At the beginning of the week I acquired the latest additions to this years setup. A pair of limbs and some stabilisers. For this blog I値l focus on the limbs and in a further update I値l review the stabilisers. Both the limbs and the stabilisers and the limbs are from a relatively small yet rapidly growing company trading under the name KAYA archery. This Korean company is set to take the world by storm over the next few years and has already achieved many things over the last 12 months, with quite a few world records and impressive trophies being connected to the brand.
The limbs I went for are the VPERF limbs. The name is derived from the words victory and performance, a name very apt for these limbs in the hands of Italian archer supremo Michele Frangilli. After placing 4th at the World cup final in 2007 Frangillis performance declined somewhat. However at the start of 2010 he burst back into the spotlight winning the European tournament of Nimes and the Italian indoors. His winning ways didn稚 stop there, at the first leg of the world cup he placed 2nd (on tens, tied score) in qualifying with a massive score of 686, just 1 point shy of the world record. Next he qualified first and finished second at the European Champs, two weeks later he added yet another silver medal to his collection at the second world cup leg in Turkey. He痴 not the only one proving the name fits the limbs. Recently Oscar De Pellegrin of Italy and Salam Mohd Sidik of Malaysia both beat the World record for the Paralympian record in the W2 class with respectable scores of 648 and 647.
So what are the limbs actually like? On opening the box you will find the limbs in covers which is probably expected but not always true. The first thing that strikes you are the limbs are taken out of the covers is the fairly simple yet bold graphics. Compared to most limbs the tips of the VPERFs are fairly small, perhaps giving them a small advantage over others. The limbs fitted smoothly into my riser and there was no need to adjust the alignment as the limbs were spot on. I知 waiting to compare the draw force curve of these limbs against others before I comment to much on the feel of them but from shooting them over the last couple of days I can say that the feeling from the limbs is very positive as I come into anchor, this in turn gives the limbs a snappier feel on release. Hopefully I値l have the draw force curve by the end of the weekend after which I can give a more detailed analysis of the limbs.
I知 really looking forward to finishing off the season with these limbs, I知 sure I can achieve plenty of PB痴 with them.

I don't usually like talking about practice scores but this is an exception, After weeks of exams I thought it was about time to get down the archery field and get ready for the looming British Uni Champs.
I was shooting fairly well at 90m when I put in a 6X end as shown in the picture.

After last year the weather at the opening leg of the National series seemed tame. Whilst there was very little rain there was definately a lot of wind which at times was very difficult to master. For the qualifying round I shot 615 which placed me in 6th a few points behind Jon Shales and Rob Hallworth. I passed though the firth couple of matches without any major problems, I got a bit worried in the 1/16th eliminations when I tied a set after shooting a 56 with a 6! My progress to the semi finals was stopped by Simon Terry, however I didn't go with out putting up some sort of fight, finally bowing out in the 5th set with the scores on 7-3.
The event was very well orgaannised and run, I would recommend it to anyone wanting to try their luck against the best in British archery, same goes for any of the National Series Events.

Looking forwards the next tournement I shall be competing in is the county selection shoot taking place this weekend. It is being hosted by Wilford Bowmen in Nottingham. I shall keep you updated.

.. or riser at least. This year I've decided to give the BMG a break and give a by Bernadini a go. The model I went for was the Aladin. For those of you who may not be familiar with by Bernadini, they are an Italian company started in 1989 by Bernardini Gianni. In 2007 a revival of the company saw the kick start of the 27" riser trend now seen in the catalogues of more well known brands.

The Aladin however is a 25" riser, weighing in at a solid 1300g. The quality of the finish is superb and the riser itself includes many features which are clearly well thought out and executed.

Although it's hard to pick a favourite feature one near the top of my list is the click adjustment found on the tiller adjustment bolts. Not only does this allow an easy way to record the amount of adjustment which has been made but also means that there is no need to fiddle about with unlocking and locking grub screws.

For further details visit By Bernadini's website at www.bybernardini.com or alternatively come and a close up inspection and have a chat if you see me at any competitions this year. I will be starting the outdoor season on the 16th May with Eveshams 720 and H2H's, also the first leg of this years National Series.

Definatly one of the best tournements in Britain. Nottingham University were got off to a good start in qualifying, which was extremely close. At one point roughly halfway through the top 3 teams, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Loughbough were tied at the top of the leader board. Edinburgh managed to open up a small gap before the end and Loughbough were lucky to finish second just one point ahead of Nottingham. The finals looked spectacular with some very atmospheric lighting. Endinburgh showed they ment bussiness in the first pass taking the lead 5-1, Nottingham fought back bringing the score at halfway to 8-5. A massive push from Nottingham bought the scores even closer after the third end, 12-11. Unfortunatly Nottingham couldn't keep up the pace, that along with 5 hits from Endinburgh ensured that the trophy was handed back to the 2008 winners. The final score was 17-14 to Edinburgh.

Sick and tired of breaking open your egg to find that the soldiers don't quite dip into the yolk? Stress no longer salvation is here. Danage Domino of Scandinavia have come up with an ingenious way of turning your morning eating arragements into a dream come true. A couple of weekends ago I went to pick up the contraption, which Clickers boss and all round good guy Graham, had agreed to lend me. What can I say, I was blown away by the results. From day one I haven't had a single problem with it and have eaten perfect egg after perfect egg every morning since. What a great little gadget. I firmly believe that every house in Britain could benefit from one of these devices. I think it would certainly reduce the amount of frustrated, angry and under nourished people in offices, factories and schools up and down the country. Pictures will definatly follow.
Sorry to rant on a bit, just had to get off my chest how great this product offered by Clickers really is. This Saturday (13/02) is the British University Team Champs be sure to stay tuned for possible live updates as well as a full review on the Sunday immediately after.

Finally finished my January exams on Sat (23/01), a great weight off my young shoulders. Now I can turn my attention to some serious indoor shooting. With the British University Team champs, National Indoor champs and County indoor champs all the in the next month as well as all the joyful assignments being continuosly given out by the university.
Last weekend was also the 14th Nimes indoor event which this year is part of the newly formed world indoor series. In the recurve mens division a reversal of the 2008 final saw Italian Michele Frangilli narrowly beat countryman Marco Galiazzo. Frangilli used the much awaited Kaya VPERF limbs to take the victory.

The first ever Ipswitch International was held on the 19/20 September in the Ipswitch showground. In preparation for such a super event I had stayed at the Denton Institute of Excellence (Camp Barber) for a few days before hand. With a few gadets and an incredible amount of knowledge and understanding at hand enabled my bow setup to be optimised giving a fighting chance at the competion. The venue was great, plus there was hardly any wind at all giving ideal shooting conditions. Qualifying started really and by half time I'd racked up 322 points. A slight hiccup after the break dragged the score down a bit but 638 put me in third place behind Clickers team-mates Jon Shales, 657 and Tom Barber 648. On the second day there was a tiny bit more wind, not much though. Unfortunatly for me I just couldn't find the ten and went out in the first round after losing 51-50 and 51-54. However all was not lost, I scooped the prize of a years subscripion to Glade magazine for the highest ranked unrewarded archer.
Despite Mr Peart winning his own shoot I hope it continues to grow and becomes even more of a success. Definatly worth having a go at with so many prizes spread across the competition there is a good chance of winning something even if your not the best.

Well known for being windy on this occasion I think we were luck to get away with a light/medium breeze. Qualifying was a bit up and down but overall did alright. 627 placed me 8th. This gave me a bye for the first round. The first couple of rounds went by without any drama winning 100-75 and 105-92 the next round was a bit tougher but I managed to fit in some good arrows and win 104-100. This put me in the 1/4 finals against Larry Godfrey. The first 9 arrows were close with only a point in it but in the final end some stray arrows from larry gave me the advantage I needed winning the match 109-103 I was now within reach of a medal and some valuable series points. My shots were starting to feel comfortable now and I won the semi final match 111-98. The gold medal match was against Tom Barber and I knew It was going to be the tougest match so far. A weak start put me a few points behind but a better second end bought me back to within a point. Unfortunatly I was only able to match Toms' arrows for the rest of the match. Still, at least it was a close match, 111-110. This gave Tom 2 wins from two National Series Legs and lifted me to 6th place in the overall standings. I also won a rather flash easton quiver which will be handy for the indoor season methinks.

Recently I've been working hard on my 90m to try and beef up my FITA scores. It worked a little, after a slow start I managed to put in a 284, definitely a step in the right direction. It took me a long time to find a decent sightmark at 70 and as a result I could only manage 93 for the first dozen, a good second and 3rd dozen gave me 306. A good 317 at 50m and 340 and 30m gave me a 1247, leaving me in 4th over night just 16 points behind Grant Womack.
With lots of room for improvement I was confident I could catch up a bit on the second day. After a slightly better start things were looking good. However this was followed by a dodgy 294 at 70m. Luckily for me team mates Micheal Peart and Richard Wilkins were on hand to give me the prep talk I needed. At 50m I shot really well clocking up 333 points, enough to get things back on track for a GMB score. Unfortunately I couldn't find quite enough points and had to settle for 1256. The combined score was just 10 points away from Grant in 3rd.
I am now busy practicing 70m in preparation for Exmouths 720 and h2h.