Its very late, but here's my wrap-up of the 2010 WARA Queens. Final F-Class (unofficial) results are
HERE.
Today's forecast looked like it would be south-easterlies, which are known to be trickier than the westerly sea breeze. Early on it was reasonable, but towards lunchtime it switched over from east to west, and there were some horror stories during the "switchover" as some call it here. One of the victims was Brett Bunyan, who'd already suffered a wrong target miss yesterday. He got a 47 at 900, and said he really had to work for that
. I sometimes get accused of having more than my share of luck with conditions - while I don't actually agree with that in general, but today the gods smiled on me and I had good conditions at both 500 and 900. Going into the 1000 yard final, I had a lead of 8 points over Mark. In the 1000 yd Queens Final, the top 5 F-Open shot concurrently with the top 5 F-Std. By this time the westerly "Fremantle Doctor" had set in and conditions were steady, so the order didn't change.
Only the TR winner got to speak at the presentations, so I have a few things I'd like to say, and this forum is a good place to do it. I want to dedicate this win to my gunsmith Gary Hunt. He's been working his butt off for me and a lot of other shooters over the last year or two, and takes a genuine interest in how his "stable" is going. This one's for you Gary. I also want to thank Rod Shehan of Action Clear/Woody Engineering and Mark Hamersley for working with WARA to get F-Open back onto the Queens program, and also for their sponsorship of F-Open tropies. In particular, Action Clear put up $500 for the Grand Agg. That is a very generous amount, and I really hope it's all for a good cause, and F-Open stays on the program in future years.
The other person I want to thank is Sgt Chamberlain at the Eucla police station. Without his help I wouldn't have made it to the WA Queens. For some reason the WA Govt has decided to have a very strict policy on interstate visitors bringing firearms - only they will know the reason why WA needs it and no other state does. I started the process of getting a permit through the Licensing Services division about 2 months prior to the Queens. About a week prior I finally had the permit application form ready to fax, only to be told (in a very smug tone) that I was too late and should have done it a month prior, because the person who processes these applications is away
. Not to be defeated by this officious pen-pusher, I did some research and found that it is acceptable to call in at the first available police station on entering WA. So I rang Eucla Police, and Sgt Chamberlain agreed to help. On arriving in Eucla, he was able to process my application in 20 minutes or so. I wouldn't recommend this as the best way to do it - better to nail down the Licensing Services Branch WELL in advance, but full marks to Sgt Chamberlain for his no bullshit and helpful approach.
Finally I want to commend the WA shooters for putting on a great Queens, and excellent hospitality. The range was in superb order, the mounds I used were all quite firm, and 50mm spikes were plenty long enough. I've come away with a much more positive attitude to electronic targets. We had minimal hiccups with them over the 4 days, and the way they were set up for the 1000 yd final, with slave monitors for the spectators, indicates how the lack of involvement of spectators can be overcome.
Well, I've decided to make a dash for Adelaide and should get there in time for the main event, so get those 7mms smokin' fellas. There'll be a well-travelled 6.5mm coming to try and spoil your party
.
Its goodnight from Swanbourne.
Alan
Congrats also to Mark Hammersley and Andrew Lockwood. Commiserations to Brett Bunyan, you will just have to drive east for a shoot or two to get a fresh start.
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