ICFRA F-Class World Championships 2009

 

The F-Class World Championships which took place at the prestigious British National Shooting Centre in Bisley, England from Monday the 27th to Thursday the 30th
of July was both a thoroughly enjoyable event and a resounding success for Irish F-Class shooting and by extension, Irish Long Range Shooting in general.

The championships, which has been dubbed the “Olympics of Long Range Shooting”, is held every four years and consists of an individual and international team competition, shot at 800, 900 and 1000 yards over the course of four days.
The world famous Stickledown 1200 yard range in Bisley played host to this year’s event and it saw without a shadow of a doubt the absolute pinnacle of long range precision shooting as world class shooters from around the globe at the top of there game came to ply their trade.

For those of you who are unaware, F-Class competition is split into two distinct sub-classes, F-Open and F-TR.
F-Open is shot with a scoped rifle of any calibre, usually either 6.5x284 or 7mm, which may not weigh in excess of 10kg. This rifle system is shot from a forward mechanical rest and a rear sand bag. The squad for an F-Open team event consists of a maximum of sixteen members of which eight will be shooters.

The Irish F-Open Squad for the 2009 World Championships consisted of the following members:
Joe Melia (Captain)                      
Anthony Dunne (Wind Coach)
Francis McFadden (Wind Coach)                       
Noel Kelly
Paul Cassidy  
John Crawford
Tony Saunders                 
Connor Murphy                
Stephen Hogan                
William Jennings             
Joe Linehon       

F-TR is shot with a scoped rifle in a calibre of only either .223 or .308, usually .308, with a forward bi-pod attached. The entire rifle system including the forward bi-pod may not weigh in excess of a total of 8.25kg. A rear sand bag is also used. The squad for an F-TR team event consists of a maximum of eight members of which four will be shooters.

The Irish F-TR Squad for the 2009 World Championships consisted of the following members:
John Paul Craven (Captain)             
Liam Fenlon (Wind Coach)                   
Darren Mills
Tommy Dunne
David Comerford  
Seamus Keenan          
Stephen Doyle                  

(Note: As of the 31st of July 2009 all future F-TR squads for ICFRA associated competitions will consist of a maximum of sixteen members of which eight will be shooters.)

The Irish F-Class squad came to the World Championships well prepared for the rigours of the competition that lay ahead. We new that we would face some of the best long range shooters from around the world and that only a world class performance would be acceptable at that level of competition. Preparation for the event began in November 2008 at the Midlands National Shooting Centre of Ireland, home to the Irish F-Class squad, and continued unbroken every weekend regardless of wind or weather conditions. In fact, the hallmark of the Irish squad is that we love it wet and windy and this showed itself in the scores at Bisley when on occasion a hard wind and a heavy rain was present.
At one stage, at the beginning of the 1000 yard F-Open team shoot, the rain was coming down so hard that all the guns remained silent, all that is except the rifle of Irishman Francis McFadden who proceeded to commence his string, regardless of the down poor, with a series of bulls.
On another occasion, when the wind was blowing hard and then letting off fast, as the majority of the F-TR teams decided the sensible thing to do was to wait and let the conditions stabilise, Irishman Liam Fenlon proceeded to give them a show with his .308 rifle by braving the conditions and sending round after round into the ten inch bull 1000 yards away.
At the end of the gruelling four day event, when all the rifles finally fell silent and the smoke had cleared, the Irish F-Open team had taken 4th place in the F-Class World Championships, a very respectable showing considering the level of experience and expertise of the other F-Open teams.
But the Cinderella of the story has to be the Irish F-TR team which managed to beat the Canadians into 3rd place by just six points and bring home the F-Class World Championships Bronze Medals!

The whole experience has left a hunger in our hearts for more of the same which we will have to satisfy in four years time at the next F-Class World Championships in the United States of America.
The only difference between then and now will be the four years as opposed to eight months of preparation behind us!   

 

ICFRA F-Class World Championships 2009 results:

Individual Competition:
F-Open.
The winner of first place in the F-Open individual competition, The Milcun Cup and a large NRA Gold Medal and the new World F-Open Champion was Gary Costello from Great Britain with a score of 458.44v.

The highest world ranking by an Irish shooter in the F-Open individual competition was 25th out of a total of 144 competitors. This was achieved by Anthony Dunne with a score of 439.37v.

F-TR.
The winner of first place in the F-TR individual competition, a large NRA Gold Medal and the new World F-TR Champion was Russell Simmonds from Great Britain with a score of 437.23v.

The highest world ranking by an Irish shooter in the F-TR individual competition was 18th out of a total of 67 competitors. This was achieved by Liam Fenlon with a score of 412.14v.

Team Competition:
F-Open.
1st: The winners of first place in the F-Open team competition, The Farquharson Trophy and sixteen large NRA Gold Medals and the new World F-Open Champions was Great Britain with a score of 3436.230v.

2nd: The winners of second place in the F-Open team competition and sixteen large NRA Silver Medals was the United States of America with a score of 3377.234v.

3rd: The winners of third place in the F-Open team competition and sixteen large NRA Bronze Medals was South Africa with a score of 3337.188v.

The Irish F-Open team took 4th place in the F-Open team competition with a score of 3218.158v.
The team scores were as follows:

Captain – Joe Melia
Wind Coaches – Anthony Dunne, Francis McFadden

Anthony Dunne               420.24v
Paul Cassidy                    415.21v
Connor Murphy                 405.21v
Joe Melia                         402.22v
Stephen Hogan                398.20v
William Jennings             396.15v
Francis McFadden           396.15v
Noel Kelly/J Linehon       386.20v

Total                                3218.158v

 

F-TR.
1st: The winners of first place in the F-TR team competition, eight large NRA Gold Medals and the new World F-TR Champions was the United States of America with a score of 1581.76v.

2nd: The winners of second place in the F-TR team competition and eight large NRA Silver Medals was Great Britain with a score of 1569.74v.

3rd: The winners of third place in the F-TR team competition and eight large NRA Bronze Medals was the Republic of Ireland with a score of 1508.47v.
The team scores were as follows:

Captain – John Paul Craven
Wind Coach – Liam Fenlon

Liam Fenlon                     393.17v
Stephen Doyle                  374.12v
David Comerford             372.8v
John Paul Craven             369.10v

Total                                1508.47v

If you wish to see a full listing of both the individual and the team results you can find them here:
F-Open Team Match Results
F-TR Team Match Results
Individual Results

Photos of the event will be posted soon.

 

On behalf of the entire Irish F-Class Squad I would like to thank and congratulate both the captain of the F-Open Squad Joe Melia and the Captain of the F-TR Squad John Paul Craven for the fantastic leadership and limitless time and support they provided to the members of each squad. I would also like to thank the three wind coaches Anthony Dunne, Francis McFadden and Liam Fenlon who despite hard conditions at times, managed to keep us all on target trough out the entire team event. Job well done!

This year’s championships will always hold a special place in the heart of the Irish F-Class squad as it is the first time Ireland has been permitted to represent itself at the world level. The successful participation of a full Irish F-Class squad in the event has secured for Ireland a permanent, full member seat on the International Confederation of Fullbore Rifle Associations (ICFRA) counsel.   
Much of the credit for this achievement belongs to one man without whose untiring effort, political guile and shear fighting spirit none of this would have been possible, and that man is the captain of the F-TR squad, Mr. John Paul Craven. Mission accomplished!

Last but not least, on behalf of the Irish F-Class squad I would like to thank Mik Maksimovic of the NRA/GB for organising a very well run and memorable event.
Hopefully someday in the near future we can return the favour.