The Long Range World Championships for the Palma Trophy are held every four years.
The Great Britain Palma Team preparing for the matches in New Zealand in January 2019
Captain’s Foreword
Meet the Team
Team Diary
After a very well organised team dinner last night in Petone, following which a few of the team socialised in Wellington and others in Trentham, it was a day off for the team today. Therefore many enjoyed a bit of a lie-in, some early physio sessions and a bit more R&R. Some of the team went into Wellington to view the Terracotta Warriors on show at the Te Papa museum, others went to the beach and most enjoyed a leisurely lunch as well - mentally preparing for the start of the World Individual Long Range Championships that begin tomorrow afternoon at
GB victorious! OK - that headline may be mildly misleading, but it is technically accurate. After a final 1000x detail yesterday that caused an onslaught of distressed memes by the adjutant onto social media, the team awoke to a day of blue skies, apparently calmer wind (from the front for a change!), and a team match in the morning. The overseas clubs match would be a perfect way for the team to remind themselves of team shooting technique and also for Parag, David and Nigel to warm up for their Ballinger Belt final. The team split into 4 separate target teams
The Trentham winds returned in full force today. We woke to cloudy skies and a cooler morning (no sympathy expected from loved ones in the UK dealing with snow). A brisk wind down the range led to rapidly fishtailing conditions from the start of the 600yd match at 8.30 am. The 900 and 1000 yd ranges to follow were very challenging! Scores in the 30’s (ex 50) were common at 900, with the G.B. team managing an average of 43 at 900 and only 40/50 at 1000yds. Despite this several moved up the overall standings with Parag top scoring with
Thursday began with the brightest start to any day so far, threatening the hottest conditions. The earliest to arrive at the range saw a thin layer of mist just covering the targets, but this did not last. As it turned out, the heat did not seem quite as draining as in some previous days (in some cases because of the abandonment of extra shooting layers), and perhaps the lighter load of shooting (3 shoots rather than the 4 of both yesterday and Tuesday) helped. Today's schedule has been the most relaxed we have seen to date, with us leaving the
Wednesday brought the beginning of the Ballinger Belt series (see article in the brochure for the history of the Belt), which is the main individual competition of the year for New Zealand fullbore shooting. Today we were eased into it, with purely short range shooting, twice at 300x in the morning and twice at 500x in the afternoon. While it was another very hot day it was tempered with more cloud, and the shooters often faced overcast conditions when shooting which was very nice after being roasted the previous day! The team’s acclimatisation was in full swing in the morning,
After the excited rush to prepare for and shoot the New Zealand Match yesterday, the team has now settled down into a routine for individual shooting in the New Zealand championships. This is the first of four days of individual competition: the Masefield today followed by the Ballinger Belt over Wednesday to Friday. As we arrived on the range, the cloud cover extended down to about 100 feet above the ground at the targets, and barely higher further back. And the bugs & flies were out in force. David Armstrong changed the warm-up routine by adding the flapping arms to keep
After one day of individual competition, the New Zealand Match today was for international teams of ten. The GB team had been announced on Saturday evening (it had to be selected before any competitive shots were fired), allowing us to prepare suitably. As on recent mornings, the skies were overcast for the first shoot but rapidly cleared and the temperature rose through the morning. The course of fire for the match was 2 sighters and 10 counting shots at 300, 600, 900 & 1000yds (just like the Australia Match). The 300 yard shoot set the scene for the day: GB
The morning of Sunday 27th January brought the beginning of the individual competition at Seddon range at Trentham, with the Wellington Rifle Association Championships, or the “WRA” for short. After the range gave us a taste of its fearsome reputation yesterday, the team were hoping for an easier start to the individual shooting (or at least some of them!). We arrived with overcast skies, a calm wind and light drizzle - something which helped the more homesick members of the team! The WRA is a day’s competition in entirety, with 2 sighting shots and 7 to count at 300, 600,