The topography of our club generally ensures that the wind conditions are never simple or predictable. Situated in a river valley with rising ground on either side and Dartmoor itself close by, it features a variety of trees, shrubs, and buildings which conspire to interrupt the flow of the prevailing wind on any given day.
Today’s conditions were typical; the medium strength breezes were extremely twitchy – predominantly left to right but frequently changing direction at random. The difficulty was compounded by uninterrupted full sunlight; this was heating up the ground and promoting a thermal updraft. And of course, the rising hot air is naturally replaced by falling cool air – so most of us were experiencing those unpredictable and frustrating high and low shots. I don’t suppose anyone was really expecting high scores in these conditions, but by the time the match concluded the scoreboard had recorded no less than four 250’s. The first of these was from Neville, who was competing in only his third BR match, his first card 250:11x was followed by a 249:11x, and finally, in a strengthening wind, by a 246:5x. These three remarkable cards earned him the top score of the day.Second card 250’s were achieved by Mike, Gary, and Mark. And there were some impressively consistent scores too, notably from Alistair, Allan, Simon, and Dave. We were joined by two new shooters, Katie Jenkins and Phil Haste. In a real baptism of fire, they drew numbers 1 and 2 from the hat – so were first on! Both were competing in their very first BR match, but scores of 703 and 717 respectively got them off to a very auspicious start. Our scorer again averaged the scores for each of the three cards from all 16 competitors – 243, 243, 240, which confirmed the strengthening wind after midday. Paul. S.
The first Benchrest competition of the year at East Devon FT Club was held on 12.7.25. Being the first one this year the number of competitors was low but this will grow in time I’m sure. The day started off with everyone gathering around 9am. Details and lanes were all randomly picked from the hat. It was very interesting seeing the variety of kit in action. Some competitors preferred to use a more traditional setup where they shot off just a sandbag. Whilst others were using bespoke benchrest equipment from custom stocks to the latest and greatest rests and flags.
The first detail began at 9:15 with a relatively calm right to left breeze. Newcomer Gary Blake, who is taking part in his first national benchrest tour this year jumped to 1st place with a good first score of 245 8x. The second detail saw some more good scores with Justin Trickey putting in one of the highest x counts of the day 244 11x. The wind started to gradually change direction, preferring to now go left to right. Which is where it remained for the rest of the day. Detail 3 saw Ed West put in a pb of 211 0x using a borrowed rifle. Gary Blake also put in another consistent score of 245 5x. Moving on to detail 4 the wind was definitely at its most constant in this detail. With an extremely gentle left to right breeze. The perfect condition for high scores. Julian Hawkins put in his best card of the day with a score of 240 1x. Current British Benchrest Air Rifle champion Tom Jacobs took full advantage of the constant wind conditions and shot the highest card of the day with a 247 13x. Gary Blake now known as Mr Consistency put in another 245 8x in detail 5. With scores like that he’s looking like a serious threat going forward. Detail 6 saw some hit or miss conditions with constant subtle wind direction changes. Certainly a tough detail that required everyone’s full attention.
Overall it was a great first competition for East Devon FT Club and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves even if it was a bit hot.
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