And so, 1849 days since the last one, it was finally time to play for the big one: the Palma. Three and a half years of training and anticipation comes down to two days, six ranges, sixteen firers, and 7,200 points.
The weather forecast suggested a somewhat cooler day, with cloud cover. Alas it wasn’t to be, as the morning dawned cloudless, with a gentle breeze from the left-hand side. Following blow off shots, with shooters being beseeched to remember to re-tighten bedding screws, the team made its way to the 700m mound. The atmosphere was palpable, with teams huddled in tight groups, the chatter constant and excited, betraying the nervous energy that greets a Palma morning.
Message one was passed to the butts at 9am, and we were underway. A radio transmission issue meant that although the range was safe and the targets had been raised, General Mac’s countdown and the order to commence firing had not been given before one GB firer – under direction – “went on”. Quick resolution via the match referee meant that the rules were applied and the shot (a vee bull, but a sighter) was lost, and the match continued. A 75.14 showed that the firer in question had not allowed this rather unfortunate start to distract from the important task at hand. We move on.
Conditions at 700m were steady, with target coaches using values around two and half minutes left to keep their firers in the middle. The GB team dropped just two points, while the Australians went one better to lead by a solitary point as teams moved back to 800m. USA and South Africa had dropped 4 points each, with New Zealand a handful further back – things were tight.
The start of 800m coincided with the coming of the most “interesting” of the conditions that teams would encounter all day. As is usual, the wind gradually angled from seven o’clock around to six and eventually five, and then back again to seven. The GB team, led by main coach Bill Richards, took the decision not to fire when the wind was flicking around from behind or slightly from the right, but to wait for the predominant condition from the left (anything from one to two and half minutes provided you avoided shooting when the angle squared). We were vindicated, as GB set a new range record both for a single target (Matthew Ensor – 300.44) and a team (1194.153) at the distance. The Australians continued their relentless pursuit of the centre of the target, also beating the previous record team score, but with fewer vee-bulls (1194.150) to leave them still 1 point ahead. The South Africans suffered somewhat at 800, dropping sixteen points (ten more than both ourselves, and Australia), to leave them with work to do going to 900m. The Americans had a fine morning and went to lunch in third place. Then came New Zealand, Canada, and Germany.
Fluids and electrolytes onboard, the team re-assembled for the final range of the day. The task at hand was simple: stay in touch with Australia, and, if possible, take whatever lead we could into day two. What wind there was at 900 came from behind and varied little, with any variance being very slow moving. In short, not a range for wild swings, but for keeping things as tight as we could. The heat now was at its peak, with the BBBBBBC suffering multiple overheating failures as Dan live streamed the drama for our overseas supporters. Thanks for your patience everyone! Values ranged from one minute one way to two and bit minutes of angle the other, with the GB coaching team deciding not to fire when the flags and mirage suggested a higher number. 900m is an extreme distance for TR specification rifles and, with the bull being the same actual size as the other distances (and therefore effectively smaller as we move back) trips into the 4 were more common. The team finished the range having dropped 14 points across 16 firers, a remarkable average, beating the previous record. Australia however went one better for 1187.132v – a fabulous score and new distance record by 13 points!
By days’ end, we trailed a remarkable Australian team by two points and a handful of vee-bulls. No fewer than seven Palma records, some of which had stood since 2003, were shattered in a single day – the standard was that high. Within the team both Matthew Ensor’s and Nick Tremlett’s targets broke the previous record, now set by Matthew Ensor’s target at 899.118 (only 1 point dropped) and there were no fewer than 5 firers in the GB team who dropped no points all day. Rick Shouler (Tremlett) was the best of these with 34 vees, but all are worthy of a mention: Jon Underwood (Lowe), Parag Patel (Ensor), Rosanne Furniss (Ensor) and David Luckman (Ensor). Top guns on the range on the day were, however, not British. Australian Brett McCauley (Jim Bailey) and South African Alexander Coetzee (DJ Fourie) posted a whopping 225.36 – only 9 shots outside the vee bull all day.
And so onto tomorrow, 2 points the difference at the top after 720 shots for each team. The same course of fire again tomorrow when the weather is threatening a few surprises, so anything is possible. With 3600 more points to play for tomorrow, a margin of 2 right now leaves us hopeful to take back the lead. Stay tuned!
