I haven’t looked back at the write-ups for our previous meetings this year but I seem to recall writing a lot about wind and rain. Well, not this time. We had the first heavy frost of the year, light breezes and blue sky. The frost melted away quite quickly but it left the grass very wet and it didn’t really dry out until quite late in the day. Even so it was a pleasure to cast in decent conditions and not have to move the tapes around to follow the wind.

The club is starting to invest in some new rods and the first one was the new MSX Black Diamond 9′ 5 weight. Mike has had one made up with lined rings and I used it to good effect to win the five event. It got a very positive response from everyone who used it. 117′ isn’t a huge distance but concidering the wet grass and non existant breeze, plus it was the first time I had cast the rod, it wasn’t to be sniffed at.
James Evans won the #7 with a very nice cast of 126′ 4”. He insisted I went first to give him a target distance and he pipped me by just under a foot so that’s the last time I pathfind for him!
I had my revenge in the #9 and John Reynolds thrashed the rest of us in the T38 with a very nice 176′ 1”. MM only had a couple of casts with the T120 and ‘dink, dink’ it sailed effortlessy out to 185+, much to Mikes chagrine, he usually goes well over 200!

The B100 was a hotly contested with David Fishers’ aggrigate of 199’7” just winning from Tracy Thomas and Mick Copeman. Tracy has hit a rich vein of form and topped 100′ in three events one of which extended her #9 record to 111’10”.

It was a contrast of styles in the accuracy with my hover and drop thoroughly thrashed by John ‘Machine Gun’ Reynolds style of rapid fire and never mind the arm ache. The accuracy is a nice way to end the day as it involves nearly everyone and is quite light hearted.

The club welcomes Yvonne Webb and John Frank who achieved their 25yrd and 30yrd badges respectively.

So, that’s another year gone. There have been some

Initial conditions were cold and windless. As casting got underway the temperature increased and a very light breeze picked up.

Distances are in feet and inches:

#5F – Mike Heritage 117.06; James Evans 107.06; Kei Okamoto 95.08; David Fisher 94.05;
John Reynolds 89.07; Alan Bath 88.02; Tracy Thomas 83.07; Mick Copeman 79.09; John Dunmall 69.08;
Joe Lamb 69.06; Wendy Bath 68.01

#7F – James Evans 126.04; Mike Heritage 125.08; John Reynolds 116.06 ; Kei Okamoto 112.07;
Mick Copeman 105.07; David Fisher 105.02; Tracy Thomas 103.09; Alan Bath 94.05; Wendy Bath 85.10;
Joe Lamb 77.00; John Dunmall 71.03

B100 (#5 + #7) – David Fisher 199.07; Tracy Thomas 187.04; Mick Copeman 185.04; Wendy Bath 153.11;
Joe Lamb 146.06; John Dunmall 140.11

#9F – Mike Heritage 129.07; James Evans 124.05; Kei Okamoto 118.06; John Reynolds 116.00;
David Fisher 111.10; Tracy Thomas 111.10; Mick Copeman 109.08; Alan Bath 98.06; Wendy Bath 88.04

T38 – John Reynolds 176.01; James Evans 154.08; Mike Heritage 146.05; David Fisher 123.10;
Tracy Thomas 116.09

T120 – Mike Marshall 185.08; John Reynolds 169.02; Mike Heritage 162.04; James Evans 161.04 ;
Tracy Thomas 140.00; Joe Lamb 125.04; David Fisher 124.02

Accuracy – John Reynolds 140; Mike Heritage 105; John Frank 80; John Dunmall 60; James Evans 55;
Mick Copeman 35; Tracy Thomas 35; Yvonne Webb 35; Joe Lamb 30; David Fisher 25;
Kei Okamoto 20; Nicholas Surtees 15

Victor Ludorum (points) – Mike Heritage 12; John Reynolds 16; James Evans 16; Kei Okamoto 35;
Tracy Thomas 35; David Fisher 36; Mick Copeman 40; John Dunmall 48; Alan Bath 49; Joe Lamb 51;
Wendy Bath 56

Tracy Thomas extends her #9F record.
Mike Heritage claims the #7F S60 record.

Distance badges were awarded to Yvonne Webb (25yds) and John Frank (30yds). Congratulations to both.