Sunday dawned, the second day of the Demerara Cup, hotter and brighter than the first. Following an unusual breakfast of beef stew, we departed for the range debating what photos are useful for the social media manager.
Arriving at the range, we found both the heat, a recorded 52 degrees on the firing point, and fickle winds, a challenge for both firers and coaches. Sasha and Ed F were clever enough to manage 50s at 900 yards, but scores in the low 40s were also seen. One shooter’s jacket even started melting!
These factors meant that the margin from yesterday seemed very narrow indeed. 1000 yards, while slightly cooler, saw a similar challenge with the wind, with a bracket of 5.5L to 2R, and changes through zero several times for a single firer. One shooter was heard complaining about the amount his coach was twiddling the sights; the response from the coach has been redacted. We also encountered problems with a “target sensor misalignment”, no one is quite sure what this meant other than shots appearing in unexpected places. This meant that one shooter was moved to another (working) target to complete the course of fire. Her comments about the extra shots needed to finish in the punishing heat, are likewise redacted. She finished 5V5. Vindicated.
While the results were not officially announced until the evening, we were confident that England Red and White had taken first and second places in the match. We hurried back to the resort for lunch, and some preliminary packing, followed by sundowners and the trip into the capital for the dinner at the Georgetown Club.
The club, in an old colonial building reminiscent of Bisley architecture, put on an excellent dinner for us, the GNRA members, and guests. We moved on to the presentations. Medals and trophies were presented by relatives of GNRA members to the top shots from the individual competitions, particularly Matt Blythe for winning the Grand Aggregate. Almost every competition was won by an England shooter, however Kyle Romalho was the tyro winner with some very creditable scores. Some of the more successful shooters thought anxiously of their baggage allowance as a consequence.
The team results were announced, revealing that England Red had won the inaugural fixture of the Demerara Cup with a score of 1859.126, England White (1822.99) in second and Guyana (1792.97) in third. Full results at the usual location.
Captain Phil gave a speech, thanking the GNRA, and indeed “One Guyana”, for their generous hospitality over the past week. Particular mention was given to Guyana’s captain, Dylan Fields, and the secretary general, Ryan Sampson. A presentation was made to the Vice President, Mahendra Persaud. Dylan responded thanking England for our visit, the sponsors of the competition for their support, and inviting His Majesty’s Acting High Commissioner, Liam McShane, to shoot with them next weekend.
The final speech was given by Ryan, listing the many people whose support has made this week of shooting possible:
* Guyana’s President and GNRA patron, His Excellency Mohamed Irfaan Ali
* Brig Khan, Col Roberts and other GDF troops
* The Commissioner of Police
* Guyana Revenue Authority (particularly appreciated by this diarist) for assisting us with getting rifles through customs
* The many sponsors, including Secure Innovation Concept Inc, Industrial Safety Supplies Inc, Queensway, and Crown Mining
* GNRA council, members, and their families
* Guyana Times for the media coverage
* The Georgetown Club
Guyana has put huge effort into hosting us this week, and our cheers during Ryan’s speech go some way to showing our appreciation. But perhaps the loudest cheer of all was reserved for our trusty driver, Godfrey Heinz.
Following further socialising, and at least one business deal being largely concluded, we returned to the resort in high spirits. Singing, from some members of the team, was hardly a surprise, but is disappointing that we did not coordinate the potholes with the headbanging section in Bohemian Rhapsody.
D+6 – “Stop sending me frogs”