Today again saw 2+15 at 700, 800 and 900m. The start to the day was more frantic for some than others, when they realised that they hadn’t necessarily brought all their kit to the range, they shall remain nameless, however Chris Mitchell found himself worthy of a name check for laughing about the missing kit whilst simultaneously realising he’d left his shoes behind, a whole day in flip flops on a rough range beckoned. On arrival to the range conditions were noticeably different today. Cooler, with cloud cover and wind already coming from behind and threatening to come from the right. Gentle fishtailing wind greeted the first detail, enough to push into the inner but with most staying in the bull. The second detail had mostly right wind, quickly picking up and dropping off between 2 and 4 ½ minutes. These slightly trickier, conditions were reflected in the scores, with 15 75s registering in the team (as opposed to 21 yesterday), Jon Underwood and Nigel Ball were top of the heap with 75.13. Theo Dodds scored 75.12, to finish the 700m aggregate with a mighty 225.36, and provisionally is the overall winner.
Back to 800 and the wind gods had really woken up. The wind was strong. Subtle changes in the angle and strength caused significant disruption to scoring with a wind bracket between 3 ¼ to 7 ½ . There were no scores of 75 amongst the team but there were 10 of 74, the best being a 74.9 by Toby Raincock. Discussions over lunch focussed on the impending doom of 900m should this wind persist, and so it was with some relief when the skies started to cloud over.
The advantage of cloud is that the range starts to cool, and the wind often stabilises, however, no sun also means significantly reduced mirage – one of the key indicators of wind – and also more difficult sight pictures. The wind bracket in the first detail was 5 – 8 ½ minutes right wind, and the second detail having a much quieter shoot at the end, but started with 4 ½ up to 9 in the first 5 shots – magpies and outers were spotted across the range. Some keen eyes managed to keep all shots in the bull, with Jon Underwood and Parag Patel both scoring 75.7 – with Jon finishing slightly higher on countback.
Immediately after 900m we retired to the range bar for drinks, and tales of triumph and woe with our international friends before the daily prize giving where medals were awarded for the Day 2 matches, Including the Bronzes for Parag Patel and silver for Jon Underwood at 900m today. Other medals were also awarded but some have been awarded incorrectly so we will update once the results are confirmed. Tomorrow will see the final three shoots of the World Individual Long-Range Aggregate, the first 2 – at 800 and 900m – for everyone, and then a top ten shootout for gold, again at 900m. Currently GB hold the top 3 spots (provisionally) in the WLRC, with Glyn Barnett ahead of Jon Underwood by 2 points, and David Luckman a further point back.
