Tuesday 30th April
Our very late arrival in Georgetown led into a sub-optimal night's sleep for some, before a late breakfast by the pool and a team meeting at 10 prior to a 10:30 departure for the Timehri Range.
The range is about 75 minutes from the hotel, up the Demerara River and not far from the airport. It extends back to 1000 yards, appears well looked after and has shady shelters beside the range at the 300, 600 and 1000 yard points.
After being greeted by Mahendra, Paul and our other hosts, we started shooting at 1pm at 300 yards, with Brits mostly paired with local shooters. Although rain threatened, conditions were very hot and humid, with a tailwind that started to fishtail later on.
It should be noted that team members' sartorial approaches to dealing with the climate (while remaining ever so stylish) differed greatly. Some use neck coolers and wicking tops, some wear trousers (or even jeans!) and others are in shorts and flip flops. Chloe, brilliantly, wears her pyjamas, which can be rolled down for shooting (and sunburn and insect avoidance) and up the rest of the time. David Calvert arrived today without a shooting sweatshirt so borrowed one from Jon Tapster - to good effect, as he managed a pair of 50s at 300 and 900 to lead the pack, with Tom Rylands next best on 99.
By 900 the fishtail had arrived. For the first detail, it amounted to a range from three-quarters left to two right, with one minute right being a good number for almost all the shots. In the second detail, the wind would change quickly, with three-and-quarter minutes seen in both directions in quick succession. Unsurprisingly, detail 2 averaged just over 43 to detail 1's 47. Gratifyingly, the wind coaches did relatively well as the conditions got harder.
The Army took away our rifles at the end of the day and the long drive back saw us arrive at the hotel after dark. Sadly we arrived too late to see Charles's appearance on Guyanese TV, but there is still the "International Jazz" in the hotel's Latino lounge, before we gather for dinner by the pool. It's a nice bunch, this team, so lots of time in each other's company is grand.
A final article about the GB team in the Jamaican Observer is here: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Sharp-shooting-Brits-pick-off-Jamaica-in-rifling_14164873
GBRT in the Guyanese press:-
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