 22 | 6 | |
| 16 | Mark Gray | 367 | 12 | 5 | |
| 17 | AF Philipsen | 366 | 14 | 4 | |
| 18 | Scherf Hermann | 365 | 16 | 3 | |
| 19 | John Cross | 365 | 15 | 2 | |
| 20 | Andy Duffy | 364 | 18 | 1 | |
| 21 | Kovalskyy Vyacheslav | 364 | 13 | 1 | |
| 22 | Bill McIntryre | 362 | 11 | 1 | |
| 23 | Dave Crispin | 361 | 17 | 1 | |
| 24 | Ian Dixon | 360 | 8 | 1 | |
| 25 | Eduardo A De Fontcuberta | 351 | 12 | 1 | |
| 26 | Adler Rainer | 347 | 13 | 1 | |
| 27 | Alejandro H Garcia | 347 | 12 | 1 | |
| 28 | Stephen Lynch | 347 | 8 | 1 | |
| 29 | Kroll Klaus | 347 | 6 | 1 | |
| 30 | Andrew Penfold | 346 | 10 | 1 | |
| 31 | CLJ Kraaijenbrink | 341 | 10 | 1 | |
| 32 | Laurie Holland | 340 | 8 | 1 | |
| 33 | Galo Aguilera Pavon | 333 | 4 | 1 | |
| 34 | Woerheide, Dieter | 332 | 8 | 1 | |
| 35 | Ramon AC Fito | 328 | 7 | 1 | |
| 36 | Gerry Clarke | 327 | 14 | 1 | |
| 37 | Philip Porter | 323 | 5 | 1 | |
| 38 | Fernando Quilis | 323 | 4 | 1 | |
| 39 | Ron Hilyard | 319 | 7 | 1 | |
| 40 | JF Pioche | 318 | 8 | 1 | |
| 41 | Bragar Vitaliy | 318 | 4 | 1 | |
| 42 | P Krannenburg | 315 | 8 | 1 | |
| 43 | Hrymalyuk Dmytro | 306 | 8 | 1 | |
| 44 | Maksym Semenovykh | 302 | 4 | 1 | |
| 45 | Gary Dutton | 297 | 3 | 1 | |
| 46 | Javier Pastor Boz | 293 | 4 | 1 | |
| 47 | Steve Donaldson | 284 | 15 | 1 | |
| 48 | Vanessa Duffy | 268 | 5 | 1 | |
| 49 | Jose MA Gomez-Acebo | 216 | 9 | 1 | |
| 50 | Nick Steadman | 208 | 2 | 1 | |