Compak Sporting Grand Prix...........

[Catamong]

I did the first overseas Compak "Major" at the weekend with my GB overseas "regulars", took a flight from Gatwick on Friday afternoon to Porto, up near the top end of Portugal, a big town, very much into banking and shipping, with a massive container port.

 

A friend of a friend had sorted a hotel for us, got a shock when we checked in, as the "Room Rate" on the back of the bedroom door was 320 Euros a night.. , fortunately our friend had sorted things and we got it for 70 Euros, including a lovely breakfast, a real bargain as it was a good hotel, very comfy beds and superb service and food. :o

 

The club was about a half hour drive from the hotel, set in a remote location perched on a hilltop, very impressive facilities, proper clubhouse, a good restaurant and bar, way ahead of most places in the UK, here's a shot of the Armoury, where they look after your guns when not in use, full gun cleaning service offered:

 

 

There was a fair bit of cloud and drizzle when we got to the ground at 8.30 on the Saturday morning, but that soon cleared to leave a nice sunny day.

 

The format of the event was 200 targets over 2 days, 4 rounds of 25 each day. For those not familiar with Compak, the format is similar to a trap layout, you shoot in squads of 6 over 5 stands, (one gun waits behind station 1), you then shoot 5 birds from each station, which generally comprises 3 single birds, (full use of gun), and then a pair, (either on report or simmo), here's a pic of the first layout I shot on the Saturday, set in the woods behind the trap layouts:

 

 

It was pretty clear from the outset that the locals had been putting in a fair bit of practice beforehand.. , here's one young guy getting stuck in:

 

 

I would say that the birds were quite testing overall, a good mix of crossers, the odd incomer, and plenty of quartering away birds, one thing you've got to get used to if you shoot abroad is that EVERY single target is orange, they have no black clays whatsoever, it does make for some interesting shooting.

 

We took a break for lunch at the halfway stage, here's the ground owners wife keeping an eagle eye on things from the first floor clubhouse window:

 

 

And, here's one of a lovely young lab retriever picking up unbroken clays during the break, it was fun to watch:

 

 

I took a wander around the clubhouse, here's a shot of the trophy room, loads of trophies on display:

 

 

At the end of day 1 we were very glad to avail ourselves of some refreshment from the bar, the beer was only 1 euro a bottle, and it was good stuff, our "designated driver" was gutted to have to stick to Coke.

 

 

Our unofficial GB team were looking pretty good at the end of day 1, we were all in the top 20, I did a 22, 23, 22, 22, which I was more than happy with, as I was in 10th place overall.

 

We had an excellent meal with our local friend at a super restaurant in Porto on the Saturday night, and were tucked up at the relatively early hour of midnight to get a good nights sleep.

 

I went for a stroll around Porto before breakfast on the Sunday, we were close to the FC Porto football stadium, who were playing their main local rivals Benfica later that day. The Benfica team coach was parked outside another local hotel, with a posse of local cops standing guard, when we got close up I could see that the windscreen had been smashed and the bodywork dented from missile impacts, I later found out that the locals had pelted the coach with golf balls on its way into town, apparently they make Millwall supporters look like Saints..!!

 

Day 2 started bright and sunny, with a stiff breeze that had turned into a bit of a hooley by late morning.

 

I got off to a cracking start, with a 23 on A, followed by a 25 straight on B, then the wheels fell off with a 20 on C, followed by a 19 on D, which was by far the most difficult layout, as it had only one single on each peg, followed by 2 simmo pairs, which were all over the place in the wind. :o

 

Still, despite all struggling a bit, we had a great time, here's a shot of one of the local ladies, who was going really well:

 

 

We finished shooting at about 3.30pm, the GB contingent did very well, we won the Juniors, and had a Silver medal in the overall Seniors event, they tried to get the flags sorted before the prizegiving, but one rope got stuck, (HEALTH & SAFETY EAT YOUR HEART OUT :( )

 

 

Here are the Junior winners:

 

 

And here are the Senior winners:

 

 

The young local lad in the middle shot on my squad, and he didn't miss that many, he shot a 188, my mate Martin came second on 184, I scraped in at 12th place overall on 176, not bad, but hope to do a bit better later in the year at the World Championships in Malaga in late August

 

Cat.

[J@mes]

Nice write up

[100milesaway]

Excellent write up, it's many years since i shot in Portugal at Vilamora gun club, but twas i remmember very enjoyable. Well shot Cat. from Auntie .

[paulos]

Nice write up and cracking pics once again Cat Well shot

[Mr Potter]

Great report and good pictures Cat, I'm green with envy. I fancied the World in Spain even to the point of overcoming my fear of flying but when I realised how hot it would be in that part of Spain in August (+100F) I gave up. Hope the World or European is in Northern Europe next year.

 

Mr Potter

 

PS Good shooting by the way, an average of 22 a layout is bloody good shooting by any standard.

[beretta]

cracking write up cat and some great pics as usual. well done to papps, he seems to like this compak.

[Chard]

Good stuff chap

 

Great write up and pics once again.

 

Well done on 12th, there can't be much wrong with that

[PhilR]

Well shot Cat

 

We shot the European UT Champs there in 2008, nice ground but they made a cock up of the organisation and reduced the shoot to three days instead of four consequently we started early and finished late as there was a big entry. The far right trench layout was very difficult at 8.00am with the sun rising almost in front of us. Missed the shoot off for silver and bronze in the Veterans by one point, ******!

 

We stayed at Povoa De Varzim right on the coast, excellent seafod washed down by the local Vinho Verde

[Nicky T]

Well shot indeed and thanks for the read

[magman]

Nice darts sir

[Beardo]

good photos and write up. looks fun.

[Dunkield]

Good write up C, sounded like a nice trip away

[Cosd]

Excellent read and great pics Cat, well done, more of the same please from your next trip please

[garyb]

Is Martin standing on a old box of Hull Sovereigns ?

[Catamong]

Doh.........That's the winners podium.

 

We couldn't take any shells with us as we were travelling by air, we had to buy them at the ground, a slab of 250 cost me 62 euros, nerarly as pricey as your 20 bore jobbies.

 

Mind you, they were superb shells, Italian made Bashieri & Pellagri F2 Legends in 28g 7.5's, simply awesome killing power with very low recoil, certainly as good if not better than my favourite Hull Sovereigns.

 

I'm trying to find a stockist in the UK, but have drawn a blank so far, may have to go to France to pick up a few thou.

 

Cat.

[MM]

:oops: top shooting Cat. 12 place aint that shabby

[garyb]

Doh.........That's the winners podium.

 

Ohhhh I thought he looked a tad taller...

[leaseone]

Why didn't you stay for the fitasc this weekend and the B&P are being brought in by someone in scotland.

[Catamong]

A minor inconvenience called "work" got in the way of me staying an extra week in Portugal to shoot the FITASC.

 

I'm also hoping to do the Belgian FITASC Champs in Northern France on 3 / 4 July, should be a brilliant shoot.

 

Who's doing the B&P's in Scotland..??

 

Cat.

[MC]

According to B & P's website there isn't a distributor in the UK, there is one in Ireland though.

 

Well shot Cat, 12th isn't that bad is it. Well as long as there were more than 12 shooters.

[Chard]

What's B & P?

[Catamong]

Bashieri & Pellagri, (Italian Cartridge Manufacturers).

 

Cat.

[Chard]

Bashieri & Pellagri, (Italian Cartridge Manufacturers).

 

Cat.

 

 

They sound expensive

[Catamong]

They sound expensive

 

Yeah, they are, but you can't put a price on quality..??

 

We're all looking for that "wonder shell" that will guarantee a break every time you pull the trigger, I may have found it in this load.?

 

Cat.

[Chard]

Yeah, they are, but you can't put a price on quality..??

 

We're all looking for that "wonder shell" that will guarantee a break every time you pull the trigger, I may have found it in this load.?

 

Cat.

 

 

A bit like D & Js then? :lol: