The final GP of the summer season was held at Sywell Ranges near Kettering. The long range forecast had suggested we'd be in for a wet day but the weather was glorious all day! Sywell really is a testing FT course; it has three distinct areas that each offers a different test and then there is the Sywell wind. I think that if the Oxford dictionary is looking for a definition of "subtle wind" then Sywell will suffice.
The morning session kicked off after Roger's penultimate GP briefing and soon the dull dink of pellet on face plate was an abundant reminder that although it looked sunny and still, it wasn't! As many found the going tough there were a few shooters building a good score; Ian Taylor and Marc Fisher ended the morning tied on 44. The conditions remained similar in the afternoon and despite being 5 down after about half of his shots Andy Calpin cleared the rest to win his first GP of the year. Simon Evans added another first in A grade and Mark Brewitt recorded his fifth, in C grade Peter Jacobs won his 4th on the trot and once again his score began with a 4. Nick Murphy astounded all with a score of 44 in Piston class and for the first time this year Steve Lanyman didn't win SFT; that honour fell to Ian Harford.
As well as offering a superb shooting venue Sywell has a lot of space and facilities that make it the perfect place to present the end of season trophies and the prize draw.
AA grade was, thanks to some outstanding shooting, won by the end of Gp7 by John Costello Junior. John was the runner up in South Africa last year and now must be among the favourites in Hungary; good luck John!
James Griffiths has shot to a very high and consistent standard all year; he won A grade courtesy of three wins and three second places. Well done James.
B grade was dominated by Castle's Mark Brewitt who won with 298 points. Excellent shooting from a top guy!
Two Welsh shooters made a big impression in their debut season. Both won 4 GP and were second twice which meant they needed a shoot-off to separate them in which Peter was successful.
(Perhaps we should all wear black!!)
In SFT Steve Lanyman won six times from seven starts to record 300 points; perfect shooting Steve!After the award of the trophies it was time for the end of season prize draw. Mark "Berty" Bassett had assembled a vast array of prizes including three rifles and a number of scopes. Anyone who had shot in 3 or more GP had their name in the hat and many left Sywell with some goodies. Young Mitch Tomes must be very happy as his dad, Darren, won a rifle and then Mitch won a scope to go on top!
Sywell proved to be an excellent end to the season. There was even a facility for those who'd had a bad day and wanted rid of that old rifle.
This year's last GP was also the last as Competition Manager for Tony Cook and as Chairman for Roger Moy. I know I speak for all in offering great thanks for their many years of service to FT.There's still plenty of FT before we retreat to our wintering grounds. The Far Coley 50, the Masters at Newbury, the Castle 80, the Euros at Weston Park, the North Oxon 50 and then the worlds in Hungary.