Sunday, July 21, 2013

21 July 2013

First of all, apologies for not posting this yesterday when it was relevant and appropriate.  Good intentions but the pace of the day got the better of the author.  While this information has likely been gathered through other means on the internet, I shall recap Canada's final shooting day anyways.

The day started with the final of the St. George's prize.  The 2 Canadians who qualified both had excellent finals and placed in the top 20.  Jim Paton placed 8th (150.20) and Des Vamplew placed 17th (149.22).  The winner was David Luckman on 150.24.

Next up was the MacKinnon match.  Once again, Canada suffered from a dose of inconsistency and we ended up finishing in 7th place.  Congratulations to the Australians who won the match with an excellent performance.  Final results as follows:

1.  Australia:  1172.128
2.  England:  1162.128
3.  Scotland:  1158.134
4.  Wales:  1158.123
5.  Ireland:  1154.114
6.  Jersey:  1144.110
7.  Canada:  1143.104
8.  Guernsey:  1135.101

The big event of the day of course was the Queen's Final.  As always, the scores were tight and there was some drama leading to the conclusion.  After 900 yards, Nick Tremlett was 1 point clear of the field after an excellent 75.14.  At 1000 yards, there were some quick changing conditions that caused a shuffle on the leaderboard.  In the end, James Corbett from Benalla, Australia emerged the winner with a score of 297. 46, just ahead of Ed Jeens (297.40), Matt Ensor (297.39) and Martin Millar (297.32).  As for Canadians, Pat Vamplew had an excellent afternoon firing 74.7 at 900 and 74.6 at 1000 yards to finish in 9th place (295.28).  Des Vamplew placed 36th (292.28), Justin Hearn placed 76th (288.23) and Cdt Trepanier placed 100th (279.26).

The Queen's Prize winner arrived at the MacDonald Stewart Pavilion at approximately 9:20 where he continued the tradition of accepting the Alberta Stetson off the buffalo head and being greeted by our Commandant, Mr Ron Ellis.  The cannon was fired 6 times, culminated by Jim Corbett with the traditional Queen's winner firing.

Thank you all for reading.

Friday, July 19, 2013

19 July 2013

Well, it was not the greatest of days for Team Canada.  The Kolapore match was fired this morning and Canada had its fair share of struggles.  There were some excellent performances however and this should not be overlooked.  Top Canadian was Geoff Woodman with a 149.21 followed closely by Alain Marion with a 149.20.  Conditions were difficult as the wind was significantly stronger than it has been for most of the week.  Final results are as follows:

1.  Great Britain:  1191.163
2.  Australia:  1175.145
3.  Canada:  1167.132
4.  Jersey:  1164.130
5.  Guernsey:  1126.128

This afternoon was the second stage of the Queen's.  Again, conditions were difficult, which was evidenced by the cut-off score of 145.13.  To the best of the author's knowledge, there were 4 Canadians who qualified for the Final:  Justin Hearn with a 148, Pat Vamplew with a 147, Des Vamplew with a 146.15 and Cadet Trepanier (score unknown).  Congratulations to our qualifiers and we shall be cheering them on tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Imperial Meeting with the St. George's Final, the MacKinnon team match and the Queen's Final.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

CANADA WINS THE OVERSEAS MATCH!!

A long day of shooting culminated in Canada taking the Overseas Match for the first time in many years!!  The team worked very well together and we put up a score of 1227.147 in some tricky wind conditions.  There was some tension on the range when it was announced that Jersey fired a 1228 to slip past us by a point.  This was made even more frustrating when one of our team members managed an excellent V-Bull on another target.  Needless to say, when we left the range, we were somewhat discouraged.  All worked out in the end however when a check of the official results had Canada on top by 2 points over Australia.  Final results as follows:

Canada:  1227.147
Australia:  1225.145
Jersey:  1218
Guernsey:  1198

On to the individual results.  The Prince of Wales match was fired this morning to conclude the Grand Aggregate.  We ended up having 3 Canadians in the top 50 of the Grand:  Jim Paton (22nd), Geoff Woodman (27th) and Alain Marion (48th).  Pat Vamplew and Peter Westlake managed to finish in the top 100 as well.  Congratulations go to David Luckman, who won the Grand Aggregate for the third time (to go with 4 second place finishes as well).  Finally, the second stage of the St. Georges was fired this evening.  All 148's got through and I shall update later once I know the full list of Canadians who qualified for the final, being shot on Saturday morning.

So an excellent day for Canada!!!  Tomorrow is the Kolapore match and the second stage of the HM the Queen's Prize.  Hopefully some good news to follow!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

17 July 2013

The first stage of the Queen's Prize was shot today along with the Conan Doyle.  The heat continued and although the NRA changed lots of ammunition a couple of days ago to solve the problem that shooters were having with blown primers, some of these problems came back today.  So while there were some blown primers and even a couple of broken extractors as a result of the heat, the Canadians persevered and there were a number of excellent performances today.  There were a total of 12 Canadians who qualified for the second stage of the Queens.  The cut-off score was 102.12.  Along with the 11 Canadians who qualified for the second stage of the St. Georges, the standard of shooting has been excellent.

Also, we named the team who will be firing the Overseas match tomorrow.  This match is 1 sighter and 7 shots for score at 300, 500 and 600 yards.  It has been quite a while since we won this match and we are looking forward to some success tomorrow.  Tomorrow also will be the tie shoot involving Des Vamplew for the St. George's first stage.  The day ends with the second stage of the St. George's (15 shots at 600 yards).  So the first of a couple of very busy days for Team Canada.  More to follow tomorrow with, hopefully, a summary of successes for the Canadian Team.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

16 July 2013

It is nearing noon on July 16th and we are in the middle of another hot, steamy day.  The high pressure system is staying on top of us bringing lots of sunshine and temperatures in the mid 30's.  To finish up reporting on yesterday's shooting, the Corporation lived up to its reputation as many Canadians had midday relays and challenging conditions.  There were several 44's shot among the scores posted.

In the Times, top Canadian was Fazal Mohideen with a 50.8.  Jim Paton was next with a 50.7 to place 34th.  In the Wimbledon, Pat Vamplew and Paul Tremblay were top Canadians, each on 50.6.  After Monday's shooting, the following Canadians were in the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate:  Jim Paton (22nd), Geoff Woodman (24th), Alain Marion (39th) and Pat Vamplew (49th).

This morning was the first stage of the St. Georges.  Highlights thus far include at worst, a tie for first place for Des Vamplew, who shot a fantastic 75.15.  There were a handful of other 75's fired along with a number of 74's.  This afternoon, the county team matches are fired so most of the team will be enjoying a well deserved afternoon off.  Tomorrow is the first stage of the Queen's Prize and the Conan Doyle.

Monday, July 15, 2013

14 July 2013

Apologies for the delay in this post.  The Canadian reception was held last night, which concluded a very full day for the team.  It was once again a huge success with several hundred visitors to the Pavilion and the Canadians being excellent hosts.  The team worked well together to clear all the furniture and replace it at the end of the night.

To finish off results from Saturday, Pat Vamplew placed 19th in the Daily Telegraph with a 75.12.  On Sunday, in the Alexandra, the top Canadian was Peter Westlake with a 50.7.  In the Daily Mail, the highlight was one of our Canadian Cadets, Cdt PR Roy, placing second with a magnificent 75.14.  It took a highest possible score of 75.15 by last year's Grand Aggregate winner J. Corbett from Australia to beat him.  Excellent shooting!  Pat Vamplew continued his excellent shooting by firing a 75.9, good enough for 18th place.

In the Duke of Cambridge, Geoff Woodman also continued his excellent Imperial placing 14th with a 50.7.  Alain Marion was just behind in 15th place also on 50.7, while Jim Paton and Paul Tremblay placed 31st and 32nd respectively each with 50.5.

Although early, there are 4 Canadians in the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate:  Geoff Woodman, Alain Marion, Pat Vamplew and Jim Paton.  Vice Commandant Mohideen is quite pleased with the level of shooting right now and we feel confident leading into the team matches.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't discuss a little wager between team members Bruce Bullock and Alix Voorthuyzen.  It started with a friendly bet that the shooter with the lower score on Saturday would have to serve the higher score dinner.  As luck would have it, they ended up tied after Saturday. This of course meant that the wager would carry over until Sunday.  Somehow, they got the Head Coach involved in the wager and the lowest score would have to now serve 2 dinners.  I must report that there was much enjoyment around the table when Bruce served a wonderful curry supper to both Alix and Peter.  Bruce took to this duty with great professionalism and it was a nice moment for the team.

It is now July 15th, "moving day" during the Imperial with the firing of the Times (300 yards), the Wimbledon (600 yards) and the Corporation (1000 yards).

Saturday, July 13, 2013

13 July 2013

Today brought the Donegall (300 yards), the Lovell (1000 yards) and the start of the Grand Aggregate with the Daily Telegraph (500 yards).  It was quite hot today, as it has been all meeting thus far and the team needed to keep hydrated in order to cope with the conditions.  Conditions once again were a little tricky with quick changes requiring full

As for yesterday, Geoff Woodman placed 14th in the Century with a 100.13.  In the Admiral Hutton, Steven Spinney placed 29th (50.6) and Pat Vamplew placed 54th (50.4).  In the Friday Aggregate, Pat placed 13th with a 148.19.

Our Commandant, Ron Ellis, as well as James Spratley arrived today.  We are happy to welcome them both to the Pavilion.  Ron's arrival was just in time as we have scheduled our team photograph for this evening at 7:30.  Following supper, there is a reception at the British Commonwealth Rifle Club for the team starting at 9:00.

Finally, hot off the presses, we have results from the Donegall and the Lovell.  In the Donegall, Des Vamplew placed 7th with a 50.9 while Paul Tremblay placed 21st with a 50.8.  In the Lovell, Alain Marion placed 13th with a 50.5, while Steve Hunt placed 29th (49.5) and Bruce Bullock placed 33rd (49.4).

Tomorrow brings the Duke of Cambridge, the Alexandra and the Daily Mail.