Hi everyone

Well …. What can one say? The new 2015 SIHFT is under way and we have survived 1 round hosted – as brilliantly as ever – by the Mile Oak crew. The sun shone, there were little puffy white clouds in the sky, and the breeze blew sufficiently to do very nasty things to any of us (me – for sure) who failed to read it correctly.

Entry totalled 75 for our 2015 ‘starter’, which is well above the 2014 average. I’m sure that some of this growth is down to the encouragement given for a bunch of people from north of the border to join some of our clubs and others still attending as Visitors.

There were clearly a few issues with interpreting the new rules, with a couple of our younger competitors not having realised that we have now followed the UKAHFT and have Junior class as those age 14-16 while Primary class is for those age UNDER 14 (age calculated on today’s date and will not change during the season). This has been taken into account in the table you see below.

There were also rather a lot of you (nearly a 1/5th!!) who had failed to get one of your shooting partners to sign off your card as a witness. The place for this to be done is very clearly marked and needs doing before the card is handed in to our scorers. We have generously (Andy, take note) overlooked this for Round 1, but we will be enforcing the rule – which is not new this year – from Round 2. Cards missing the witness signature will be subject to disqualification, so please don’t disappoint yourself and check that it’s been requested – and done – before handing in your card.

In spite of the wind’s tricksy nature, some managed to ‘dope’ it, most notably little and large (shooting together – as usual – Hmmmmm) and Eric, after his lengthy break from the sport.

Here are the scores on the doors. Please let me know a.s.a.p. if you spot anything you think is amiss.

Name Club Class Score % Badge (T)eam
Andy Simpson Buxted O 57 100.0 Gold T
Mike Byford Oaks O 57 100.0 Gold T
Eric Bynum Horsham O 56 98.2 Gold T
Chris Roberts Oaks O 55 96.5 Gold T
Richard Woods Horsham O 55 96.5 Gold T
Rudy Goldslade Oaks O 54 94.7 Gold T
Bob Pattenden Oaks O 54 94.7 Gold T
Colin Wilson Visitor O 54 94.7 Gold
Vince Holland Visitor O 52 91.2 Silver
Steve Light Horsham O 52 91.2 Silver T
Lawrence Ray Oaks R 52 91.2 Gold T
Jenny Stone Horsham O 52 91.2 Silver T
Chris Tyhurst Oaks R 52 91.2 Gold
Jason Wells Buxted O 52 91.2 Silver T
Simon Williams Oaks O 52 91.2 Silver
Tony Archer Iden Fern O 51 89.5 Silver T
Peter Pacer Iden Fern O 51 89.5 Silver T
Charles Peal Oaks O 51 89.5 Silver
Glen Breadmore Buxted O 50 87.7 Silver T
Jon Fairman Oaks O 50 87.7 Silver
Alex Larkin Visitor O 50 87.7 Silver
Justin Rayner Buxted O 50 87.7 Silver T
Derek Watson Horsham O 50 87.7 Silver T
Terry Aiken Oaks O 49 86.0 Silver
Rick Bowell Iden Fern O 49 86.0 Silver T
Nigel Buchan Buxted O 49 86.0 Silver T
Ian Clark Visitor O 49 86.0 Silver
Jean Greatrex Visitor L 49 86.0 Gold
Lewis Hodges Oaks O 49 86.0 Silver
Geoff Ryder Visitor O 49 86.0 Silver
Gary Chillingworth Buxted O 48 84.2 Silver
Maciek Pajek Horsham O 48 84.2 Silver
Richard Chase Ford O 47 82.5 Bronze T
Kevin Hills Buxted O 47 82.5 Bronze
Eli McCullough Swallows O 47 82.5 Bronze T
Roy Pearce Iden Fern R 47 82.5 Silver T
Tim Clark Oaks O 46 80.7 Bronze
Pat Fitzgerald Ford R 46 80.7 Silver T
Mike Burgess Swallows O 45 78.9 Bronze T
Aaron Friend Oaks O 45 78.9 Bronze
Vince Guy Swallows O 45 78.9 Bronze T
Steve Noakes Swallows O 45 78.9 Bronze T
Philip Jacobs Horsham O 44 77.2 Bronze
Jon Kelly Buxted O 44 77.2 Bronze
Bob Morris Ford O 44 77.2 Bronze T
Justin Roberts Ford O 44 77.2 Bronze T
Gary Friend Oaks O 43 75.4 Bronze
Kim Lum Swallows O 43 75.4 Bronze
Gary Morrison Buxted O 43 75.4 Bronze
Dave Pickett Buxted O 43 75.4 Bronze
Simon Whittick Horsham O 43 75.4 Bronze
Barry Blackham Ford O 42 73.7 T
Lisa Bowell Iden Fern L 42 73.7 Bronze T
Peter Epps Ford O 42 73.7
Steb Martinez Ford O 42 73.7
Phil Moody Horsham O 42 73.7
Dean Stride Horsham O 42 73.7
Nigel Hammond Buxted O 41 71.9
Carla Chambers Swallows O 40 70.2
Greet Hopper Ford L 40 70.2 Bronze
Alex Noakes Swallows P 40 70.2 Silver T
Roger Dibbens Buxted O 39 68.4
Gerry Jellicoe Swallows O 39 68.4
Norbert Pajek Horsham O 39 68.4
Spencer Bailey Buxted O 38 66.7
Don Berrington Horsham O 38 66.7
Maria Fitzgerald Ford O 38 66.7
Damion Walker Oaks R 38 66.7 Bronze
Bradley Hoelger Horsham O 37 64.9
Penny Holland Visitor L 37 64.9 Bronze
Dave Standing Swallows R 37 64.9 Bronze
Abigail Maw Buxted P 34 59.6 Bronze
Anthony Smith Horsham O 34 59.6
John Kirkwood Horsham .22 33 57.9
Kevin Maw Buxted .22 33 57.9

Subject to their arrival as promised (tomorrow!) the badges earned today will be available to you at Round 2. A list will be with the booking-in crew.

Prize drawer winners today were :

  • Eric Bynum – the £38 cash prize, and
  • Dave Pickett – the (new style and content) Air Arms goody bag


Team scores today and points won under our new scheme are :
Club Round 8 Points
Oaks 272 12
Horsham 265 11
Buxted 258 10
Iden Fern 240 9
Swallows 226 8
Ford 223 7

All 6 clubs were able to field a full team (at least 5 members), which bodes well for the new SIHFT year.

Happy and safe shooting to you all ahead of Round 2 at Ford HFT on Sunday the 10th May. In the meantime, I expect a bunch of us will be present at Quarry next weekend for the 1st round of this year’s UKAHFT series.

Biggles