In August, Canada hosted the 150th Quebec Rifle Association Meeting at CFB Valcartier Ranges in Quebec City and the annual DCRA National Championships at CFB Connaught Ranges near Ottawa. Angus McLeod and Claire Halleran shot at the DCRA meeting, and Lindsay Peden shot both in Quebec and Ottawa, all of them with individual successes.
In Quebec, Lindsay was second in the Grand Aggregate and third in the Governor General’s prize, despite achieving top gun score over the whole weekend. In the Governor General’s prize the top three had all represented their country at the Commonwealth Games (Canada, England and Scotland respectively) and the prizes were presented by a former Canadian Commonwealth Games representative, Alain Marion, who is probably the most outstanding Canadian shooter ever, having won 3 Queens Prizes at Bisley and innumerable other major prizes worldwide.
As in Quebec, the weather in Ottawa was mixed with some very heavy downpours and some beautiful sunny periods. However, unlike Quebec, where it rained between shoots and overnight, the rain caught most competitors in Ottawa at least once, which tested the very limited drying facilities available overnight. Nevertheless scores did not seem to suffer. Angus finished in 3rd place in the Grand Aggregate and Lindsay 9th. In the Governor General’s prize (the Canadian equivalent of the Bisley Queens Prize), Angus was leading going into the final range, but in the extremely tricky and fast moving winds, he lost points early in the shoot and ran out 10th, with the winner, John Underwood from England, shooting superbly dropping no points at any of the ranges. Lindsay shot well in the final stage, but having started in the 50 qualifying for the final in 50th place with 5 points off, had no chance of catching the winner.
However, the highlights of the Scottish performances are outlined below: it should be noted that there were top 10 finishes for both Angus and Lindsay in many of the aggregate and individual competitions, but only the major ones are itemised.
Gooderham Trophy – 1st Angus
Ladies Pairs – 1st Claire Halleran and Lucinda Taylor (Eng)
Landsdowne Trophy 1st – Claire and Angus were 2 of the four firers
All Comers Aggregate (Short Range 300-600 yards) 9th Angus
Gzowski Aggregate (Long Range 800-900m) 4th Lindsay, 6th Angus
Aggregate for the 21st Century (Grand Agg + Gov Gen final) 2nd Angus, 4th Lindsay
Jack Gorrie Aggregate – 2nd (after tie-shoot) Lindsay
Report by Lindsay Peden, Full bore Coach