The Jimmy Green International Spey-O-Rama casting competition held at the Golden Gate casting ponds San Francisco April 15th to 17th.
18/04/2009
Carron had a strong presence at this multi discipline casting event which in its 6th year is going from strength to strength with a very large competitor entry 30 men and 5 ladies from all over the world, gaining itself the reputation as being the most difficult competition to win. It was great to meet up with friends old and new as Carron have always been made to feel very welcome at this marvelous venue.
The casting facilities here are second to none and the casting ponds were immaculate with a hint of green in the water.4 different casts 2 from the left shoulder and 2 from the right shoulder whilst wading waist deep with your best score from each cast giving you your total. Qualifying took place on the Saturday with the best 10 going into Sunday's grand final.
Conditions were very good in the qualifiers with a favorable wind if you managed to draw a good slot, never before has anyone cast further than 158 feet in competition at the ponds, during practice we were confident that someone would break that record.
We were not to be disappointed as 2 men broke the 170 foot mark!!
Knut Syrstad was the first man to enter the 170 foot club.
Gordon Armstrong then broke all the records with 2 casts of 171 feet and 173 feet!!Making this another record cast for the GGACC Speycasting event.
Both Knut and Gordon's casts were achieved with the 95 11/12 Carron Jetsream Speyline.
Qualifying results
| 1st | Gordon Armstrong | 649 feet Longest Cast 173 feet (New 15 foot record) |
| 2nd | Ruairi Costello | 591 feet Longest Cast 156 feet |
| 3rd | Brian Styskal | 589 feet Longest Cast 160 feet |
| 4th | Gerard Downey | 587 feet Longest Cast 160 feet |
| 5th | Andrew Toft | 574 feet Longest Cast 153 feet |
| 6th = | Simon Hsieh | 570 feet Longest Cast 153 feet |
| 6th = | James Chalmers | 570 feet Longest Cast 147 feet |
| 7th | Mariusz Wroblewski | 568 feet Longest Cast 146 feet |
| 8th | Knut Syrstad | 567 feet Longest Cast 170 feet!! |
| 9th | Doug Duncan | 561 feet Longest Cast 144 feet |
| 10th | Gene Oswald | 559 feet Longest Cast 147 feet |
This magnificent achievement from Gordon Armstrong in the qualifiers raises the bar yet again as we strive to get every inch out of line development, this record cast was 15 feet more than the previous longest Cast in 2007, it was awe inspiring to see the line speed generated during his display. Well done Gordon.
Saturday finished up with the temperatures soaring and a mist came over the ponds, this did not dampen spirits as we were celebrating a new FFF Masters member as Andrew Toft passed this very tough examination with flying colours, Congratulations Andrew on such a fine achievement.
Andrew Toft chilling out after completing his FFF Masters.
The final days weather was a total contrast to the day before; the temperature was in the high 80s with not a breath of wind and real heaviness about the air.
These conditions were not going to produce any record breaking casts in the final. It seemed that everyone was trying to boom out that huge cast but in actual fact 4 steady casts were to win on the day.
Sundays Final Results
| 1st | Simon Hsieh | 563 feet Longest Cast 144 feet |
| 2nd | Ruairi Costello | 556 feet Longest Cast 149 feet |
| 3rd | Brian Styskal | 551 feet Longest Cast 148 feet |
| 4th | Gordon Armstrong | 547 feet Longest Cast 160 feet |
| 5th | Knut Syrstad | 542 feet Longest Cast 162 feet |
| 6th | James Chalmers | 531 feet Longest Cast 151 feet |
| 7th | Doug Duncan | 530 feet Longest Cast 153 feet |
| 7th | Gene Oswald | 524 feet Longest Cast 152 feet |
| 8th | Gerard Downey | 523 feet Longest Cast 147 feet |
| 9th | Mariusz Wroblewski | 506 feet Longest Cast 140 feet |
Congratulations to Ruairi Costello on your magnificent 2nd place after qualifying for your 1st Spey-O-Rama final.
Knut Syrstad won the longest cast in the final with 162 feet, Congratulations Knut and God Bless.
Knut celebrates with James and Andrew after longest cast in the final
A fantastic competition and a big thank you to the organizers, well done to all the Carron lads who took part especially placing 5 men in the final, looking forward to returning to Spey- O- Rama in 2010.