Catamong Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Went to Belgium last weekend with Martin, Chris, Trevor & Cheryl to shoot the Belgium Compact Sporting Grand Prix, a 200 birder over 8 layouts at a club near Mons. We caught the 9.20 shuttle from Folkestone, then up into Belgium via the motorway. Cheryl insisted on using her Satnav, the net result was we ended up leaving the motorway and going through umpteen local villages and country lanes, I reckon it added about an hour to the journey..!! We arrived at the club at lunchtime, a nice little setup that does lovely fresh food and drink at affordable prices, (5 beers for 8.50 Euros), and after suitable refreshment, set about shooting the 4 layouts in practice. They do things differently on the Continent, it’s not uncommon for them to allow practice shooting on the actual layout for several days beforehand, with only a few subtle changes to the targets on competition day, and that’s what happened here, so we had a pretty good idea what to expect in the competition. Here’s Cheryl with some new embroidery on her skeet vest, her new nickname is “Sootyâ€, ‘cos most of her clays end up looking like balls of soot..!! Compact Sporting is very similar to Sportrap, you shoot a combination of singles, (full use of gun), report pairs and simmo pairs, all shot from 5 stands in 6 man squads. This ground has a superb computer controlled system, with acoustic release and a system that automatically detects a no bird and repeats the sequence if the shooter doesn’t fire at the no bird, it’s really brilliant and so much better than the thieving Claymate system we use here in the UK. The practice session went well, here’s Trevor tackling the going away bird on the Winchester layout, We left the ground late afternoon after more refreshments, and booked into our hotel in a lovely little town called Soignies. They say Belgium’s a dull place, but it’s anything but that when we go there, with plenty of nice bars and eating places, here we are enjoying a beer at the local Bar De L’Europe, We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on Saturday morning then drove to the ground in good time for our 10.20 start time, we had a chance to see the other layouts before shooting them, here’s Cheryl watching Trevor shoot the Browning layout, And here's Martin on the Winchester layout, Cheryl & I were squadded together and we both started with a couple of cracking 24's , I then went 22,20,22 to finish on an 88, Cheryl went 19 ,23,22 to also finish the day on an 88. We went into Town for more entertainment that night, we were also celebrating Trevors Birthday the next day, we had a great meal, but Cheryl couldn't help getting more practice in after that 19 on the Miroku layout, After a pretty late Saturday night, we got to the ground on Sunday for our earlier start time of 9.40, other squads were already shooting, here's a young "Digweed lookalike" from Denmark, he shoots like him too, didn't miss much, Now, don't say you weren't warned, but here's the Catmeister in his 3/4's enjoying the lovely sunny weather and wondering just how to tackle that awful battue that went straight away edge on, then dropped vertically in front, everybody struggled with that one. Cheryl moved up into top gear over the second day, and shot a stunning 92 to finish on a very good 180, to win the Ladies by a margin of 17 targets. Here she is on the podium with a rather nice French girl on her right and the lovely Linda from Sheffield on her left, well shot Girls..!! :unsure: Martin also did well, shooting a 182, coming in third place overall, Jamie Brightman from Kent being the winner with a fine 190, here's Martin & cheryl with their trophies. I'm afraid a couple of 18's ruined my card and I did a 77 to finish on a 165, not brilliant, but we all had a good weekend and we're looking forward to going to France in July to shoot the European FITASC championship near Amiens, can't wait..!! Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon R Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Nice post and excellent photos. Well done to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chard Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 (edited) Nice writeup and photos. Do you get much grief taking your guns over there? Well done to all of you, looks like a good few days Who's that stiff in the blue shirt in the third photo? :unsure: :yp: Edited June 4, 2009 by Chard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatcatsplat Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Nice write-up - Now that could be a case for a post in the meet up section next year. As Chard asked, how easy was it to get the guns over there and did you have to sort out any secure storage while there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter De La Mare Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Nice write up and photos. Looks like you had a great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Your squad of 5 look like a decent bunch, Except that ugly ****** in the middle. Well done Cheryl. Good darts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beretta Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 sounds like you had a great weekend out there cat. nice to see a bit of silverware being brought back over. well shot the lass and good to see old martin still has a bit of life left in him. old dogs still take a bit of beating eh? next year when you can shoot the new gun ill be expecting more from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chard Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Here’s Cheryl with some new embroidery on her skeet vest, her new nickname is “Sootyâ€, ‘cos most of her clays end up looking like balls of soot..!! I'm having one made for Magman, his new nickname is Miss Chippy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 sounds like you had a great weekend out there cat. nice to see a bit of silverware being brought back over. well shot the lass and good to see old martin still has a bit of life left in him. old dogs still take a bit of beating eh? next year when you can shoot the new gun ill be expecting more from you. He will have another excuse by then. Still everyone struggled with the edge on going away battue. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheryl Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Well done Cat Nice post well worth the wait. The photos are wicked and glad you didn't put all of them on Wicked weekend and can't wait for another weekend away with all the gang. Thanks for the nice comments guys. Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJN Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Sounds like everyone had a good time and some good shooting, nice write up and piccies M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magman Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 I'm having one made for Magman, his new nickname is Miss Chippy :blink: Cheeky *** yours is going to be, Im a Blanker Well done to Cat and the team Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catamong Posted June 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Nice writeup and photos. Do you get much grief taking your guns over there? Well done to all of you, looks like a good few days :blink: Who's that stiff in the blue shirt in the third photo? :( No aggro at all with the guns, we were just waved through, provided they're out of sight in the boot they're happy with that. The guns were never left unattended in the car, they were locked in the hotel room at night, usual common sense stuff applies, no silly BASC, CPSA stickers or "GUN 1" numberplates on the car which are an invite to the ******, (yes they've got 'em in Belgium too) to boof your windows in on the off chance of stealing a Purdey. As for the guy in the blue shirt..........hmmmm, not too sure... , but they tell me at next years event he'll be shooting in the veterans class.............what's his secret I wonder..? Cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Potter Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 Brilliant write up Catamong and good crisp & clear photos (bet they weren't taken on a mobile telephone!) I'll look out for you in France in July and introduce myself, well maybe the greatness will rub off and I sure will need it, not shot abroad since Rabot in 2001 and have only shot 100 FITASC targets all year. Ah well it's all about enjoying yourself isn't it. Best Regards Mr Potter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chard Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 (edited) No aggro at all with the guns, we were just waved through, provided they're out of sight in the boot they're happy with that. The guns were never left unattended in the car, they were locked in the hotel room at night, usual common sense stuff applies, no silly BASC, CPSA stickers or "GUN 1" numberplates on the car which are an invite to the ******, (yes they've got 'em in Belgium too) to boof your windows in on the off chance of stealing a Purdey. As for the guy in the blue shirt..........hmmmm, not too sure... , but they tell me at next years event he'll be shooting in the veterans class.............what's his secret I wonder..? Cat. Did they know you had the guns due to prior declaration, do you drive through the "Something to declare" channel? It all seems very easy I could go and invade Poland at the weekend And as for that blokes secret - it's certainly not Grecian 2000 is it? Edited June 5, 2009 by Chard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 Nice one R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canthitathing Posted June 18, 2009 Report Share Posted June 18, 2009 great write up and piccies. Looked like a good time. The third place lady Linda (Pearson) is based at my local ground Nr Doncaster, which is managed by her hubby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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