DARTMOOR BR Round 3 - 16.5.26

Today's match produced some remarkably consistent sets of cards, despite the wind conditions being frustratingly tricky - medium strength, predominantly right to left, but with frequent changes of direction.

Mike Smith's first round 249 convinced many of us that the match had already been won, but the wind had other ideas, and his second card brought him back down to earth with a 241. Mark Whiteway's steady progression of 244, 245, and 247, won the day - with Mike just one point behind.

Even the more sophisticated sets of wind flags offered no clear advantage in today's challenging conditions, several scores were diminished by occasional down-draughts - undetectable by the array of wind indicators. The card averages of 240.12, 238.62, and 240.50, reflected the reasonably steady strength of the wind.

Overall, it was another enjoyable day, one which produced probably the closest set of results we've seen at Dartmoor. Several of our regular high scorers were unable to attend due to other commitments, but it's already clear that in order to qualify for this year's final we will all need to maintain a very high standard.

In my opinion a match score of 720 represents a significant milestone in outdoor WRABF 25 metre benchrest competition. Given 'average' wind conditions, i.e. neither dead calm nor near hurricane, 720 is a very good result - one that cannot be achieved inadvertently, at least not with any degree of regularity. Sound technique and good wind reading skills are essential in order to reach this level.

Progressing beyond this point becomes increasingly difficult, bettering our scores will usually be achieved incrementally - by improving our wind reading skills, further honing our technique, substituting an item of equipment, or by focussing on strengthening our metal attitude to the game.

Progression can be a long and frustrating business, but ultimately rewarding. There are still plenty of new shooters who are under the impression that competition success will naturally follow the acquisition of some 'top of the range' hardware.

Benchrest is a discipline which regularly disproves that notion!

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