Tournament start times

10point9

New member
I'm looking at entering my first FITA tourney, and notice that the start times are MUCH earlier than a GNAS tourney...

A GNAS York/Hereford tourney generally has assembly around 10am or 10:15 with shooting starting at 10:15 or 10:30, but a FITA seems to have assembly at 8am or 8:30 (possibly including inspection), followed by 45 minutes of practice, and shooting starts at around 9:30...

Since the round is still 12 doz arrows, why does a FITA need to start so early? It can't be due to poor light in the evenings as it's still the middle of summer (technically)...

I'd be forced to either travel very early, or the night before - both of which have disadvantages of increased fatigue and/or cost (I'm too old for camping without aches and pains and don't have one of those 'homes on wheels')...

It's really making me think hard about whether I really want to enter the tourney, whereas I'd hardly think twice about entering a GNAS that was up to two hours drive away.

Has a tourney start time ever affected your decision to enter?

How far would you travel / how long would you drive to a tourney that started the same day (i.e. without staying overnight)?

When you need to stay overnight (either because of distance or because it's a 'double'), what option do you take - camp / caravan / B&B / hotel?
 

darthTer

Active member
Supporter
Ironman
American Shoot
Tourney start time is up to the organisers - can't say I've ever noticed any difference between FITA & GNAS comps...

A FITA may take a wee bit longer due to the extra target shifting, but that shouldn't add much, unless they have a 15-30min break after 90 & 50m, and an hour after 70m (1/2 way).

As for travelling....I fairly regularly drive to Oban for a wee trudge round the woods - 2hr drive. If I was staying over, hotel/B&B would be the preference. Only camped once at last years Borders Bowfest, but thoroughly enjoyed it!!!!

If I want to shoot at a comp, don't think I would let the start time put me off....
 

Raven's_Eye

Active member
Ironman
FITA rounds take longer to shoot then Yorks because when you drop down to 50 you start shooting in 3 arrow ends rather than 6. Plus you have the inspections and the 45mins of practice (why FITA give you 45 mins practice I have no idea). I've not done a double shoot, mainly because I want to spend time with my family during some point in the weekend as I don't see them much during the week. But from the one my club hosts most seemed to stay in hotels/B&B with few camping.
 

mk1

It's an X
Supporter
45 minutes of practice is not mandatory - you can have one end, two ends - 3 ends takes 45 minutes if there are two details. Rules says that competition should start as soon as possible after practice. So there is not= need to spend an hour faffing about. 2 ends and straights into the comp would cut out 30 mins of delay. Archers equipment can be inspected up till practice starts.
 

Rabid Hamster

Well-known member
Ironman
45 minutes of practice is not mandatory - you can have one end, two ends - 3 ends takes 45 minutes if there are two details. Rules says that competition should start as soon as possible after practice. So there is not= need to spend an hour faffing about. 2 ends and straights into the comp would cut out 30 mins of delay. Archers equipment can be inspected up till practice starts.
unless its scottish judges where you are whipped up and down the range ... and a gentle afternoon of archery turns into the bataan death march! ;)
 

Vagabond

New member
Would thoroughly recommend you try a FITA tournament.

Different atmosphere: especially when they play music through the PA system when collecting arrows.

Yep, FITA tournaments generally start earlier, probably to cater for the 45 minutes of practice allowed.
Also there are 4 distances to shoot, so more faffing about moving targets.
6-arrow ends at the 2 longer distances (120cm target face @ 90m & 70m for Gents FITA).
3-arrow ends at the 2 shorter distances (80cm target face @ 50m & 30m).

This means that the shorter distances take longer to shoot due to the 3-arrow ends.
So your arrows fly a shorter total distance then the equivalent York/Hereford but you walk further to fetch them.

Arrows fly 8,640 meters in a FITA-G and 11,410 meters in a York.
You walk 1,920 meters in a FITA-G and 1,792 meters in a York.
(...if my sums are correct, that is).

Some FITA tournaments shoot single detail with 3 archers per target. This can knock about an hour off the tournament.
Some FITA tournaments do 6-arrow ends at 50m & 30m which can knock another hour off BUT at a cost: using smalller 80cm 5-zone target faces.

Most of the FITA shoots I attend are between 1 & 2 hour's drive. Anything more and I consider overnight stay.
Lots of archers go camping, but I generally do B&B.

What part of the world are you e.g. what county?

V
 

Dougal

Member
I've driven 3 hrs plus in each direction for indoor shooting. Once drove to Leeds for a Portsmouth,(4hrs plus) though I did stay over after the event.
I don't believe there is any compulsion on you to follow the times on the entry form. If you choose to turn up at a FITA in just enough time to start shooting, thats your decision. Miss out practice (or some of it) and actively search out a judge for equipment inspection. You won't be disqualified from shooting if you're later than the vast majority.
 

Phil Reay

New member
I have driven 2 hours to a tournament and then 2 hrs back again, then repeated it the next day. hell of a lot of driving and absolutely knackered the Monday. didn't feel tired while shooting but fell asleep pretty quickly as soon as i got into bed. I've got the Surrey champs coming up and am travelling up from Brighton so expecting to take somewhere round the 1 1/2 hrs to get there so it does mean an early start. grab 40 during the break.
 

Vagabond

New member
Many of the weekend shoots (i.e. double FITA Stars) have on-site camping, usually for tents & caravans.
Here's a bunch not too far from Somerset, though local archers could give you a better list:

14-Jul-13 : Supermarine, Swindon, FITA & Metrics

27-Jul-13 : AndoBa (Andover) FITA Star
26-Jul-13 : AndoBa (Andover) FITA Star

10-Aug-13 : British Target Champs, Lilleshall
11-Aug-13 : British Target Champs, Lilleshall

01-Sep-13 : St Kingsmark Two Rivers FITA

21-Sep-13 : Staffordshire FITA Star, Lilleshall
22-Sep-13 : Staffordshire FITA Star, Lilleshall

29-Sep-13 : Chippenham Archers

And maybe for next year...
??-May-14 : Salisbury FITA

So why has this idiot mentioned the shoots in Lilleshall? You may well ask.
Well, if you want to shoot a double then why not make a weekend of it? Lilleshall happens to be GNAS HQ and also a National Sports Centre.

Worth a look. It has:
* Camping & caravaning during shoots.
* On-site accommodation (bit expensive) & pub!
* B&B in surrounding countryside
* Hotels in Telford (try LateRooms)

Links:
Lilleshall National Sports Centres
Lilleshall Hall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

V
 

Shirt

Well-known member
Why does a FITA need to start earlier - generally, because there's more people there than at a York, so more likely to have equipment failures etc and the scoring time is longer?
 

Adam

Active member
Would thoroughly recommend you try a FITA tournament.


Arrows fly 8,640 meters in a FITA-G and 11,410 meters in a York.
You walk 1,920 meters in a FITA-G and 1,792 meters in a York.
(...if my sums are correct, that is).
V
Actually, 3,840m walking during a gents Fita - not including practise.

Why shoot a Fita in preference to York? Well, they are generally better attended and so, IMO, more enjoyable. You get to shoot 4 distances instead of 3, which keeps it interesting. And they are THE international standard in target archery: if you want to know how well you shoot on a global scale you can do so by comparing Fita scores, not the parochial York scores.

As for travelling to a shoot, I prefer to set a time limit of 2 - 2/12 hours driving. It's not unusual for me (or many others I expect) to leave home before 6am on the day of a shoot. Wouldn't want to do it every day mind you, but once a month or so... Otherwise, it's a B&B for me.
 

Raven's_Eye

Active member
Ironman
Would thoroughly recommend you try a FITA tournament.

Different atmosphere: especially when they play music through the PA system when collecting arrows.

Yep, FITA tournaments generally start earlier, probably to cater for the 45 minutes of practice allowed.
Also there are 4 distances to shoot, so more faffing about moving targets.
6-arrow ends at the 2 longer distances (120cm target face @ 90m & 70m for Gents FITA).
3-arrow ends at the 2 shorter distances (80cm target face @ 50m & 30m).

This means that the shorter distances take longer to shoot due to the 3-arrow ends.
So your arrows fly a shorter total distance then the equivalent York/Hereford but you walk further to fetch them.

Arrows fly 8,640 meters in a FITA-G and 11,410 meters in a York.
You walk 1,920 meters in a FITA-G and 1,792 meters in a York.
(...if my sums are correct, that is).
Your sums are a little off, walking a FITA is 3840m, walking a York is 4160yds = 3803.9m. Unless of course its a two way York because generally the bosses don't move and you end up walking at least 100yds for every three arrows shot. Which is 4800yds = 4389.1m

45 minutes of practice is not mandatory - you can have one end, two ends - 3 ends takes 45 minutes if there are two details. Rules says that competition should start as soon as possible after practice. So there is not= need to spend an hour faffing about. 2 ends and straights into the comp would cut out 30 mins of delay. Archers equipment can be inspected up till practice starts.
I know its not mandatory but why have it? You should have had all your practice before you came to the tournament, part of the skill is adapting to unfamiliar territory.
 

mk1

It's an X
Supporter
I know its not mandatory but why have it? You should have had all your practice before you came to the tournament, part of the skill is adapting to unfamiliar territory.
It's for warming up and settling down and getting your eye in. Presumably the 6 sighters on the Imperial rounds came in when folks mainly shot less powerful or even unsighted bows and appreciated being able to work out an aiming point at the longest distance before scoring began - it just makes sense.

With FITA being the International standard I'm guessing that when the Olympic rounds etc came in there was much discussion about archers being athletes and needing to warm up so as well as having practice for the Olympic round FITA standardised by having it for the FITA round too. Prior to that as far as I can recall we just had an end of sighters - maybe it wasn't standardised from country to country. At first you had to have 45 minutes followed by a 15 minute break - which rather allowed one to cool down - and doubtless there were countries saying that 45 minutes was making the day too long so now you can have up to 45 minutes and the compulsory break has been done away with - the rules state "the competition shall start as soon as possible".
 

10point9

New member
Well, I've signed up for a FITA at Cleve Archers on July 21 as that's driveable for me. I'm still considering the double at Andover the following week - I have to be in Woking on the Friday and it's on the way back home, but would mean two nights away - trouble is, the closing date for entries is this weekend so it's not long to make a decision. Need to research some B&B's locally, I think!
 

Vagabond

New member
... the closing date for entries is this weekend so it's not long to make a decision...
Never take "closing date" at face value: it may not be what it seems!
I've known some of the regular FITA shoots to be full 6+ months in advance.
I've also managed to get to shoot by phoning the organiser on the day.
So check with the organiser NOW to see if there are still places.

It would appear that "closing date" has more to do with your rights to cancel. If you've booked a tournament but cancel before that date then you get your money back. If you cancel after that date then you probably won't, even if there's a waiting list.

This might sound unfair, but the organisers will have already spent lots of cash on renting the ground, renting bosses, buying awards, catering, and the biggest expense of all: judges lunch. etc. So there needs to be a cut-off date.

Comments anyone?

If you can't make a tournament, then always tell the organisers. You might not get your money back but someone else gets to shoot in your place (it might be me. Or you next time).

V
 
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