Another Canadian Championship match is in the books and all who attended enjoyed good weather and great company. The attendance was a little lower than expected due to illness, injury and I think a few that were perhaps worried about the weather. On Saturday morning during the sight in period, it really poured rain a couple of times. As the match neared, the weather cleared. Poetic, isn’t it? Saturday was clear and warm, with light winds and on Sunday it was sunny and cool, with some stronger variable breezes. It was great weather for a field target match.
We had thirty lanes with two targets set up in each one. We shot the uneven lanes on Saturday and the even ones Sunday. This made both sixty shot courses quite equal and created variety on both days. That was Hans’ brain child and I hope that format will continue in the future. The difficulty ratings can be deceptive, as we had twenty shots in the 40 through sixty range on the Troyer difficulty scale.
I was lucky enough to shoot with Brian Johnson and George Hamilton, our two American participants, and we had a great time as I am sure the other groups did. I was able to get around and take a few pictures of each group to show the shooters and the course. The woods were beautiful and even the field lanes were set so the shooter’s boxes were in the shade from some huge maple trees.
On the first day we had six shooters with scores over 50/60. Brian showed he came to win by recording a perfect 60 on the first day, something that happens very rarely at Waterloo. I was able to stay with Brian through 52 shots, but dropped three of the last eight. Dennis was also shooting well, recording a 55/60, followed by George Hamilton with a 52. Mike Ferarra and Don Irvine came in tied at 51. This is Don’s first FT season and I’m sure he will be winning his share soon. We all chowed down on some pizza and talked for quite some time after the first sixty.
On the second day, things did not change very much. Brian continued in his zone and only dropped one. Mike Ferarra, George Hamilton and Dennis each recorded an impressive 56/60. I managed a 55 and Don shot a 53. When the dust had settled, Brian was the big winner with a 119/120 to claim the title for this year; that’s some great shooting. I was able to edge Dennis out by one point, 112 to 111, to claim second and the honour of top Canadian shooter that Dennis held last year. George Hamilton placed fourth, with a score of 108 followed by Mike Ferarra with a 107. Don ended up with 104 to claim sixth in his First Canadian Championships. I was happy to see that Hans had a good match and finished seventh.
Mike Howse was able to shoot with us for the first time on Saturday after a 2 hour drive, coming off a midnight shift, but to repeat that two days in a row was impossible. Doug was only able to make it on Sunday as the power was out in his building in Toronto and the parking garage door was electric. What luck. George Harde recorded a 90 with his springer and Danny, who had a good second day, was close behind. Magdy and his son, Tarek both shot well, but Tarek had some scope problems on Sunday that lowered his score. Noel had some trouble Saturday and improved on Sunday, but Noel always has fun no matter what the numbers say.
The awards as usual were amazing. Brian who chose first, for some reason chose that impressive brass canon that Hans had made up. No surprise there. Hans had also made up some awards in the shape of the various pellets as well as one of his brass, scaled down, TX200 models. Two of his magnetic flip targets were included as well as some small tools and pellet holders. Everyone came away with at least two prizes and a few with three.
I enjoyed the whole experience and would like to thank all of the participants and those who helped with setup and tear down. A special thank you goes out from everyone to Hans, who is the main man that makes this event a success. Till next time.
Tim MacSweyn
| Name | Gun | Scope | Pellet | Day 1
T-27 /60 |
Day2 T-29
/60 |
Total T-28
/120 |
| 1) Brian Johnson | Pro Target | BSA 10-50 | Baracuda | 60 | 59 | 120 |
| 2) Tim MacSweyn | ld/SS #4 | Deben 10-50 | CPH | 57 | 55 | 112 |
| 3) Dennis Eden | ld/SS #5 | BSA 10-50 | CPH | 55 | 56 | 111 |
| 4) George Hamilton | AA NJR | Leuplod 18-40 | CPH | 52 | 56 | 108 |
| 5) Mike Ferarra | AA NJR | Leupold 18-40 | Baracuda | 51 | 56 | 107 |
| 6) Don Irvine | Steyr FT | Deben 8.5-34 | CPH | 51 | 53 | 104 |
| 7) Hans Borman | Pro Target | Leupold 18-40 | Baracuda | 45 | 47 | 92 |
| 8) George Harde | Diana 54 | Bushnell 8-32 | Baracuda | 46 | 44 | 90 |
| 9) Danny reginato | AA s300 | Bushnell 6-24 | Air Arms | 39 | 46 | 85 |
| 10) Magdy Hassouna | Steyr FT | Deben 10-50 | CPH | 41 | 43 | 84 |
| 11) Tarek Hassouna | Huntsman | Bushnell 4-20 | CPH | 37 | 16 | 57 |
| 12) Will Kwan | TX200HC | Burris 8-32 | Baracuda | 16 | 36 | 52 |
| 13) Noel Sedman | Huntsman | 7X | CPH | 8 | 18 | 26 |
| Doug Diver | Rapid 17 FT | Burris 8-32 | CPH | 43 | DNF | |
| Mike Howse | Steyr FT | Deben 8.5-34 | JSB Exact | 22 | DNF |