Sept 2009 Burud Open Speycasting Championship
18/09/2009
The Carron boys set off to Oslo in late September full of anticipation looking forward to meeting up with those great Scandinavian casters who have excelled in the sport. This fifteen foot competition from both left and right shoulders whilst wading is a realistic fishing situation which tests yourself and your tackle to the limits. We were absolutely delighted to hear that we were going to see the great Viking Knut Syrstad taking part in the competition as he has had a considerably tough time lately due to illness. The beautiful lake at Burud was going to be the venue with its magical views of the surrounding hills, forests and soft gravel bottom.
The Carron boys amongst friends Knut (middle) and Trond Syrstad (right)
The competition qualifying rounds would take place in the morning and the Grand final with the top six best scores in the afternoon .The conditions during the morning were very still with lots of heavy rain showers, in spite of this the quality of the casting on display was superb.
Andrew Toft gets a good cast away during qualifying in the rain
The distances achieved this year were far greater than the previous years , the standard just seems to be getting higher. The 2008 combined best score stood at 93 metres, Gerard Downey smashed this score on each of his qualifying attempts hitting 102 metres twice, 52 metres right handed and 50 metres left-handed, this was a pleasure to witness well done Gerard
Gordon Armstrong achieved a new 15 foot World Record with a mammoth cast of 54 metres (59 yards or 177 feet) right handed, smashing his previous record of 173 feet set in San Francisco in April 2009. Well done Gordon another fantastic achievement.
The competitors were allowed 3 attempts at qualifying during the morning, the two sixth placed casters scored the same so it would be seven men progressing to the afternoon final.
Qualification scores
|
|
results |
1st attempt |
1st attempt |
2nd attempt |
2nd attempt |
3rd attempt |
3rd attempt |
Best attempt |
|
no |
name |
Left/side |
Right/side |
Left/side |
Right/side |
Left/side |
Right/side |
|
|
1 |
Gerard Downey |
50m |
52m |
50m |
49m |
50m |
52m |
102m |
|
2 |
Gordon Armstrong |
47m |
48m |
49m |
49m |
45m |
54m(WR) |
99m |
|
3= |
Andrew Toft |
46m |
49m |
43m |
50m |
45m |
49m |
95m |
|
3= |
Knut Syrstad |
44m |
45m |
48m |
47m |
44m |
46m |
95m |
|
3= |
Erik H Larsen |
41m |
38m |
48m |
46m |
51m |
44m |
95m |
|
6= |
Ruairi Costello |
47m |
47m |
48m |
45m |
44m |
46m |
94m |
|
6= |
James Chalmers |
45m |
43m |
49m |
45m |
39m |
40m |
94m |
Gerard Downey gets a big one away
The final was going to be very exciting with all the big hitters making it through the qualification round. Lunch was now on the cards after a good soaking in the morning.
Andrew toft providing his barbecue skills followed by his casting skills.
The afternoon final was excellent with the rain staying off and no adverse winds, the final results are as follows.
|
No. |
Name |
Left/ side |
Right/side |
Total |
|
1st |
Erik H Larsen |
51m |
47m |
98m |
|
2nd |
Andrew Toft |
47m |
49m |
96m |
|
3rd= |
Gerard Downey |
45m |
50m |
95m |
|
3rd= |
Knut Syrstad |
48m |
47m |
95m |
|
5th |
Ruairi Costello |
45m |
48m |
93m |
|
6th |
Gordon Armstrong |
42m |
50m |
92m |
|
7th |
James Chalmers |
47m |
44m |
91m |
The seven finalists and their prizes with Ruairi Costello still casting in the background.
These were remarkable scores and a hearty congratulations to Andrew Toft, Erik, Knut and all the Carron boys who made this grand final so exciting looking forward to 2010.