The Welsh & Open Field Archery Championships 2013

Hi everybody!

It's been quite a while since I shot this, but I forgot to update my blog!

The weekend of 29/30^th of June was the Welsh & Open Field Archery Championships, hosted by Llantwit Major Archers at Fonmon Castle. It was a 2 day shoot, shooting an IFAA Hunter round on Saturday and the Field round on Sunday. We went down nice and early on the Saturday and got a few practice ends in to verify my marks and make sure everything was good, and then grabbed a spot of breakfast before the groups were called and we went out onto the course.

The Hunter round was shot on the South course and the weather was actually really good for us! It started off slightly overcast, but this lifted and it was nice and sunny all day. The ground was fairly dry and easy going compared to usual, so footing on the targets was ok. I shot a good round, with consistent performance between the halves, shooting 266 in the first half and picking up 2 more points for 268 in the second. This put me on a final score of 534!

This is a new PB for the hunter round by 8 points, my second GBM score and the highest IFAA score I have shot to date! I was absolutely thrilled with this result, and it put me in joint 1^st place with David Home, a professional archer who also finished on 534 so the shooting was going to be tight on Sunday.

Shooting the 53 yard walk-up

On the Sunday we started slightly earlier, and were split into groups based on bow style and position so I was shooting with David and the other AMFU archers, and  the pressure was on. Fatigue is always an issue on the second day with stiff shoulders and tired backs. I didn’t shoot any practice arrows and I think this was a mistake as my first few targets felt difficult to shoot and were a bit shaky.

Because of this I dropped points early on (10 points on the first 5 targets) which dented my score too much to recover from. Once I got up to par I shot the rest of the round fairly well but because of the poor start I finished up on 522 points.

The results went in and David Home took the win by 7 points, and I finished in second place by a comfortable margin and came away with the silver medal! I am really pleased with the results – a silver medal, picked up my GBM patch from 2 weeks ago, and shot a new Hunter and all-time PB.

So lessons learned for this weekend – get more rest the night before day 2, eat/drink more healthily between the shoots (I doubt the Chinese takeaway and ale did me any favours!) and make use of the practice targets to warm up before going back out to get on a roll before you start scoring.

Equipment wise I am really happy with how the CPXL is shooting now. The new strings are settled in and shooting very nicely indeed and I seem to have everything dialled in. It is holding steady and putting arrows in the X from 20 feet to 80 yards, so long as I shoot it properly so it can be left alone now.

I don’t have any tournaments on for a little while, so I am going to use this time to have a bit of a play with my other bows. I haven’t shot my Guardian in a little while so I will take that up the club to have some fun with, and my Brigadier is in the middle of a makeover!

It was matt black and a bit worn from its previous owners so I had it stripped and powder coated. I always liked the look of the Specialist in the limited edition gloss-white, so I had my Brigadier done in that colour.

I am in the process of refitting the various components but the coaters didn’t mask off the threads as they were supposed to, and the arrow rest/sight mount threads are caked up. You can’t get the screws in them and the rest one rounded off the first thread, but one of my friends has a set of taps so he can clear the threads for me. I am going to pop round to his place in a few days and get it sorted. Once that’s done then I can reassemble it properly and tune her up ready to use in the next indoor season.

Classification round at Fonmon

Hi everybody!

On Sunday the 16^th of June, Llantwit Major Archers hosted a classification round at their course at Fonmon Castle. It was a Field round, standard 28 targets shot to IFAA rules. The weather forecast was terrible for the weekend, but I made the decision to go anyway. I needed to test out my new strings in the field and make sure my sight marks are accurate and everything is ready for the Welsh Championships in 2 weeks.

We got there and it was just starting to rain, and by the time we got everything geared up and went onto the course it was raining steadily and it kept it up all day. I have good waterproofs though, and I don’t mind shooting in the rain – it is good practice and you need to be prepared for when it happens on serious tournaments.

After the first few targets, I discovered that my peep was too high so I needed to move it down about 1/16^th of an inch and that of course moved my sight marks. It took another 3-4 targets to get everything dialled in so I dropped a few points but that was to be expected testing a new setup, and I finished the first half on 261.

In the second half though, I shot well and with the adjustments it was the best performance I have ever put in, even with the rain. I finished the second half on a new PB for a half of 269, for a final score of 530!

At last! I have reached the 530 that I have been chasing, which now puts me into the highest rank under WFAA of Grand Bow Master. I have sent off the claim form and score card and had confirmation that it has been received, so I will receive my GBM patch at the Welsh Champs in 2 weeks to go with my BM and SBM ones – full house!

Looking back on the shoot, I am very impressed with how well the Insanity is shooting with the new strings. It took the first quarter of the course to get the bow dialled in so my first half was down a few points, and in the second half I shot 2 x 17’s because my longest marks were out. All of this was shot in very poor weather as well, so the chances are if the bow was set up correctly at the start and the weather was better, I may have been closer to 540 than 530!

The Welsh & Open Championships are on the 29/30^th of June and are being shot on the same course, and I am now familiar with the ground so I am hoping for a fairly good result.  I won’t have time beforehand to check my longest marks but with the changes I have made they should have come in a bit more so fingers crossed!

String Change

Hi all!

I’ve had my Insanity CPXL for almost a year now, and have really put it through its paces. As a rough estimate, I would say the factory Octane strings it came with have had about 10-12000 shots through them and they are getting a bit shot out and fuzzy. The time has come for a new set of strings!

I bought a bow-press recently so that I can work on my own equipment and change strings/fine tune so I got in touch with Kevin Weller at Wales Archery Specialists who sorted me out with a set of custom strings for my CPXL in hot pink and black that I could fit and set up myself.

They are superb quality, with tight serving and smooth even tension throughout. The clear-served sections for the roller guard looks perfect with the stripes visible through it and the end loops are small and tight. One of the bottom speed nocks has ‘WELLER STRINGS & CABLES’ on it, a really nice personal touch.

I was a little bit nervous as this was my first full harness change on a compound, so I took measurements of everything before making any changes. I have always known that my CPXL is slightly too long ATA (just shy of 1/8”) but everything on it was in time and it shoots very well so I lived with it. Upon taking it down I measured the strings on it and found that they are ever so slightly too long, which explains the ATA error.

I checked Kevin’s strings and they were spot on the factory spec, so I went to work setting them up. It was easy enough to install them and then it is a matter of adjusting the cables by twisting to get the timing marks lined up, and then adjusting the yoke legs to get the cam lean back to how it is supposed to be. Once this was all done, I installed the peep sight and checked the ATA – bang on!

I fitted a rough D loop and shot a few dozen arrows through it to settle everything in, made sure everything was in the right place and fitted a permanent nock point/loop. I checked the draw weight was still correct and shot a dozen arrows through the chrono which is showing 285 fps, about 10fps faster than before – result!

I printed off sight marks to match the new speed and fitted them, and did some tuning at the club to get things lined up. Here is the results of paper tuning once i’d adjusted the cam lean with the new strings, and a group shot at 35 yards..



Paper tear at 5 yards - perfect bullethole!




35 yard group - not bad!



Not bad! I’ve only been able to check my marks back to 35 yards but everything seems to be ok. There is a classification round at Fonmon shortly which will be a nice road test of the new config, no awards or pressure just shooting for a score and to see how the bow performs. It’s also 2 weeks before the Welsh Champs so time for final tweaks before the big one!

The FITA All British Championships

Hi everybody!

This weekend was the FITA All British & Open Championships at Pentref Bowmen. This was a 2 day tournament, shooting a FITA 24 Unmarked round on Saturday, and a Marked round on Sunday.

The weather for this shoot was absolutely stunning! We had sun all day with only minor cloud cover on Saturday, and on Sunday we had glorious sunshine all day – and not a breath of wind all weekend! Definitely the best shooting conditions that we have had all season.

On Saturday I arrived nice and early and got everything set up, had a good breakfast and shot 2 dozen or so arrows on the practice targets to get warmed up. We got into our groups and were led out onto the unmarked course.

On the unmarked round, you shoot 24 targets at various distances but none of the distances are given – you need to estimate and work out the distances which can make many of the shots quite tricky.  I have a system whereby I can estimate the distance depending on how much of the target I can see through my scope. This worked well for most of the targets, with only 2 targets catching me out when I shot high 3’s. As I had misjudged the distance, I didn’t know how much to adjust the sight to bring them in so I just aimed off the same amount and put the remaining arrows in the gold.

I had a great day with some strong shooting, and finished on a new personal best for the Unmarked round of 385 – up 24 points from my previous best of 361! I haven’t shot the Unmarked round for about 6 months which explains the big jump, but this was a great result – it was my first Master Bowman level score (377+) and was over the threshold to get my next Arrowhead badge so I put in the claim form.

Day 2 was the  Marked round, shot on a different course of 24 targets again but this time the distances are given. Contrary to what you may think, the marked round is usually harder as even though you are told the range, the targets are further away. I had a fairly good first half, and a new personal best for a half in the afternoon with 197 finishing on a total of 381 for the marked round - another MB score!

The results were announced once the courses had been cleared and all scores submitted, and I ranked in 4th place at the British Field Archery Championships, only 6 points short of making the podium. I was absolutely thrilled with this result! So in summary I shot my first 2 MB level scores, won my next Arrowhead award and finished in 4th place - not a bad result for a weekend of shooting in the sun!

The Welsh Field Masters Tour - Round 2!

Hi everyone!

Sunday the 19th of May was round 2 of the Welsh Field Masters Tour, a Hunter round at Red Kite Field Archers course in Broad Oaks, Carmarthenshire.

I drove down to this one with Chris and it was a superb morning, the weather held out for us all day which was a welcome change! It was sunny and bright, quite warm with only a mild breeze in the afternoon– it was the best conditions we have had so far this season and the first shoot where you could get away with a T shirt!

Beautiful woodland at Red Kite Field Archers'course.

Even though the weather was on our side, it was still a bit tricky as the course there is quite challenging. The long shots are exposed and prone to wind because of the landscape there, and there are a few sharp downhill shots on slopes that can catch you out.

I had a bit of a shaky start, dropping 12 points on my first 6 targets but I soon figured out what was wrong. My 2nd axis must have taken a knock at some point and it had dropped slightly so my bubble wasn’t true on the slopes, and I was trying a slightly different bow hand position out but it wasn’t comfortable and felt forced, so I went back to my normal grip and things improved from there on in.

A little bit low, but still very pleased with this group on the 70 yard walkup!

I pulled it back with some good targets, including 20’s on the longest distance walk-ups and then shot a strong second half but I had dropped too many early on. I finished on 524 which is around my average – I’m usually in the mid 520’s and I was happy with my shooting once I got it into gear! If I had put in the same performance at an easier course I think I may have been able to get closer to my goal of 530, it will come eventually!

So – my analysis of the day’s shooting.  Firstly the grip – I grip a bow deeper into my hand than most, if I try to get it on the pad of my thumb it feels forced so I was trying to get used to it. It feels alien and inconsistent, so I have decided why fight it? The bow is comfortable in a deeper grip, it is more relaxed and consistent so I will shoot it how it feels right. Another thing that came up is my sight marks may be slightly out, I think they are about a yard short so I need to verify them against a physical measuring tape and also calibrate my rangefinder against it.  

Lastly, I need to do some fine tuning to make the bow more forgiving, but it is not worth doing now as I will be putting new strings on it within the next few weeks. I am having a custom hot pink/black string set made for my CPXL and will be able to set it up and tune it from scratch. I invested in a bow-press so that I will be able to work on and tune my own bows (expensive at £350 but worth it in the long run!) and I need to build a draw board to sort out cam timing. Once this is sorted I will be doing the ‘kitchen sink’ method of tuning to ensure everything on the bow is squared away and shooting as well as it can be.

The All British Championships is coming up, a 2 day FITA unmarked/marked tournament and I have a few weeks gap after that, so I will be get the tuning done during this break to make sure everything is ready for the rest of the masters tour.

The Welsh Field Masters Tour 2013

 

Hi everybody!

The Welsh Masters Tour 2013 kicked off on Sunday 21^st April, with a Marked Animal round at Llantwit Major Archers course at Fonmon Castle. Everything is set up properly and it was a chance to debut a change in fletching.

I’ve ditched my usual config of white wraps and blue fletches, they keep getting scagged/shot up by close groups and start looking grubby very quickly. Also the wrap is a weak point as if the fletches get hit in the target, they rip the wrap off. I have gone for smaller, tougher fletches glued straight to the shaft and went with Bohning X-Vanes in hot pink to make them really stand out on the target!

I picked Chris up in the morning and we headed down there nice and early for a bit of practice and to confirm our marks.  To everyone’s surprise, it looked like it was going to be quite a decent day for weather. It was a little chilly, but crucially the wind held off and while it did rain slightly it was fairly light and only at the end of the second half.

In the Marked Animal round, the targets are pictures of animals with a ‘wound’ area, and a ‘kill’ area that is worth more points. If you miss with your first arrow, you are allowed a 2^nd and 3^rd attempt but the first arrow that scores a hit is the one that counts. The kill area is usually quite large so it is usually a high scoring round.

Got him, right in the pro-kill ring!

I went round with a few other compound archers who kept the pressure on all day, and on the last target of the first half I had an arrow that was cutting into the ‘kill’ line, but not through it as you have to in IFAA so it was only a wound and I dropped 2 points. (20 kill 18 wound with the first arrow). That was on Target 1, a 55 yard 30 degree downhill shot that I didn’t take enough of a cut off for the angle so the arrow went in high – I made sure I wouldn’t make the same mistake the next time around!

We broke for dinner, and then went back out on the course and I shot a clean second half – finishing the shoot on 27 kills 1 wound, 558 out of a possible 560! This was a new personal best by 10 points and only 1 line cutter away from equalling the Welsh record! This was only good enough for 2^nd place however, as Dave Home was on perfect form and shot a clean 560 – taking the gold medal and the LM Archers 560 Trophy. 

I had a really good day and was thrilled with the result, just one arrow a few mm off a perfect round. The bow is in good tune, my marks are spot on and my new Carbon One arrows are flying very well for me so I think I will be sticking with these for the foreseeable future.

The next shoot now isn’t for a few weeks time, a Hunter round at Dinefwr which combines my favourite round at one of my favourite courses, so I’m not going to put any pressure on myself by chasing a score – I’m just going to relax and enjoy the shoot for what it is, a day out in the woods shooting with good friends.

Red Kite & March Hare - good results but fed up of this weather!!

Red Kite Archers in Carmarthenshire put on a Hunter round on the 7^th April so Chris and I drove up there to give their new course a shot and test the new arrows in the field. We arrived nice and early, got set up and took to the course.

Ready to rock and roll!

It was a very cold day, but the biggest hurdle was the wind – it was awful! One half of the course was down in a valley and fairly sheltered, with some high scoring targets but the other half with the longest distances was along a hillside with open fields on either side, with a fierce wind blowing across every target that didn’t let up at all. On many targets it was impossible to keep your peep and scope lined up, never mind keeping the sight on the target! 

I don't think he's going to make it!

A couple of low scoring targets because of the high wind dashed any hopes of a high score, and I finished in 3^rd place with 513.  This is still a good A class score so I was happy with the result, you can’t control the weather and everyone’s scores were lower because of the conditions.

On a good note though, the new arrows performed very well! On the targets where we were sheltered, they flew great and grouped exactly where I put them, cleaning several targets and the extra speed has reduced the amount I need to cut for angles. Worth the money!

Field round at March Hare

A week later, we went up to March Hare Archers in Throckmorton, Worcester to shoot their course. It was a classification shoot so no awards, but their course is pretty much flat so it’s usually a high scorer and worth the drive!

We got signed in, split into groups and went out onto the course, starting on target 3 close to the clubhouse. The course was easy going but again the weather interfered with shooting. It was raining on and off all day, nothing too heavy but it meant extra layers which get in the way a bit and the wind was blustery. Not as bad as Red Kite the week before but enough to make certain shots tricky.

I put in a decent performance, clearing several targets including an XX55 on the 80 yard walk-up which made my day! But in the end I finished on 525, 5 points short of that elusive 530 for the GrandBowMaster award.

I was still really pleased with the score which is only 3 points short of my personal best, shot at the same course as it happens but in glorious weather last summer at the EFAA Nationals. I’m confident that I will break 530 this season and get my GBM title, I just need a day with the weather on my side, which is hard to come by in this country!!

I’m going to give up on chasing the score for now to take the pressure off, and just shoot for fun and see what happens. On several targets I could feel myself getting nervous and tense, fighting to keep the bow steady. When I’m shooting at the club in practice there is none of this – i’m relaxed, the bow floats and the shot is smooth and on target. I need to shoot tournaments with that same mentality and just let the shot happen with confidence. Easier said than done, but I’m going to work on adopting that relaxed approach in the future and see what happens.

The next shoot is a Marked Animal round at Fonmon, stage 1 of the Welsh Field Masters Tour. There is no classification for the Animal round so i’m going to have fun with it and enjoy the day! I’m off on holiday the day after, and then there are no more rounds for a few weeks so I will use the time to relax, get some quality training done and give everything a once over to make sure it's all in perfect tune ready for the rest of the season.