Trans Tasman New Zealand 5-Stand Championships
9-10 February 2008
Hutt Valley Gun Club

The SSAA Shotgun teams competed in the North Island and New Zealand 5-Stand Championships at the Hutt Valley Gun Club, just north of Wellington on February 9 and 10. The members of the Hutt Valley Gun Club had prepared four 5-Stand layouts using a mix of DTL, Skeet, Trench and Sporting Traps that presented competitors with a good variety of challenging targets. One particularly interesting target was a very quick, high-driven mini from a tower. This type of target was possible as New Zealand 5-Stand rules have known targets, whereas it would have been very difficult to locate and break under SSAA’s rules of known, but random-order targets.

The shoot was well run by club members with shoot administration and trap support carried out very efficiently. The members also enjoyed an excellent canteen.

With no practice available on Friday afternoon and with some competitors experiencing issues with local ammunition, it took part of the first day of competition for the visiting competitors to sort this out and adjust to the local conditions and unfamiliar cartridges. This was evident in the scores, as all team members equalled or improved their scores on the second day of the championships. There were about 70 competitors each day. Other competitors came from New Caledonia, Canada and the UK.

The SSAA Open team comprised Sox Pilipasidis, Craig MacPherson, Dean Delaney, Craig Tilley and Renae Birgan. The SSAA Mixed Graded team members were Ed Treadwell (A Grade), Vince Panetta (B Grade), Robert McDonald (C Grade), Rodney Evans (Veterans) and Amandra Condron (Ladies). Robert and Amandra were substitute members.

Saturday was warm and humid for the North Island 5-Stand Championships. SSAA team members featured prominently at the presentation ceremony. In the A Grade, Sox Pilipasidis came second and Craig MacPherson came third, both with 83. In the B Grade, Rod Evans placed first with 77, followed by Vince Panetta with 74. Renae Birgan was the Top Lady competitor with 72. The High Gun was won by SSAA shooter Andrew Garvie from Newcastle with a score of 87.

In the New Zealand 5-Stand Championships shot on Sunday, SSAA members again performed admirably. In the AA Grade, Craig MacPherson came third with 86. Renae Birgan won the A Grade with 85, followed by Dean Delaney with 81 and Simon Hore with 80. In the B Grade, Rod Evans came second with 77. Renae Birgan was again the Top Lady competitor. Adam Hanson, a very promising young New Zealand shooter won the High Gun with 91 and also went on to win the overall High Gun for both days with a score of 173/200 after a shoot-off with fellow compatriot Des Coe.

At the conclusion of the championship, SSAA’s Open team out shot the New Zealand team to retain the Trans Tasman Trophy by two points with a score of 102/125. In the Mixed Graded team shoot-off, the New Zealand team was successful by seven targets with a score of 90/125.

Many SSAA members stayed on for the four days of the New Zealand Sporting Clays Championships that followed shortly afterwards, making it an excellent week of simulated field-shooting events that comes highly recommended.

by National Shotgun Discipline Chairman Warren Brown