Three Leamington archers took a break from their normal target archery, and recently entered the regional Flight archery championships held in the grounds of Longford Hall  Newport. Chris Earp, and father and daughter Paul and Bethany Roberts, competed in the oldest of the archery disciplines, where the objective is simply to shoot an arrow as far as posible. With no previous experience in flight, and competing against more powerful bows, and specially adapted arrows, the Leamington trio`s objective, was merely to enjoy the experience.

Picking up tips throughout the day however, from the more seasoned flight shooters, found the Leamington archers reaching  respectable distances. The 50lb target bow category was easily won by Mike Willrich, who holds 16 world records, with a distance of 440y 2ft 3″.

Paul finished in second place with a distance of 336y 0ft 11″, and Chris was third with 292y 2ft 6″. Not to be outdone by the adults, 13yr old Bethany,won both the 50lb and 35lb target bow classes, becoming the West Midlands junior lady champion for each.

Having whet his appetite, Chris then entered the National flight championships, held two weeks later on the RAF base at Church Fenton, Yorkshire. This time using his compound bow, and arrows he had adapted for the occasion, he was able to shoot an impressive 529y 2ft 11″. This was only 19y short of the class winner, but in a closely fought group gave him 4th place. The longest shot of the day was by Tom Duncan, using a 60lb compound, who achieved 666y 2ft 11″, or just over 1/3 of a mile.

Photo of Paul and Bethany in action at Newport