The Isle of Man Archery club finally got a break in the weather and were able shoot at the weekend. The round of the day was a Fita. In the Men’s Compound event Peter Mumford again beat Dave Moore. Moore suffered a couple of misses as the wind conditions became challenging during the afternoon session but still recorded a personal best.
The Women’s Compound event was fought out between Sarah Rigby, Joy Gough and sisters Aalin and Kirsten George. The George sisters started well with older sibling Aalin taking a two point lead over Kirsten at the end of the first dozen arrows. The gap between the two widened as the shoot progressed and Aalin eventually ran out the winner with a 58 point lead over Kirsten. Sarah Rigby started slowly but as conditions worsened her shooting improved and she took the final place on the podium.
The Recurve event was sadly under-represented. Ethan Moore was the only male entrant and Karen Lott the only female. Both seemed to be hampered by a lack of practice and the increasingly difficult weather conditions.
A number of other archers took part in a variety shoots. Compound archers Frank Vaughan, Colin Moore and Billy Lightfoot competed against one another in the morning session in a Long Metric event. This involves shooting three dozen arrows at 90m and further three dozen at 70m. Colin Moore’s greater experience showed from the start. He had a ten point lead over Vaughan by the end of the first dozen and a twenty-three point lead over Lightfoot. Colin went on to win, posting a personal best score of 558, twenty-nine points up on his previous best. Billy Lightfoot started slowly but managed to pull back points on Vaughan and despite Frank recording a personal best Lightfoot eventually took second place.
Recurve archer Rhys Moore shot two different rounds, a Fita 70 in the morning and a Short Metric in the afternoon. He recorded personal best scores for both disciplines. Rob Lott shot a Metric 1 (three dozen arrows at each of 70, 60, 50 and 30m). Barbara Harris showed up for the afternoon and shot a Short Metric round.
The juniors Adam Wright and Bradley Layton were involved in the July National shoot. The boys shot distances commensurate with their ages- Wright competing over 60 and 50yds, Layton shooting the same number of arrows over 50 and 40yds. Bradley Layton shot well in spite of the gusting wind, missing just once and putting twenty-two points on his personal best.
Men’s Compound Fita 1.Pete Mumford 144 1174 32 9, 2. Dave Moore 142 1146 30 7 p.b. Women’s Compound Fita 1.Aalin George 144 1313 53 18, 2.Kirsten George 144 1255 34 6, 3.Sarah Rigby 142 1226 35 11, 4.Joy Gough 142 1127 18 3. Men’s Recurve Fita Ethan Moore 115 650 9 3. Women’s Recurve Fita Karen Lott 135 790 3 1. Men’s Compound Long Metric 1.Colin Moore 71 558 3 p.b, 2. Billy Lightfoot 71 495 6, 3.Frank Vaughan 71 465 5 3 p.b. Juniors July National Bradley Layton 71 481 20, Adam Wright 68 352 9. Rhys Moore Fita 70, 62 365 3 p.b. Short Metric, 63 397 3 p.b. Rob Lott Metric 1, 119 663 5 1. Barbara Harris Short Metric, 72 497 5 2.
Field set up at 9.30 for a 10 o’clock start. The club wishes the best of luck to the team of Pete Mumford, Sarah Rigby and Aalin and Kirsten George as they go to a competition in Guernsey this weekend.
