NFAS Championships

360 archers battled it out for the most prestigious UK field championship

Alex Tyler was there and shooting

The National Field Archery Society (NFAS) Championships took place in Oxfordshire on 15 and 16 September at the home of the Wilderness Festival in Cornbury Park. The mature woodland is adjacent to Windrush Bowmen’s regular shooting ground but had never been shot in competition before.

The 360 competitors shot forty paper faces each day, from Delta Mckenzie, Tru-life, Phoenix HD and Merlin. The weekend started with a minute’s silence for Chris Jones of Merlin Archery, remembering his long-term support for NFAS. In addition to the familiar deer, bears and other larger animals, targets included tarantulas(and just to confuse, one brand where legs counted, one where they didn’t), lizards and ladybirds. The smaller scoring zones favoured sighted archers, though the lower light levels on Sunday made distance judging particularly challenging.

The two courses had been set to be stretching: there are no mandatory distance rules in NFAS, so targets could be set to take best advantage of the undulating ground and features such as fallen trees. All archers in one class shot the same course on the same day: for all classes, the more open woodland of A course allowed for lengthier shots, showing in generally lower scores across the field for that day. For Alan Carruthers of North Lakes Field Archers, this offered an opportunity. In third place in American Flat Bow after shooting B course, he shot 654 on Sunday, the highest score with wooden arrows across the weekend to win by 16 points. For Sharon Jones of Briar Rose Field Archers, her overnight lead of 62 was enough to survive a second place score on Sunday, to retain her trophy. Sharon also gave Bow International a rundown on her Champs

experience [see overleaf].

Just six of the 2017 adult winners retained their trophies from 2017, with Longbow the only class where the two previous champions managed to finish on top. Both did so in style: leading their classes overnight, Kay-leona Hodgkinson of Artemis and Richard Davis of Kings Norton Traditional Archers extended their leads on Sunday, each finishing over 60 points ahead of their nearest rivals.

The highest kill score overall was 52, shot in Unlimited (compound, release aid, adjustable sights) shot on B course on Sunday as Tony Weston of Orion Bowhunters became the only archer during the weekend to break 900, scoring 904 out of a maximum of 960). Last holding this title in 2015, he regained the trophy with an impressive 40-point margin of victory in a class which usually sees the top three within 10 points. South Wilts Archery Club’s Elizabeth Richley led by 16 points after the first day but was overhauled by Karen Carter-pearson whose score of 852 on the Sunday was enough for her to retain her trophy by 14 points and make Unlimited a clean sweep for Orion Bowhunters.

The highest kill score by an archer shooting without sights was 11, by Richard Ford of Delamere Field Archers on his way to the first Championship Traditional Bowhunter trophy (shooting carbon or metal arrows from a shelf with a non-compound bow without a sight). For Lynn Harrison, it could be considered a consecutive win as she had won the Barebow (recurve, metal arrows, no sight) class in 2017.

With last year’s winner out of the frame and being the most popular class for female competitors, Barebow results were close, with a margin of just six dividing the winners. Last year’s third place archer, Lynn Ellingworth shot 636 on both days but this consistency was not enough to overhaul Buttsfield Bowmen’s Allison Kelly, who won her first Champs after a seventh place in 2017. Jamie Rawson of Ballands Bowman took the men’s trophy, extending his overnight lead on Sunday, to win by 76 points.

Freestyle has been regular battles between Chris Pleasants of Ballands Bowmen and Artemis Bowmen’s Scott Stanbury . Since 2014, the pair have alternately won the trophy (with one exception in 2015). This year belonged to Stanbury: with a lead of 18 after Saturday, he shot an impressive 808, to finish a comfortable 72 points ahead. Retaining her trophy, Penny Kennedy of Lamberts Castle Field Archers led both days, finishing 54 points ahead.

Three Bowhunter (compound without sights) archers shot scores over 700 on Saturday, setting up a tight competition for the second day. Moving onto the trickier A course, in the lower light levels of Sunday, most archers’ scores dropped, though the 2017 winner, Trevor Walter of Elmtree Archers, who had been lying fourth with 682, shot the highest score of the day with 720. His final score was just two points behind Fleet Ibex’s Ian Christie, whose consistency took the trophy, shooting 702 on both days. It was a convincing return for Bex Bates of Cheshire Oak Bowmen. Only a few months after having a baby, she led the field both days to win by 64 points, improving on her second place in 2017.

The most popular class for men was Hunting Tackle (recurve, no sights, wooden arrows). After day one on A course, three archers were tied on 592, with another three within 10 points. B course offered more deceptive shots and showed a greater spread of scores and allowed Michael East of Centaura Field Bowmen to distance himself from the pack, to win by 38 points. In ladies, Dian Kirby, the 2018 3Ds champion had an overnight lead of 32 points from Georgina Finch, the 2017 Nationals winner. However, a decisive 606 from Rae Gulliver on Sunday leapfrogged both, giving her the trophy by 30 points.

The next planned NFAS events are the Annual General Meeting on 17 November and the 3D Championships in May 2019.