Outdoor Archery Season, 1995

Summary

Fita averages

 Dist	 Hits  Golds    Score   Low  High  S. Dev. Num
  90m   35.84   3.36   264.96   196   296  22.9860  25
  70m   36.00   5.96   301.68   281   326  11.0480  25
  50m   36.00   8.04   307.58   279   322  11.9126  24
  30m   36.00  18.54   339.58   330   349   4.9237  24
  All  143.83  35.96  1214.04  1151  1293  39.4984  24

York averages

 Dist	 Hits  Golds    Score   Low  High  S. Dev. Num
 100y   72.00  20.00   486.00   486   486   0.0000   1
  80y   48.00  26.00   382.00   382   382   0.0000   1
  60y   24.00  22.00   212.00   212   212   0.0000   1
  All  144.00  68.00  1080.00  1080  1080   0.0000   1

Fita equivalent average

 Dist	 Hits    Score   Low  High  S. Dev. Num
  All  143.84  1213.60  1151  1293  38.7608  25

Competitions

Dunstable Fita, 24th April

First. A strong cross-wind, and a stupid change to my bow-hand position which I made the previous day contributed to one of my worst 90 metre scores ever. The 70 metre wasn't very good either, but after reverting to my normal style, the 50 and 30 metres were both competition bests.

Lilleshall Double Fita Star, 29th-30th April

Sixth. Just outside the prizes, but worth a mention because of a personal best 50 metre score and personal best overall, in a tricky tailwind.

Timperley Double Fita Star, 6th-7th May

Equipment problems at the intermediate distances made the results slightly disappointing, considering the calm and hot weather on Saturday. The 90m and 30m distances equalled and set competition bests respectively. Sunday was breezy, but more equipment problems (a torn contact lens!) didn't help. The scores were still enough to qualify me as a Master Bowman, after a lay-off of a year. Overall position was tenth.

Havering Nalgo Rose Status York, 21st May

Third. A poor 100 yards, followed by a slightly better 80 yards preceded a near-perfect 60 yards, with only two arrows outside the gold. The overall score was poor, but at least I got my 1000 Rose award.

Colchester Double Fita Star, 27th-28th May

Sixth, and 30 metre distance award. Bad weather (strong wind and showers on Saturday, wind and heavy rain on Sunday) didn't make this the most high-scoring of competitions, and I didn't really start shooting well until the 30m on Saturday and the 70m on Sunday. Enough excuses, it wasn't a bad result for all that.

Nations Tournament, 3rd-4th June

This was actually two tournaments; the Saturday was the Euronations tournament, which is the home nations (Scotland, England, Wales, and Northen Ireland) plus Eire, and whoever else want to come. Invitations are sent out to quite a few countries, but they don't often attend. This year just the channel islands Guernsey and Jersey attended. The Sunday was a separate Fita Star on the same ground. The wind was tricky all weekend, and the scores were well down; one international archer who has been shooting for 26 years told me that even with all his experience he couldn't anticipate it correctly. Scotland came second in the Nations, behind England, but ahead of Wales, Northern Ireland, Eire, Guernsey and Jersey. In the compound division, Scotland were third behind England and Wales. On the Sunday, I came fourth in the individual competition.

U.K. Masters, 10th-11th June

This tournament is restricted to the archers who have made the GNAS ``Master Bowman'' or ``Grand Master Bowman'' status within the previous year. (Master Bowman is three scores of 1190 or above in Fita Star tournaments, Grand Master Bowman is three scores of 1259 or above.) The first day was a Fita Star tournament, which I didn't place well in because of tuning problems (14th overall). The second day was a knockout round; I came seventh in qualifying, but shot poorly in the knockouts, making it through the first round by winning a one-arrow shoot-off. I got knocked out in the second round, but stayed to cheer on the Scottish contingent of John Low, Simon Needham, and John MacIlroy as they knocked out the favourites and took first, second, and third places respectively.

Lincoln Premier, 17th-18th June

This was the first of the U.K. ``Premier'' Events, which are worth more for the final British Rankings. It was quite windy all weekend, although sunny on Sunday. I was trying my new tent for the first time, and it worked well, it's just a pity that my shooting wasn't as good! I think I'd been doing too much shooting, and I was tired and lacking motivation, so I didn't perform well. The highlights were a good 50m on the first day, and my first good dozen for the year at 90m on Sunday (101 scored). The lowlights were the two misses in the first dozen at 90m on Sunday, and the final placing, which was 19th.

Bradford Premier, 8th-9th July

Bradford lived up to its reputation as a windy venue; Saturday was sunny, hot, with wind starting at lunchtime and increasing throughout the day; Sunday was windy and hot all day. The shooting wasn't too hot, although the score was alright on Saturday, I wasn't shooting well, and it took its toll, with a poor score on Sunday, as I was tired and had sore fingers from the previous day. I somehow managed to win the 30m distance award though, even though I was 12th overall.

Northern Area Fita Star, Banchory, 15th-16th July

Banchory has always been a good field to shoot at, and the combination of near perfect weather and three weeks of rest, re-tuning, and style work prior to the Bradford Premier made this a great shoot for me. I came first, breaking eight personal best distance and round scores and breaking three Scottish records, and equalling another. To say that I was happy with this would be an understatement!

Bedfordshire Fita Star, Clophill, 22nd-23rd July

A real let-down after the previous week, it was windy again, changing from a moderate left-right breeze on Saturday to a moderate right-left breeze on Sunday. Poor shooting on Saturday and a late night at a party that evening left me very tired and lacking motivation, and I retired at lunchtime on Sunday after doing a little bit of work on my form.

W.M.A.S. Fita Star, Leamington Spa, 29th-30th July

A bit better than the previous week; I came first in the Fita Star, after a close struggle at the top of the leaderboard. It was exceptionally hot all day, but with little wind. Unfortunately, a blister under the callous on my middle finger opened up, and I had to retire after two dozen on Sunday. This was a shame, since I was equal top of the leaderboard after the first dozen!

Scottish Archery Championships, 5th-6th August

Another hot weekend with light winds, and another success. This is a shoot that I had wanted to win for years, but had always shot badly when there. This time I came first by a comfortable margin, taking the Scottish Native and first overall trophies too, and qualifying as a Grand Master Bowman. It was my birthday too, this was just the present I wanted!

S.A.A. Fita Star, 9th-10th September

We got really lucky with the weather this weekend; everywhere else in Britain had torrential rain, but the weather at this shoot was nearly calm and overcast, clearing on the second day. I came first, regaining a deficit of 17 points from the first day to win by 2 overall. I also came first in the Lasswade Fita Star, which was incorporated into Sunday's shooting, and won the handicap prize (which I'm sure was a mistake).

Shropshire Fita Star, 22nd-23rd September

I didn't really feel that I was shooting well for this weekend, probably because my training for it was a trip to Oktoberfest in Munich, but I still managed to come second. Saturday started nice, but the wind picked up at 30m. Sunday was windy and wet all day, and was more about endurance than shooting well.