The food was great, the people were amazing and the scenery never got old, I would go back to Portugal anytime!
Everyone on the springer team did very well in the face of very strong competition and we came out in 7th position, being only 3 points away from 5th. Myself and Jeff had a few issues with our guns but we were able to sort them out within the first two days at the zeroing range, I ended whittling down a top hat with a pocket knife for over 30mins at the sight-in range, but everything was sorted out in time to pass all Chrony testing.
Day 1 gave us some very heavy wind combined with the "first day jitters" the average score from all shooters looked to be around 25/50, we also ended up shooting until it was totally dark out as the PCP group took a bit longer than expected. Prior to everyone completing their lanes the match was stopped due to lack of light and some shooters had to complete their unfinished lanes on day 2. I finished the day with a 31/50, which I was pleased with, given the number of shots at long distances in strong wind, and average target distance was 47yards.
Day 2 the wind died off almost completely for the first half of the springer match, but the heat and humidity were a big factor for most. I again scored a 31/50, but I was a little disappointed with that score, on a personal level, given the lack of wind for the first half; there were a few shots I should have made, but that's always the case isn't it? lol
Day 3 the wind came back and the sun was out, not so much humidity, but when we were out of the shade it was extremely hot. I had made it through half the course with only 6 missed targets, but once we finished lane 25 and went to lane 1, the wind became a big factor. lanes 1 thru 10 were mostly uphill and/or in open areas, at far distances and wind had really picked up, unfortunately I missed another 12 shots over these lanes. I managed to clean my last kneeling lane, my second last lane and my very last lane which was offhand, with the final target being out at 41yds, uphill and in the wind; it felt very good to watch my final target fall!!! finishing the third day with 32/50.
Myself and George finished up very close; George came in with 95/150 which put him in 15th or 16th and I finished with a 94/150 putting me in 17th position. Everyone did some great shooting and posted very respectable scores, most importantly; we all had a great time during the match and our trip. Now we can assess what we need to practice for next year in Wales
Further info can be found here;
http://www.wftc2016.com/OfficialSite/
- Group-1.jpg (8.27 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
- TEAM-JPG.JPG (64.42 KiB) Viewed 4940 times
- IND-JPG.JPG (138.97 KiB) Viewed 4940 times
- 20160815_145753.jpg (5.77 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
- 20160815_150124.jpg (7.01 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
- 20160815_150129.jpg (7.25 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
- 20160815_171519.jpg (5.77 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
- 20160819_182026.jpg (3.91 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
- 20160819_194701.jpg (3.14 MiB) Viewed 4940 times
Long bombs in the wind and uphill, I see now now how that would make for some tough shots.. Glad to hear everyone had a great time... Thanks for sharing a bit of your experience with us Joel.. 
