Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2014/January 2015 | Page 43
ENTERTAINMENT
Bowmen are right on target
F
or more than 40 years a group of
enthusiasts have gathered at Appley
each week to display their skills in the
noble art of archery, writes Peter White.
There had been flirtations on the Island
with the sport long before that, initially
at Ventnor and then at Brading. But the
formation of Wight Bowmen in 1970
heralded the start of a club that has
subsequently grown in numbers and kept
pace with the many changes in technique
and equipment over the years.
Wight Bowmen’s membership stands at
70 and continues to increase, with men,
ladies, juniors and disabled enjoying the
thrill of trying to strike gold on the target.
A breakaway West Wight group also
competes regularly.
Many simply associate archery with the
long bow - the type Robin Hood and his
Merry Men are said to have used around
Sherwood Forest. The long bow is still
an integral part of the sport to this day,
and should be six inches longer than
the height of the archer. But there are
now the far more complex Olympic
competition recurve bows, American
flat bows, and compound bows. Arrows
are normally made from carbon fibre for
outdoor competition, but are also made
of aluminium mainly for indoors, while
wooden arrows must be used for long
bows - those are the rules!
Wight Bowmen club chairman Stuart
Dyer, a member since 1990, said: “With
archery you are not competing against
anyone but yourself. Even in competitions,
you are trying to beat your previous
score; trying to achieve a personal best
of even a club or County record. We hold
beginners’ courses which are very popular,
and are fully booked up until May. We take
youngsters from the age of 11, and our
oldest member is 83, and we have quite a
few families involved.
“Our club motto is ‘archery is to enjoy not
to endure’. There is a lot of friendly rivalry,
but it is a sport that has to be respected
and there are strict rules, especially when
you consider the modern arrow can travel
at over 300ft per second. Every shoot has
a Field Captain who controls the shoot,
and shoots are held under Grand National
Archery Society rules.
Bowman shoot at targets as far away as
90 metres - or 100 yards - away, but when
competitions are held at shorter distances
then the size of the target is reduced
accordingly. Competition is ‘healthy but
friendly’ with the Wight Bowmen often
visiting other clubs along the south coast.
The club’s Master Bowman Lee Grace
from Bembridge travels much further
afield to compete.
In the summer the Wight Bowmen shoot
on Sundays and Wednesday evenings
at Appley, and move indoors in winter,
competing at the IW Table Tennis Centre,
Smallbrook. The Vectis Open Tournament
is run by the club in March and held over
two days. The tournament includes the
National Five Spot Championships for
compounds which is shot on a target
designed by Wight Bowmen and attracts
archers from all over the UK.
A flat bow co