The last day of shooting, but still more work to do this morning! The Commonwealth Match at long range, three targets and twelve shooters. The Canadians not to be underestimated can still put up a fight so Chris warned against complacency and got the team focussed for the 800m distance. GB picking up where they left off yesterday managed to go clean all twelve shooters. But with Canada snapping at our heels they were only only 2 points off and up on vees this was a close match. 

Moving back to 900m (1000y) GB started off ok but had a small wobble dropping a few points early on which at one point saw us level or even one behind Canada. The wind had risen and was now moving from the left with occasional right mirage. The Captain nervously watching from behind the point willing the shots into the bull. After a number of stops and sighters out of turn GB picked up their performance and closed out strongly eventually finishing 9 points ahead of Canada. A great close match, Angus top scoring with 100.13

A mightily relived captain managed may have to charge his laundry bill back to the team after a nerve wracking final range.

Changing back to individual mode for this afternoon for the Governor General final a number of the team are carrying through 149’s and 150’s so all to play for. 

The wind conditions from this morning did not continue with the same aggression however lack of attention paid to the mirage meant it would be easy to loose points. A strong start for many with 75’s at the first distance meant 7 of the field were still clean going into the final distance 900m. 

Taking things down to the wire at 900m Nigel dropped his last to finish 1 off, Chloe also slipped one point away but with the highest vee’s finished fourth. Ian Shaw though held his nerve to finish with a superb 300.36, again pipping Kent Reeve on vee bulls to take the Governor Generals prize to go with his win in the Grand Aggregate. 

The GB team braced themselves for the second chair carry of the tour to go with Angus’ win in BC. 

A swift and organised prizegiving conducted by Don Hazell of the DCRA released the GB team for the last night dinner at Moxies. A great dinner had by all, a lot of laughs and remeniscing about the ups and downs and funny moments continuing long into the evening with the celebrations of the Team wins and Ian’s triumph. Enough said about that for now. Tomorrow we fly home post script to follow en route.

The team managed a leisurely start this morning with most of us on the 3rd relay for the Gatineau, the last competition in the Grand Aggregate where the top 50 shooters are squadded on the same relay.  Going in Ian has a 7 vee lead over Kent Reeve.  The conditions were not easy with a light but changeable breeze from the left causing some agonising over wind calls. Ian dropped a shot early on to go behind but as the two leaders approached the finishing line Kent Reeve also dropped his 14th to count to drop back to the same points tally. Ian emerging victorious dropping only 2 points across the whole of the Grand agg. Congratulations and a well deserved winner. 

After the excitement of the morning we reassembled at GB team HQ to get into team match mode for this afternoon. The Canada match which is the Short Range international match commences at 300x. GBRT collectively focussed and put in an exceptional effort to kick things off going clean at 300, Canada just 2 points behind. Continuing at 500x GB again managed a strong showing with just 2 points dropped Sandy just loosing 2 but with the rest of the team going clean our lead was extended further. At 600x Captain Chris gave a final team talk and focussed the minds for the last distance. Minds suitable focussed the team raised their game yet again to go clean and put in the 3rd highest score in the Canada match of 1198.158 finishing 10 points clear of Canada who finished with 1188.14

This evening most of the team head to Crazy Horse for supper but the Captain and the winner of the Grand are off to the Chateau Laurier to the MacDonald Stewart dinner where Ian will be presented with his Grand Agg winners medal. 

With the Commonwealth match in the morning and the Governor Generals final to look forward to most headed to bed as early as possible.

This morning sees the last two ranges of the Grand Agg before the Gatineau tomorrow morning. The short range comps which make up the Gibson at 300x and 600x were also to be counted towards the qualifier for the Governor Generals final. 

At 300x a stiff breeze form the front managed to keep the shooters honest but nevertheless holding  tight elevations would still enable a 50 but not with the highest vee counts. At 600x the Wind was considerably more tricky to read with swift angle changes catching out many people, quick changes from zero to 2.5 minutes Left changing fast. Points were dropped by a number of people but the team managed to get 15 of our number through to the Governor Generals Final to be shot on Saturday.  Jon Underwood took the Gibson with 149.17

In the Afternoon we took part in the Outlander match but sadly with no other teams entered it was GBRT vs GBRT as we put in two teams. The conditions had become increasingly testing through the lunch period and a strong left to right wind varying angle and all mostly read from the mirage there was some fun for the coaches. At 900m there was some tough calls and with the coaches having to call on all their experience. This was not helped when Dave, called on to shoot a sighter out of turn, when instructed duly put 5 minutes of right wind on his gun rather than left wind and Angus watching down the scope saw his shot sail into the gap between the targets rather than into the bullseye. At the end of the 900m distance the official team led by 8 points. At 600yards fighting back strong the honours only GB team clawed back 6 points to only loose by 2. This was a good work out for the team in advance of the Canada and Commonwealth matches to come on Friday and Saturday. 

Going into the Final range of the Grand Agg – Ian Shaw is leading by 7 vees over Kent Reeve of the USA with Nigel, Angus Jon and Chloe all still in the top 10. 

Nigel Ball also won the Allcomers Agg today with 500.71, 10 vees clear of Kent Reeve.

After yesterdays lack of shooting the team were keen to get back out there and stuck in. an early start with shooting at 0800. Today we will complete the Presidents match (the Canadian  version of Queens 2) and the first range of the Gibson match which has been moved to 900m to make up for missing the Alexander of Tunis yesterday. As we are missing the Letson (Queens 1) from yesterday the qualifier for the final will comprise the short range shoots in the Gibson which we will complete tomorrow.  All a bit confusing but we will report back on the results in due course.

The morning at 300x and 500x was met with light winds from the left but with a turning angle to keep us on our toes. Despite the flicking wind there were again a large array of 50’s scored at the shorter ranges. 

An early lunch before commencing the afternoon programme at 900x in much more testing conditions. The wind blowing from 7 to 9 minutes with the occasional quick turn in angle leaving the unwary flying out to the left of the target. This long range shoot definitely managed to shake up the leaderboard on the grand with most of the team managing 47 or 48 with a couple of us on 49. Ian Shaw leading the way though with one of only 2 50’s on the range. A return to the 600x for the last range of the Presidents still saw some tricky conditions with and angling breeze from the front left corner of the range. 8 of the team managed to finish with a 150 in the Presidents John Deane managed to top the tree with 150.24, Chloe and Nigel close behind with 22 vees

Following the completion of the last detail there was the small matter of the tie shoots for the Col John Brick and the Norman Beckett. The first of these involving Jon Underwood and Chris Mitchell up against James Cook from the Army team. Jon managing to take the tie with 24.2.

In the second tie shoot Jon Underwood was up against Alwyn McLean and in a tight tie shoot at 800m Alwyn just edged it with Jon dropping a point when the flags turning towards. 

Confirmation on a few trophies and the Grand.

Grand Agg – Ian Shaw leads having not dropped a point, with Kent Reeve one back and Angus McLeod 2 off

Col. John Brick – 1st Jon Underwood, 2nd Chris Mitchell

Gzowski Agg – Ian Shaw

Gil Boa Agg – Ian Shaw tied with John Deane

The Harrison Agg (u25) – Chloe Evans

Victoria Rifles – Surrey RA Blue (Shaw, Rose, Evans, Underwood)

From Tuesday Agg’s

The Klondike Agg – Jon Underwood

This evening we hosted our fellow competitors for the GB Team reception. Thanks to Tom R for his sterling efforts on the food front and to Ian for Pimms and Gin prep. Much fun was had by all and a great opportunity to catch up with friends old and new. 

So the word for today was “Rain”…

The early start for the GB team today was accompanied with much viewing of various weather apps and rain radar with the forecast not looking overly optimistic. On arrival at the 500x firing point things looked hopeful to at least get through a couple of details before the rain arrived however as we were checking in for the second detail of the day a flash of lightening, rumble of thunder and a radio message from range control heralded the first delay of the day. 

Cue much hanging about followed by another message that it would be advisable to seek shelter, words wisely heeded as about 15 minutes later we saw the first biblical downpour of the day. 

Shooters trooped back to the team hut for tea and toast and to wait for the next instruction of the day. The powers that be decreed that we would attempt to shoot the Letson at 600x and the Alexander of Tunis match. There was again much consulting of weather radar’s and shaking of heads among many. The first detail got things underway in strong winds and gloomy overcast conditions with some good scores coming off including a 50 from James Cook of the Army team. The second detail containing the GB team were called forward to the point dark clouds overhead and the first few spits of rain heralded the same sequence of events, a swift dash to the bus and the hut and the heavens opened once again. Unfortunately this delay led to the cancellation of shooting for the remainder of the day. 

The remainder of the day gave the opportunity to sort ammo, do some more team admin and for some a quick trip to the indoor mini golf course, although upon arrival the group sat stranded in the car for about 10 minutes waiting for the monsoon conditions to abate. The result of the 3rd round of the GBRT Majors series saw Dave finish on 48 closely followed by Rick on 49.

This evening a number of the team visit the Ontario RA club for the Corn Boil and for a social with our Canadian friends. 

A fine start to the day with calm conditions for this morning and the GB team made the most of the conditions at the 300x distance  for the Norman Beckett match,16 team members scoring 50 with Chloe Evans topping the table with a 50.10, which from this diarists point of view was a pleasure to register keep for. 

Continuing at 500x for the start of the Col John Brick match the gentle left breeze didn’t climb over 1.5 minutes and there were a great deal of 50’s again. with the vee counts again remaining high across the board. 

A leisurely lunch was taken early with the opportunity to catch up on washing, have a snooze in the sun or to go shopping for a few. During the lunch break the wind decided to arrive with a good strong breeze over the left shoulder. At the 600x for the Col John Brick things were slightly more tricky making it easy to get caught in the aim and a number leaked the odd shots left and right as the angle shifted. 

Thoughts that the 800m shoot for the Norman Beckett being tricky were interrupted by the observation of the Solar Eclipse making its way across North America today. we saw about a 60-70% eclipse where we were in Ottawa and the dimmer light and distinct cooling in the temperature made the shoot an interesting one. The wind steady from the left again between 4-6 minutes with the opportunity to again get caught our with the flags deceptively shifting angle as they had before at 600.

Results from the day as follows or see results page for more details

Col John Brick – Jon Underwood, Chris Mitchell and James Cook tied on 100.15

Norman Beckett – Jon Underwood tied with Alwyn McLean – 100.17

Dick Hampton Agg (Day Agg) – Jon Underwood 200.32, Nigel Ball 200.28, Ian Shaw 200.27

The Grand Agg – Jon, Rick, Ian and Nigel all leading the way with no points dropped and a total of 10 of the team making up the top 20. 

Tonight a number of us are headed to dinner at the Carmichael’s, thank you to John and Dietra for hosting. 

Today was the last chance to check those little issues before the Grand starts at Lunchtime. This morning was a light warm up at 300x and 600x for the Tilton where light winds and bright conditions saw 10 of the team scoring the maximum possible 100, Sandy Walker took the honours with 100.18, Chris Weeden on 100.17 and Jon Underwood 100.16 taking the placings. 

The warm up Aggregate (The Champlain) was won by our Captain Chris Weeden dropping only 2 points, closely followed by Rick only 5 vees behind, the management clearly showing us the way forward. 

This afternoon saw the start of the Grand Aggregate with the Macdougall at 300x and 500x and the high scoring continued with 100’s aplenty, again 10 of the team scoring 100. Rick Shouler taking the top spot with 100.17, Jon Underwood 100.16, Angus McLeod 100.15 the top three. 

So far so good we have managed to spread the prizes around the team with everyone putting in some excellent performances. 

This evening we are entertaining the Athelings, one truck load of pizza and soda ordered so expect some slightly lethargic GB team members full of pizza in the morning.

With a full day of shooting on the cards today most of the team managed an early breakfast at the hotel before leaving for the range. The forecast looked like a clear day however the low cloud and gloomy light it felt like we might get wet. (Thankfully the rain stayed away).

We started with the Gooderham at 500yards and there was a light breeze from the left from ¾ to 1 minute meaning most of the team managed to slot in 50’s with some high v-counts. For those that know shooting in Canada a number of the shoots are 2 ranges added together so one must follow it up with another solid performance.

Falling back to 600yards for the second half of the Gooderham the light left hand winds continued allowing some high scoring to be maintained. 11 of the team managed a further 50 scoring the maximum of 100 points. Ben Craig took the honours with 100.17, just one vee ahead of Rick with 100.16 and Jon Underwood 100.15 the next highest team member.

Many thanks must go to the DCRA for managing to resquad us to accommodate in the Sierra Long range challenge an additional 800m shoot. Winds now coming from the left and a stiffer breeze showing on the flags and finally a mirage showing.  74’s and 75’s were commonplace but we are yet to see the prize lists (update tomorrow). The warning from the Armourer that if we didn’t convert sighters we might run out of ammo was taken to heart by at least two of the team who didn’t convert their Bull 5 sighters only to then to realise that the armourer was pulling their leg.

Moving back to the 900m point for the Army & Navy Veterans match we were all squadded on the first relay. Wind coming from the right at about 7 to 8 minutes from the left. The ammo working well and holding good groups allowed us to make the most of the width of the bull which was much needed with some big pickups and drop-offs to look out for and most of the team dropped a point or two on either side, still it is a warm up and good practice for the grand which starts tomorrow. Our top man on the rely was Angus who scored a 74.8. The second relay which none of us were on was more straightforward and a number of 75’s were returned, we shall see tomorrow who has won.

Last order of business on the range was Ian’s tie shoot for the Ottawa Regiment with Fazal Mohideen from Canada. Both scored 25 points with Ian emerging the victor scoring 3 vee’s to Fazals 2, to confirm the second trophy for GB.

Tonight we have the meet and greet to catch up with all our friends and fellow competitors from Canada and around the world. 

A leisurely start this morning as we were not going to get into the GB hut until the afternoon there was all the team jobs to do, get the GB stores from the Quartermaster, thanks to Tom and his forklift driving skills (is there anything the team armour cannot turn his hand to), setting up the hut and getting the shopping for the week (5 trolleys worth). In short order, the GB team were in business and set up ready to go. We are now reunited with our Main Coach who has also been shooting with the F-Class team but assures us he much prefers being with us…

The start of competitions this afternoon with the Ottawa Regiment at 800m, following a long discussion about the elevation difference from Bisley 900yards the team managed some superb scores with 9 of the team scoring 75’s – Ian Shaw managed the best of us and is tie shooting with Fazal Mohideen on 75.12. Conditions were generally straightforward with a 2-3 minute drift from the right, however the light was failing with the low cloud and rain threatening to spoil the party.

An early start… 0400 wake up call for a 0430 wheels roll was met with a lot of sleepy GBRT members dragging themselves out of bed. Reggie though with usual efficiency managed to have all the buses packed and away to Vancouver in short order and with the early morning roads proving mercifully traffic free we reassembled at Vancouver airport by 6am.

The usual check-in palaver followed but thanks to Tom and Rick we passed through without too much confusion and we made it to our flight with plenty of time to get some breakfast. It is when you realise that we are flying about halfway back to London quite how big Canada is with a 4hr30min flight time compared with what would otherwise be a four day drive.

Arrival at the usual Barons Inn Best Western (often frequented hotel of the GB team) we met up with several the GB F-Class team who have been in Ottawa for the last couple of weeks competing in the Canadian and World F-Class champs. They have kindly donated us a huge amount of kit they have acquired over the last couple of weeks and we are sure that it will come in handy, gazebo’s, chairs, and little carts to drag our kit in is much appreciated.

Tomorrow we go to the range and start the DCRA championships.