SSAA NSW

World Benchrest Championships 2013 More than four years of planning and preparation were put to the test in October as SSAA NSW Sydney Branch hosted the 12th World Benchrest Championships at the Silverdale Rifle Range. More than 70 competitors from Australia, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, The Philippines and Indonesia saw the magnificent Silverdale Rifle Range turned into a sea of wind flags and re-loading equipment as the international contingent battled alongside the Australian team for the title. The Australian Teams consisted of: Stuart Foate, Anthony Foate, Craig Whittleton, Thomas Spang, Brendan Atkinson, Murray Hicks, David Kerr, Paul Sullivan, Darren Parsons, Michael Huebner, Fergus Bailey and Neville King. Mountains for many years. Event organisers kept all competitors informed as to emergency procedures should the Range come under threat from these fires. Fortunately the worst fears were never realised and competition continued all week. The combination of strong winds and high temperatures, coupled with low humidity and the constant smoke, made conditions difficult for competitors. However there were also the occasional breaks in weather conditions that allowed some fantastic groups to be shot – including New Zealander Peter Haxell's .064 "screamer" pictured below. The American team took some time to adapt to the challenging conditions, however once they did it was quickly evident they would be the team to beat. The Heavy Varmint 100 saw USA Tony Boyer shoot an incredible aggregate score of .1574 to blitz the field. It would be remiss not to mention that the competition was conducted with the constant threat of the most serious bushfires experienced in the neighbouring Blue Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc. South Africans took the top spot in both the Light Varmint 100 and 200 with Freddie Botha .1936 and Jan Hemmes .2939 topping the individual leaderboard respectively. 8

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