The club were proud to have the largest representation of any club present. The Championships were held in the grounds of Dunster Castle, on Sunday, 12th June. It was a spectacular venue with the castle overlooking the shooting grounds.

The day started overcast during preparation, equipment checks and the safety briefing, but as shooting began, the sun appeared and the rest of the day was bright and sunny. However, the coastal wind was challenging as it swirled, known in archery circles as the “Dunster Breeze”, around the grounds. This kept scores generally low.

The ladies tournament round was a “Double National”, four dozen arrows at sixty yards and two dozen at fifty yards in the morning and repeated in the afternoon.

The men’s tournament round was a “Long National”, same format as the ladies but shot over eighty and sixty yards.

Success for the club came in the form of Sophie Young, claiming the title of Somerset Ladies Recurve Champion with 1113 points, from Saira Chaudhry of Exeter Company of Archers with 1109 and Janet Ross, also of South Wansdyke, with 988 points. Sophie’s success is particularly special because she is Senior Somerset Champion whilst still qualified as a Junior archer.

Individually, the men were less successful. However, Sophie Young and Clive Jarrett’s combine score of 1977 was good enough to win the Somerset Clubs Pairs Trophy.

Continuing at a county level, on 26th June, the Junior County and Open Championships were contested at Burnham Company of Archers. Sophie Young completed the double and was Junior Girls Recurve County U18 Champion and Harriet Crook won the U16 Girls Recurve title.

Closer to home, the clubs monthly handicap competition was held on the 19th June. It was a closely fought match with only thirty one points separating the top five archers. June’s gold medal winner was Clive Jarrett with 1410, silver went to Sophie Young with 1408 and the bronze medal to Andy Young with 1399.