The casting may not have been the furthest but apart from that we had another hugely successful day at Brentwood to finish our season off. It’s a shame there wasn’t a slightly more consistent breeze, it veered 180 degrees at times, but who am I to complain, it was always on my back when I cast.

 We had a draw for our casting slots and it worked very well, the luck of the draw meant that a couple of members who used alcohol to calm the nerves the night before had a little time to reflect that perhaps it wasn’t the best plan they had ever had. I stuck to Coke and, as you see, it paid off handsomely.

 Another innovation was the introduction of members coming along specifically for instruction. Most, if not all, made significant progress through the day and many qualified for one of the distance badges. The only downside of this was that poor Mike Marshall spent all day instructing, but judging by the comments I overheard it was well appreciated. He even took the time to sort out some specific casting problems caused by a hand injury that has been plaguing one of our new members for ages.

 We have a new lady member who could soon find herself in our record books. Tracy Thomas cast beautiful loops with a very simple and effective technique to qualify for her 30yrd badge, and our youngest member, Nicholas Surtees, is well on the way with a stonking 42’+. Not bad for seven years old is it?

 I will add some new photos to the Gallery when I get them, thanks to Terry Jenner. It all depends on the Post Office though.

 So, that’s it for this year, and what a year it has been. We are in a very healthy position, we have a lot of new members and there a buzz I haven’t seen since I joined. Plans are already underway for next year.

 One of us will do a review of the BFCC year later but in the meanwhile if you feel you have something to contribute by way of an article or want to make any comment then please do.

 Oh, one last thing. I have heard nothing but praise for the new web site so a big thank you to Mike Marshall who was inspirational in getting it off the ground.

 See you all next year.

 Mike Heritage

Early morning frost disolved as a beautifully sunny autumn day developed, with a very  light, inconsistent, north west breeze. These conditions usually produce quite difficult casting conditions, with the leader not turning over, and so it proved to be. However, there was some lively and very close competition in the distance events and, also, some very good progress made in the tuition area with a number of distance Badges achieved. In fact it is hard to imagine a more enjoyable and rewarding day’s casting!

The results were as follows:

#5F Distance – Mike Heritage 106′ 9″   Jonathan Tomlinson  106′ 7″   Paul Arden 99′ 11″   James Evans 99′ 8″   Andrew Bagshaw 95′ 9″   Terry Jenner 77′ 6″    Tracy Thomas 71′ 2″   David Fisher 66′ 8″   Nicolas Surtees (7yrs) 42′ 2″

#7F Distance – Mike Heritage 124′ 4″   Andrew Bagshaw 122′ 9″PB   Paul Arden 116′ 7″   Jonathan Tomlinson 110′ 9″   James Evans 110′ 3″   Terry Jenner 91′ 1″   David Fisher 84′ 9″   Tracy Thomas 76′ 11″

T38 Distance – Paul Arden 166′ 7″   Jonathan Tomlinson 161′ 2″   Mike Heritage 154′ 10″   Andrew Bagshaw 149′ 6″   James Evans 138′ 10″   Terry Jenner 137′ 4″   David Fisher 101′ 11″   Tracy Thomas 95′ 8″

T120 Distance – Mike Marshall 211′ 7″   Terry Jenner 194′ 5″   Jonathan Tomlinson 191′ 2″   Paul Arden 186′ 7″   Andrew Bagshaw 177′ 9″   Mike Heritage 174′ 2″   David Fisher 156′ 5″ 

Distance Badges achieved: 

25Yards – Don Andrews,  Dave East,  Andy Stanbridge.

30Yards – Tracy Thomas,  Alan Tyson,  David Fisher.

45Yards – Terry Jenner.

Regarding casting competion performances, it was good to see Mike Heritage back to form in #5 and #7 – keep up the good work Mike. However, special mention must be made about Terry Jenner’s second place in T120, using a rod new to him and a borrowed line. Andrew Bagshaw’s PB in #7 was great to watch. It was also amazing to see seven year old Nicolas Surtees casting his #5 outfit in fine style after some tuition.

Distance Badges once again proved to be an area of much interest for several casters, but pride of place must go to Tracy Thomas casting 30 yards with immaculate line loops. David Fisher’s 30 yards was the result of diligently following advice received at BFCC events and putting it into practice in a very competent manner – good work David.