Overnight, the rain blew through and the team awoke, with relief, to blue skies, unfortunately accompanied by boisterous winds. Kit had mostly dried (that which hadn’t was wrung out or hung out to dry, once at the range) and GBRT hoped that it would stay that way, at least for a day or two. The morning saw the last of the warm-up shoots, the Tilton (2 and 10 at 300 metres and 500 yards). Then, in the afternoon, the Grand Aggregate began with the MacDougall (2 and 10 at 300 metres and 500 yards). Members of the team were redistributed amongst the buses, in order to match their squadding. Although the 300 metre and 800/900 metre ranges are within walking distance from GBRT headquarters, the 500/600 yard range is not, especially in inclement or very hot weather.
Connaught appears, at least to the diarist, to experience more fickle winds than Bisley does, which will often change on the shooter, whilst they are in the aim. This can be the cause, even at 300 metres, of many a pesky inner at either 9 or 3 o’clock. Angus McLeod and Mike Barlow, however, seemed immune to such problems, both scoring 100.14 in the Tilton, tying for first place with Gale Stewart of Canada and necessitating a tie shoot later in the week. Closely following them were Ian Ashworth, Charles Dickenson and David Calvert with 100.12, Graham Nelson with 100.11, Jon Underwood with 100.10 and Simon Carson with 100.9.
After lunch, shooters headed out for the first two shoots of the Grand, with the wind remaining challenging. Once again, a strong performance from GBRT saw David Calvert win the MacDougall, scoring 100.14. In hot pursuit were Graham Nelson and Angus McLeod (100.13), Simon Carson, Jeremy Tuck, David Rose and Mike Barlow (100.11), and Stephen Penrose (100.8).
Post-shooting, the cleaning and shopping rota was in full swing, making sure that supplies for the team were replenished and the classroom, a small space for 20 people, kept in a habitable state. Various groups then took dinner in several restaurants near the hotel, according to their predilections.
The diarist hopes that both the good weather and this impressive level of performance across the team will hold for the rest of the week.
Lollipop awards (Day 18):
Good – Chris Hockley, for helping to fix Graham Nelson’s steamed up scope.
Bad – Rory MacLeod, for leaving the team Hoppe’s in his hotel room.