Diary – South Africa 2017 https://www.gbrt.org.uk/sa2017 Great Britain Rifle Team Sat, 15 Apr 2017 12:35:10 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 /archive/sa2017/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/10/cropped-GBRT-SA-17-logo-final-high-res-2-32x32.jpg Diary – South Africa 2017 https://www.gbrt.org.uk/sa2017 32 32 Days 17 & 18 – Returning home and tour reflections /archive/sa2017/diary/days-17-18-returning-home-and-tour-reflections/ /archive/sa2017/diary/days-17-18-returning-home-and-tour-reflections/#respond Mon, 03 Apr 2017 17:02:20 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1635 Read more]]> The final day of the tour and the journey home…

Staggered (and staggering?) returns from various festivities on Saturday night brought about a phased wake up for the team. For some it was relatively late in comparison to the previous 2 weeks – 9am! On Sunday morning the team began the process of flying home, packing personal and team kit and loading up the buses to begin the 4 hour drive back to Johannesburg airport. Even though most Sunday night flights out of Johannesburg are considered pretty awful (as everyone flies at that time) it was relatively straight forward thanks to the help of the Virgin Atlantic and airport security staff. With no issues experienced, the team had a pleasant journey home and arrived Monday morning back at Heathrow.

For the main body of our final diary entry we have chosen to reflect on the tour as a whole.

Before this team had even had it’s first training weekend, some observers lauded it as one of the strongest GB lineups to be selected. Expectation from some in the UK was significant and the pressure to succeed was felt across the team. We knew this was both a psychological advantage and a challenge. The challenge was going to be just how much each and every team member stepped up to the task at hand and delivered to our potential – and boy, did we.

GB’s 3 main objectives were to win all 3 team matches. Notably our shooting and coaching standards increased throughout the two weeks despite fatigue, the relentless heat and the aforementioned “Bloemfontein Belly” hitting the team towards the end of the tour. We peaked each time we were asked to by our Captain.

Individual performances were also to a very high standard. Not only did Toby win the Grand Aggregate and South African Open Championships, our Captain won his second State President’s final and we also had many members of the team winning other competitions and aggregates as well. We could not have expected to take 7 of the top 10 places in each of the SA Open Championships and the State Presidents competitions.

What has made this tour so memorable was just how much fun the team had. GB teams can often be heard saying “great tour” and “love to tour” (especially if you ask a team member about it at Bisley) but the love of touring and the way this particular team gelled made it that bit more special.

A significant foundation of this success was the management team, and in particular our Captain, Nick. With a permanent smile on his face he brought the team together magnificently from the point of selection until he was deposited into the VW van in the State President’s Chair. The ideal end to a great tour and the entire team is very grateful for his captaincy and honoured to tour with him and his management team, Jeremy and Derek.

We tried to make this tour as open as possible for both close followers and those who might not have prior knowledge of target rifle shooting, with regular updates on social media and live scores.  The feedback we have received has been almost unanimously positive. 264 new people are following our Facebook page and the reach of our activity on our first training weekend was higher than the combined peak reach of the 2015 and 2016 tours. We hope future teams will be similarly focused on sharing news in this way.

The team would also like to highlight the support of other nations with the provision of live scores for the big team matches – thanks in particular go to Catherine Berry and Ben Emms from the Australian Team and Paul Prinsloo and Andre Du Toit from the South African Team. Finally, thank you to everyone who sent in messages of support to the team, it was very much appreciated. We are all looking forward to our next GB rifle tour with great anticipation.

Onwards and upwards!

#GBRTSA17

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Day 16 – Sat 1st Apr – Protea Match and Presidents Final /archive/sa2017/diary/day-16-sat-1st-apr-protea-match-and-presidents-final/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-16-sat-1st-apr-protea-match-and-presidents-final/#comments Sat, 01 Apr 2017 18:25:39 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1554 Read more]]> 01/04/2017

The last day of competition started as every other day, 06.00 alarm call and a sunny morning. Today saw the last day of competition of the 2017 South African Championships. The morning started with the last International Team competition, The Protea Match, whilst the afternoon would see the State’s Presidents Final stage which also sees the conclusion of the SA Championship.

The morning was perhaps a little cloudier than recent days but this early cloud soon burned off in what was to be the hottest day of competition. The GB Team headed to the zero range first thing to fire some ‘blow offs’, a technical term for fouling shots, intended to foul a clean barrel before competition. Unfortunately, in the last 24 hours five team members have succumbed to Bloemfontein Belly and the exact makeup of the team was unclear until 30 minutes prior to the match. Fortunately, the team as announced at the Protea Match dinner two nights ago are able to crawl to the firing point.

The Protea match is for teams of 12 firers and is shot over 300m, 600m & 900m. The current match record was set by South Africa in 2009 (1977.200). Today’s competition sees teams from Australia, Great Britain, South Africa and USA competing.

GB got off to a relatively poor start at 300m dropping 5 points (as compared to the Australia score of 2 off). However this ‘ordinary’ score would not deter what has turned out to be an ‘extra-ordinary’ team. At 600m GB dropped a single point levelling the match with Australia, both leading South Africa by 5 points.

A calming talk by the Captain before the final range and 900m kicked off. Only once (when three points were dropped simultaneously after a pilot shot) did the Captain approach the firing point, leaving the three coaches and main coach alone to get on with the job in hand. As the final shot went down the range for the GB Team (it might have been an inner at 12 o’clock), we ran out winners by 12 points from South Africa, with Australia a further 2 points back. Glyn Barnett, Parag Patel, Tom Rylands & Toby Raincock all scored maximum possible 150’s resulting in a team score of 1780.213 (a new match record).

In terms of Team Goal’s GB had four before the tour; 1). Win the Australia Match, 2). Win the RSA International Match, 3). Win the Protea Match and most importantly 4). Have fun, which given the achievement of the first 3, has made number 4 quite an easy win!

Hearty congratulations to Nick Tremlett, his officers, coaches and shooters for a job well done.

And so to the afternoon, the final of the State’s Presidents Prize to be shot over 800m & 900m. 18 of the 20 GB Team members were shooting this afternoon with a firm favourite being Glyn Barnett who had won both the first and second stages earlier in the week (and shot the highest score in the Protea match earlier in the day).

The final started at 13:15, just as the afternoon winds began to blow. 800m was reasonably readable in terms of wind condition, but the intense heat and the ever more wearisome team members would require one last burst of concentration to finish the tour off in style. 900m was also reasonably readable and the stronger winds of earlier in the week were not evident today. At the close of the range, it was apparent that Glyn had not managed a win in all three stages, but rather Toby Raincock had achieved the highest score in the final with 148.14. The State’s Presidents Prize is awarded to the shooter with the highest aggregate score in Stages 2 & 3. In third place was David Luckman (GB) with 297.36, in second was Matthew Ensor (GB) with 297.37 and would you believe it in top spot to round off his day was Mr Nick Tremlett (GB Team Captain) with 298.29.

In the SA Championship, things were close at the top with the top 10 placings as follows:

Toby Raincock (GB) 954.106

David Luckman (GB) 953.107

Jim Bailey (AUS) 951.101

Nigel Ball (GB) 951.99

Parag Patel (GB) 949.111

Nick Tremlett (GB) 949.98

Alexander Coetzee (SA) 949.112

Matthew Ensor (GB) 948.111

Geoff Grenfell (AUS) 947.101

 Jane Messer (GB) 947.95

Many congratulations to Toby Raincock (one of the Bloemfontein belly group) who managed despite illness to add to his win in the Grand Aggregate to win the SA Championship!

The evening saw a quick dash to the hotel for a wash and brush up before heading back to the range for the traditional prize giving. The event kicked off with an auction in aid of the SA Under 19 team travelling to the UK in 2018. The auction item was General Mac Alexander’s Tilly Hat and the auction was ably run by Australian team member Bens Emms (the current Long Range Individual World Champion and professional auctioneer). The GB Team (thanks Jumbo) bought the hat and then presented it back to General Mac.

Medals were won, trophies were presented and our Captain rode around in a chair carried by his team whilst accompanied by the sound of bagpipes.

Then we went out…

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Day 15 – Fri 31st Mar – Presidents Stage 2 /archive/sa2017/diary/day-15-fri-31st-mar-presidents-stage-2/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-15-fri-31st-mar-presidents-stage-2/#comments Fri, 31 Mar 2017 20:48:34 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1497 Read more]]> Half day for Team GB! While everyone was very excited at the prospect of only half a day sweating into their shooting kit, there was still the penultimate individual shoot to complete – the State President’s second stage.

As mentioned in a previous diary entry, the State President’s second stage is similar to the first stage, but out of 50 (rather than 35) at each range for a total of 150. The first stage and second stage scores are then added up and the top scores (usually around 100 people) make it into the final.

 It was another sweltering day, with wind conditions calm to start and then picking up later. However, it was definitely possible to score high, with Glyn doing the double and topping the team in both the state President’s first and second stage, the latter with an excellent score of 150.24 out of 150.30.

The afternoon was spent relaxing (for the majority of the team) but our final team match (the Protea) is tomorrow followed by the State President’s final. One final day of shooting to go, but huge prizes at stake, as the team go for victory in all 3 matches! You can see the live update of the scores again on our website, so do try to check it out!
#GBRTSA17

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Day 14 – Thu 30th Mar – Grand Aggregate final day /archive/sa2017/diary/day-14-thu-30th-mar-grand-aggregate-final-day/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-14-thu-30th-mar-grand-aggregate-final-day/#respond Thu, 30 Mar 2017 21:37:25 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1395 Read more]]> 30th March

Two matches down, two won – but one to go.

The challenging Protea match awaits the team in 2 days’ time, a match where GB touring teams have often been defeated by both conditions and the opposition. Early mornings and tiring days have been the norm for everyone, but it is imperative for the team to keep their focus – and what better to focus the mind than today, stage one of the State President’s competition and the final day of the South African Grand Aggregate.

The State President’s competition follows the same format as the Queen’s prize at Bisley, where there are 3 stages, stage 1 being a 2&7 @ 300M, 500M and 600M, stage 2 the same but 2&10, and stage 3 2&15 @ 800M and 900M. The only difference is that everyone gets to shoot the first and second stage in South Africa (at Bisley the top 300 scores only go on to stage 2).

As the team arrived at the range, again at ridiculous o’clock, conditions were hot, sunny (for a change) and windy immediately (again – for a change…). Perfect as the team also had a 900M shoot after lunch – as the final shoot of “The Grand”, the order could certainly get mixed up!

Going into the final day (and as you would know from looking at our score page!) it was David  Luckman leading the way 5 points down (meaning he had dropped 5 points in total – out of 510… pretty good going!) followed closely by Toby and Nigel (on 504). The competition was hotting up – perfectly in line with the weather…

Scores were high for the first stage, with Parag and David Luckman scoring 105.15 – but fellow teammate and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Glyn Barnett pipped them by a V bull to score 105.16 to win it – a cracking score. 

At the end of it all, after some tremendous shooting, it all came down to the 900M detail – and it was Toby Raincock shooting incredibly well to get a 49.5 out of 50.10, to win the South African Grand Aggregate (subject to stats!) Parag Patel, not wanting to be too far away from his fellow shooting teammate from Epsom College, also shot a 49, (eventually – his fellow “shottists” as the South Africans say weren’t the quickest!) to finish second by a single point. A GB 1-2 finish and some excellent shooting indeed!

Afterwards, there were a number of tie shoots (where the top shooters get exactly the same score, there is a tie shoot – 2 sighters and 5 to count – to determine the winner) for competitions throughout the day, with Tom Drysdale winning the tie for the Municipal Cup and Martin Millar winning the tie for the Dalrymple. The videos of which you can see on our Facebook page.

The evening was the official Protea function in preparation for our match on Saturday. Only 2 days left – the team needs to keep their focus until the end…

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Day 13 – Wed 29th Mar – Individual and RSA teams match /archive/sa2017/diary/day-13-wed-29th-mar-individual-and-rsa-teams-match/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-13-wed-29th-mar-individual-and-rsa-teams-match/#respond Wed, 29 Mar 2017 21:18:03 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1306 Read more]]> Wednesday saw the earliest scheduled start to individual shooting, 0745 for the Jack Mitchley at 300m, followed by the President Cup at 800m and 900m, all in the morning. Today’s diarist was glad of a slightly later start, being squadded on the second detail, but invited the (thankfully unnamed) admonition of chief range officer, Brig Gen McG Alexander, for raising dust on the range road.

With an economy of words, General Mac brings a clear authority to the range – a reassuring influence over the shooter’s day for more than 20 years at the SABU meeting, beginning each day with a scripture reading & prayer and inviting us to competitions of “twey tile-barrer proof-squirter und teen squirter” (to the uninitiated, that’s “two convertible sighting shots and ten shots to count”).  A “squirter” does not remind us of high powered water pistols.

Heading towards the end of the Grand Aggregate, we see GBRT members in 6 out of the top 10 positions, with David Luckman in the lead by one point (but down one V-bull) from “Tony” Raincock, who is 6 Vs ahead of Nigel Ball in 3rd place.

A rather short lunch break led into the second of the three major international matches of this tour: the RSA International, for 12 shooters plus attendant wind coaches etc at 800m and 900m. Look at the results page of our website for detail on all the teams.

In common with the longer ranges in the Australia Match on Monday, shooting at 800m in the early afternoon required very active management of our available range time, where a key skill is judging when not to shoot (because of difficult wind). In such conditions, a team can run very close to the end of the time allowance, so, once shooting resumes after a wait, the ability to fire a fast stream of good shots tests the shooters and coaches alike.   GB finished 800m just two points ahead of South Africa and a further nine ahead of Australia – both small margins for a team of 12 firing 15 shots at each distance in a long range match.

Conditions at 900m were steadier, such that the stops consumed less of the allowed time.  No urgent counting down on a stopwatch was required at this range. GB beat Australia by five points at 900m, and South Africa by six.  The final result saw GB win the RSA International match by eight points from South Africa and 16 from Australia.

Delighted (and, perhaps, relieved), GB finished the day looking forward to two further days of individual shooting and then the most prominent international match in the typical South African calendar: the Protea Match on Saturday morning.

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Day 12 – Tue 28th Mar – Individual competitions /archive/sa2017/diary/day-12-tue-28th-mar-individual-competitions/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-12-tue-28th-mar-individual-competitions/#respond Tue, 28 Mar 2017 20:55:02 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1264 Read more]]> So… what now?

18 months ago our captain brought us together for the first time, with the ultimate objective for us to travel to South Africa and win the Australia match. After numerous training weekends, a huge amount of effort and a truly world class performance – the team had won.

So what now?

Well, as much as the team would have loved to celebrate with, let’s say, a shandy or 2 (definitely deserved!) – there was still a lot to play for. Individually, the South African main championship and Grand Aggregate had already begun, so each team member would be pushing hard to do their best to get a “shot at the title” (no pun intended – but the bad boxing reference is).

Also we still have 2 team matches to compete for, the RSA International (a long range match) and the Protea (across the ranges match) – the latter especially is hotly contested, as GB’s touring success in this match is somewhat mixed. The captain is keen for the team to do a clean sweep – and so, weary but ever determined, the team returned to the range to re-engage and perform.

The 28th had 4 individual shoots, the Dalrymple Cup (a combined shoot of 300M and 600M out of a total of 105.21), the King’s Norton (1 shoot at 600M out of 50.10) and the Dave Smith Cup (1 shoot at 900M out of 50.10).

What started as an incredibly benign day, quickly turned very windy, and it was changeable – you had to be careful not to get “caught in the aim” when firing (where when you are aiming on target the wind changes without you seeing it!) At the end, David Luckman and Toby Raincock were our star shooters, each dropping 4 points on the day only (to remind you, a full score breakdown can be found in the scores section on the website!): Results.

Following a lovely team meal celebrating the team’s victory last night, this evening was a relaxed affair. Everyone doing their own thing and making preparations for tomorrow. The RSA international match is tomorrow afternoon – match 2 out of 3, updates of which you can find here – stay tuned!

RSA International Match Live Scores – 28 Mar 2017

#GBRTSA17

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Day 11 – Mon 27th Mar – Australia Match day /archive/sa2017/diary/day-11-mon-27th-mar-australia-match-day/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-11-mon-27th-mar-australia-match-day/#respond Mon, 27 Mar 2017 18:53:54 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1153

Diary report for 27th Mar is a video interview with the team captain. Click on the link below to view on Facebook.

Nick Tremlett interview.

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Day 10 – Sun 26th Mar – Practice day for the Australia Match /archive/sa2017/diary/day-10-sun-26th-mar-practice-day-for-the-australia-match/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-10-sun-26th-mar-practice-day-for-the-australia-match/#respond Sun, 26 Mar 2017 19:58:09 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1133 Read more]]> 26th March

The day before the Australia match…

Tomorrow is the day the team has been preparing for, for nearly 18 months. Whilst only a proportion of the team will shoot or coach in the match, all 21 of us that flew out to South Africa has a role to play.

Unusually in South Africa, the range was open on a Sunday as an official Australia Match practice day. We did our usual morning prep  Clear skies greeted us, which of course led to one team member asking “do you think it’s going to be sunny today?” Laughter ensued.

Said team member got the last laugh as clouds swept in on the back of a brisk wind, and soon we were reaching for our soft shell jackets (phenomenal bit of team stash there!) as the sun disappeared. The wind conditions were quite different to those we had experienced previously, but by the time we had finished at 600M, we had a much better feel for the wind conditions.

The team retired back to the hotel for a well deserved afternoon off. Tom Rylands, our top notch armourer, kindly arranged each shooter’s ammo for the match and at 5pm the captain delivered his evening speech to help us mentally prepare us for the task ahead.

We are ready.

Tomorrow’s Australia Match can be followed live here: 

Australia Match live scores – 27th Mar 2017

And we will post updates on social media throughout the day!

Bring on tomorrow…

#AustraliaMatch2017

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Day 9 – Sat 25th Mar – Team and individual /archive/sa2017/diary/day-9-sat-25th-mar-team-and-individual/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-9-sat-25th-mar-team-and-individual/#respond Sat, 25 Mar 2017 19:35:01 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1061 Read more]]> Another glorious day in paradise, the team awoke on the day of team selection – nerves were high – but the team successfully got up, packed the necessary gear and headed off to the range. No one forgot anything… well, someone may have underestimated how many rounds we would need for today and not brought enough, but this diarist is not in the habit of naming names… are they Jane.

The morning, blue skies and sunshine again, but a cold northerly wind meant the team for once didn’t turn up immediately seeking shade. In fact a first opportunity was provided to test our soft shell jackets. They passed with aplomb.

We began the day shooting 800 and 900 metres in team format, 10 shots to count at each range in another practice in preparation for the Australia match on Monday. The team was clearly focused, with a number of 100/100 achieved – the captain’s trademark grin was beginning to show. Special mention must go to Bill Richards’ target for scoring 500 ex 500. This is an unusually high score for a target team at long range.
After a quick lunch, the South African Grand Aggregate began. This is the main individual overall competition of the next week.

Team members had 3 shoots, 10 shots to count at 300M, 11 at 600M and 10 and 900M. A fishtail wind (a wind that is either at you or away from you whilst shooting, flicking between left and right and vey hard to read!) was the name of the game, so quite tricky when shooting individually.

Dave Luckman and Nigel Ball lead the way, both with a 155.18 out of 155.32 – a very good start to their “Grand”!

In the evening, the Australia match team was announced to mixed emotions from us all. You can see the team elsewhere on our website on on our Facebook page.

The team then went out to celebrate Tony, sorry, Toby Raincock’s birthday!

’til tomorrow!
#GBRTSA17

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Day 8 – Fri 24th Mar – Club teams /archive/sa2017/diary/day-8-fri-24th-mar-club-teams/ /archive/sa2017/diary/day-8-fri-24th-mar-club-teams/#comments Sat, 25 Mar 2017 04:34:03 +0000 /archive/sa2017/?p=1036 Read more]]> The morning of the 24th was an early start for the GB Rifle Team. A VERY early start. Leaving the hotel at 6:30am to get to the range was tough for some but why did we decide to leave this early? Today was opening ceremony – so we would all be in attendance for the flag raising before shooting commenced.

Australia, Canada, USA and GB, as well as a large number of South Africans were present for the ceremony – highlighting how important the Australia match (which is being competed for on Monday) is to the target rifle world, and also the depth of the competition we face. This was not lost on any of the team as we approached, steely faced, 300M for our first competition.

The much hyped and broadcast (on our social media pages), triple threat match between the North London Rifle Club, captained by Jane Messer, the English XX, captained by Tom Rylands, and the Surrey RA, captained by Toby Raincock, took place at 300M and 600M for the “Hamilton Cup” competition. Conditions were the same as previous days, very hot with sporadic cloud cover. The game was on.

Relatively calm conditions were in order for the morning, but a few off shots here and there lead to scores not up to our high standards. Nevertheless, after the match was settled it was the North London who came 3rd with a score of 620 with 65 V-bulls out of 630.126 and the Surrey RA claiming the first bit of silverware, with a first place score of 623.85.

A good start.

An interesting new rule, shared with teams on the morning of the match, was the requirement to submit plot cards to support South African selection for the upcoming team matches. All teams. The GB team were left somewhat bemused at the potential need to decide whether or not to accept a place in an SA team, should the offer be extended.

The teams dutifully transposed our shoots onto the provided cards and the management made the executive decision to join the Australians in a team practice alongside for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, thus withdrawing from the Rhodes and Dewar competitions.

A bit of adjusting of the firing order (ie – which shooters fire on which targets and when in a team format), and the 3 teams became 1 for our 800M and 900M practice.

Conditions got a lot trickier here, with the entire coaching team having to work extremely hard to get on top of the wind. Nevertheless, scores got a lot better, and a notable and highly impressive performance from Parag Patel, who scored 255 with 30 v out of 255 with 40v, an incredible performance considering the conditions the team faced today,

Tomorrow, the team will have a final team practice in the morning (again at 800M and 900M), then the individual South African “Grand Aggregate” (i.e. the main individual aggregate of competitions) will take place in the afternoon, continuing for the rest of the week.

The team are really starting to hit their stride…

#GBRTSA17

PS On the topic of team buses, as well as a fully charged battery, and as well as petrol, and as well as the money to pay for that petrol… also need keys to work. Unfortunately a lot of these modern vehicles have an “auto lock” feature on them, which can be pretty problematic if you have misplaced your keys somewhere… specific. This diarist will say no more on this!

 

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