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On bank holiday Monday, Sway Bowmen hosted their first Red King shoot. This type of event is traditionally for Longbow archers but the field of 48 participants came from across archery disciplines and from 5 local clubs. The shoot was a ‘two way’ which means archers shot three arrows in one direction, collected and scored them, and then shot them back in the other direction. 8 dozen arrows, some small sherries and some enormous burgers later, we all agreed it had been huge fun and should be an annual event.
Jem Mason, the organiser, said the idea came from the shooting of the Red King – ‘Red Rufus’, more properly King William 2 – in 1100AD when he was killed by an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrell and deflected off a tree. This event is commemorated by The Rufus stone in the New Forest. Luckily risk assessments have improved since then and everyone made it to the end in complete safety!
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On Dec 27th we held our annual post-Christmas fun shoot. Twenty-five archers showed up in what would otherwise have been an act of bravery had it not been so warm for a December morning.
Archers had a choice of shooting a Frostbite Round (3 dozen at 30m) or a Metric 80-30 (6 dozen at 30m), with the Chapatti trophies being awarded after three dozen. In the interests of levelling the competition, this year we introduced a handicap adjustment by bow type (Recurve 0, Compound -15, Barebow +28, Longbow +86), this meant archers of comparable shooting skill but different bow types were in with an equal chance of winning the trophies. 
Congratulations to our Archer Supreme (keeper of the cake) - Chris Baigent, Champion Woman - Marie Perrott and Champion Junior - Max Errington. Congratulations also to the winners of the colour prizes with the associated blessings for their archery in 2025. A full list of 3 dozen results can be found here and complete rounds here.
Thank you to everyone who has organised, helped with, or participated in a fantastic year of tournaments. Good news! We can do it all again next year. The tournament calendar for 2025 can be found on the information page here along with some new 'outdoor challenges' for the coming season.
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Below are the results for the Outdoor Championships 2024
Individual Results by Bow Type and Distance
Handicap Trophy and Other Awards
Well done to all participants and congratulations to the winners.
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Two weeks ago (has it really been that long …) on Sunday the 12th of May, twenty-one archers gathered for the annual Line Cutter Tournament. Remarkably, the sun was also in attendance and certainly made for a brighter morning
Archers had the choice of shooting a Long Metric I (70m/60m), II (60m/50m), III (50m/40m), or IV (40m/30m). Well done everyone who shot longer distances than usual. The Line Cutter is slightly different to usual shoots as your overall score doesn’t affect your chance of winning – it’s all in the arrows that cut the line! (For those who are interested in the overall scores, please see the orange-coloured table below).
The 2024 Champion, with a grand total of 18 line cutters, was Dave Errington. Congratulations! Joint second place went to Lizzie Proctor and Matt Cooper, both of whom had 16. For the full list of results, please see the blue table below.
Thank you very much to Hannah Diffey for organising the event!
