Clout Mania - or idiocy

You may have noticed in the most recent Archery UK magazine that GNAS is now publishing a ratings list for Clout archers. Some of us first heard about this from Peter Gregory, the British Champion, who announced it at the Surrey Clout Championships, and as it seemed possible some of us might clamber into the Top Ten we decided to try to get to a few more shoots before the end of the year. Unfortunately there aren't very many at all in the Southern Counties, so we booked into shoots at Boston, Harrogate (the National Championships) and Stamford.
Another one has cropped up, in Middlesex on Saturday 3rd Nov, and if anyone reading this is interested in giving it a try, please say so!
Last weekend it was the Boston Shoot, next weekend will be the Harrogate and Stamford events. Liz, Russell, Jon and me (Rod) headed off to Boston. The most noticeable thing about last weekend was the travelling, about eight hours from Russell's door and back. Somehow we missed the A16 turn off at Stamford and ended up cutting through back lanes, but it did take us through the town where we'll be staying next Saturday night, and we did get to the field in plenty of time. We were next to Boston Airport (really a grass strip that would have tested the Flying Doctor's skills) and when we got there the big yellow windsock was standing stiffly horizontal. But actually not at all bad weather-wise, the wind was across the range most of the time, and it got weaker, so much so that the wind-farms we drove by weren't even turning by evening. Wind, particularly changing wind, is a much bigger issue in 2-way shoots, which is what this one was - that means you shoot towards the target, walk up and score and then turn round and shoot back towards another target at the same distance in the reverse direction, like traditional Longbow shoots.
As for performances, once again Jon was the star, he got within two points of (my sole remaining) County Record for the single round, and equalled the County Record for the Double, which also made him convincingly best gent recurve on the field (and I think beat all the compounds as well). He won the Gents Visitors Prize and also claimed a Tassel Award as this is the first time he's scored more than 125 points. Russell started out with a blinding end, then completely threw it, he only scored one point on the return distance in the whole first round. Well, it was the 13th of the month, but mostly it was the cross-wind that meant he couldn't get a decent sight mark. I plodded along, and was equal with Russ at lunch time, and got a bit further ahead in the afternoon, so I got second Visitor medal,and was actually third overall, only one Lincs Gent was ahead with five points more. Liz did well all day but had a rubbish last end (her words) and failed to beat the county record by about six points, she was first Visitor, but fourth overall, the Lincs ladies were obviously better than their gents, and one of them got a score worthy of being National Champion - I wonder whether she'll be at Harrogate next week.
There were visitors from other counties (several from Northants) so we didn't get automatic visitors medals on this occasion, we had to work for them.
The shoot was hosted by Pilgrim Bowmen of Boston, and they will be publishing some pictures on their site soon. The one to look out for is the picture of the award for the Lincolnshire archer with the highest score
- a Lady of course - we don't get trophies like that in Sussex! It's a full size replica mediaeval sword, almost as tall as the winner, and very useful for keeping the children in order.
Our club will be holding a Clout Shoot on Sunday 16th December - try it! We don't have a mighty sword to compete for, but we do have the legendary Fitzalan-Howard Horn - if I can find it.