2009 Surrey Helice (ZZ) Championship

Invicta Gun Club Sunday 24th May 2009

This year's Helice Surrey Championship was held jointly with Sussex and Kent at Invicta Gun Club, Kent on Sunday 24 May. The weather was sunny but windy, with only three Surrey shooters amongst the day's 21 entrants. The day was going well for Dave Cole and Jack Tucker, until they both lost their ninth target. Both recovered to shoot the next nine targets straight and it was looking like a shoot-off would be necessary until Jack missed his 19th target and only separated the wings from his 20th. As Jack well knows, that's ZZ, leaving congratulations due to Dave as Surrey Champion for the eighth year running, his 19 ex 20 also joint first overall on the day with Kent's Henry Arnold.

This cup, as its name suggests, is Helice shot with a side-by-side .410 double-triggered hammer gun! This was the first time the event was held and thanks go to Darren Osbourne for providing the throphy and the shotgun plus the cartridges, and also to Brian Metson for holding the event. With five targets to be shot each, 15 eager competitors were soon ready for action, with the best and the banter going on behind each shooter coming quick and fast. In a great fun event only six people managed to score two targets, with Surrey's Steve Cole finally breaking his last target to give him the winning score of 3ex5.

Surrey County Champion

Dave Cole