OK, firstly I apologise for the lack of pics.
Hopefully, Ben will have some but for a multitude of (very good) reasons I just didn't have the time to take any pics over the three days of the CLA. The weather was epic, lots of sun and generally a light-ish wind.
There's been much debate about the saltwater distance competition rules and where the casting is done from in the past. I can only add to that debate.
Essentially you have a wooden fishing platform and walkway in a lake some 18 inches above the water with a floating pontoon lashed to the front of it and lower down in the water. The platform (and walkway) has vertical posts and horizontal bars which make casting 'interesting', if you're not very careful you'll catch it all on the backcast
every time. The judges had removed the horizontal bars in order to make things a bit better for the various competition qualifiers held on the platform. However it was far from ideal, especially when these conditions aren't generally mirrored during practice - something I had clearly not done enough of.
Truth is, I was under prepared.
Qualifying for the final (held on the afternoon on Saturday) was on Friday and Saturday.
Ben cast on the Friday but I elected to put my eggs in one basket and try to qualify on the Saturday which would give me some much needed time to practice on the platform on the Friday evening. Wind conditions on Saturday were variable with strong gusts adding to a steady breeze coming over the right shoulder, not bad but not ideal. I managed a distance of 36.5 metres in the second of my three minute slots, but it was bloody frustrating as I'd done 40+ in 'practice' on Friday night.
Up until 2 hours before the cut off for qualifying I was in the final but - unluckily for me - some big casts went in and I felt there was no way I could make my outfit go any further, so I elected not to cast again and was out.
Ben was still in, he and another chap were matched for distance at 38.5 metres so they had a shoot-out for the final position in the final. Conditions were tricky for a right hander and Ben was up against a 'lefty'. Ultimately, Ben was really unlucky with the platform, the wind and the fact he was up against a lefty who could really chuck fluff a very long way indeed. So we were both out.
I was gutted and clearly so was Ben. Lessons learnt for next year though.
Ultimately, you needed to reliably hit 40+ metres to qualify for the final.
The final was held in front of the grandstand which was on the other side of the lake (or is it a river....
) and unhelpfully the orientation of the platform was into the wind. As most of the competitors were using shooting heads this promised to be an interesting final and we weren't disappointed.
Predictably, the headwind made things tricky for the competitors but young Thomas Armstrong showed the way with a bullet like 1st place cast of 36.88 metres to win the £1,000 prize. Personally, I question the results of the 2nd and 3rd place finalists as both broke the (complicated) rules during the final in my understanding of them. I also think that Lee Cummings hit a much bigger cast than the theodolite reading (and frequently dozing off) distance judges gave him credit for..... but I could be wrong.
Michael Evans - the commentator and rule maker - made one or two observations during the event which weren't entirely helpful (
ooooh, he didn't want to do that.... or.....
that's just not going to be far enough etc etc) for those in the final and also said there had been discussions over the winter about how the rules might have changed for this year. Personally, I'd be happy to cast a dirty great popper on the end of my line if I didn't have to use a line tray and I think that view was shared by all who competed.
Let's see what next year brings.
I'll be ready
H
