NAVY NEWS, DECEMBER 2010


47


Cricket courses on offer


A UKCC Level 2 cricket coaching course will take place at HMS Temeraire from February 7-11.


The course is designed for those who have an awareness of basic cricket skills and is the fi rst step on the coaching ladder. The course is administered by the Combined Services Cricket Coaching Association (CSCCA) and each Service has been allocated six places.


Soldiers out- fi sh sailors


CAMPBELL, Cary and Lodge Lakes on the Viaduct Fishery were the setting for the MOD versus Combined Services coarse fi shing match. Forty-eight anglers (six teams of eight) entered the match with teams from the RAF, two from the Army, two from the MOD and one from Maver Royal Navy, writes Sgt Ads Palmer RM. The practice match the previous day indicated that the fi shing was going to be slow due to the dip in temperature. However, a couple of the lads


There are already a number of applicants; remaining places are ‘fi rst come, fi rst served’. Successful applicants will


Contact Lt Cdr David Cooke, Secretary RNCC, on 02392 723741/9380 23741 or rnso4@ fl eetfost.mod.uk. If officiating is more your


thing, the RNCU&SA (RN ACO) will be running a Level 1 ECB ACO cricket umpires and scorers course at Temeraire on February 7-9. Each course consists of lectures, demonstrations and candidate involvement to ensure that attendees obtain a sound grounding in the laws of the game.


receive formal joining instructions nearer the date.


did well, so the RN were feeling fairly confi dent on what it could class as a ‘home venue’. WO1 Shep Shepherd (FPGRM) carried out the all important draw, which after a bit of a chat and a lot of banter, we thought was a good one. CPO Mash Masheeder (RNAS Yeovilton) unbelievably drew the same peg that he had won the match from the previous day. There was some very mixed


fi shing with Campbell Lake producing some excellent weights but Lodge proving very tricky. After six hours of fi shing Maver


The course commences at 8.30am daily and ends at 5pm. An ECB ACO Level 1 exam takes place on the afternoon of the final day. The instructional aspects of the courses are free to serving personnel although a fee of £30 is required for one year’s membership of ECB ACO, a CRB Check, MCC Laws of Cricket booklet plus all course documentation and a workbook. If available, candidates may also wish to purchase a Tom Smith’s Cricket Umpiring and Scoring for £10. Civilian personnel are most


Royals are indoor masters


welcome to attend but in addition to the £30 fee there’s an instructional fee of £50. Some elements of the instructional/ECB ACO fee may be re-claimed from your Education Arena. Details from Lt Andy Stancliffe on 02392 625469, 93832 5469 or andy.stancliffe161@mod.uk.


Late late show on the ice


 Continued from page 48


period with an overall score of 6-4 to the Spartans. The third period saw both teams tiring a little and the high scoring rate slowed down, but between the RN and the Spartans there were fi ve goals. The teams traded goals at the


start of the third period to bring the score to 7-5 but the RN then pulled the score back to 7-7 with only fi ve minutes left. The Spartans were then penalised for a few infringements late on in the period and were a man down for two minutes but the Navy could not capitalise on the extra man.


With 1m 45s to go, however, the Spartans were again down a man; this time the Navy were on target when ET Shaughnessy scored the winner with only nine seconds on the clock. More details on the sport at


THAT’S it son, let it all out... CPO(PT) Lenny Armstrong feels the pain as an afternoon of indoor rowing at HMS Sultan reaches its thrilling climax. More than 60 sportsmen from the Royal


Navy and Royal Marines, plus MOD civilians, converged on the Gosport establishment for the RNRM indoor championships. They raced on Concept 2 machines either as individuals over 2,000m or, in teams, over 4,000m, writes LPT ‘Scouse’ Carley. The fastest female was OC Leonard (Thunderer Sqn) who took the honours in 7m 30s, closely followed by Lt Thackray and LPT Hodgson (both HMS Sultan).


The male categories were split into age


groups: U20 category Mne Mahoney (7m 1s); 20-29 age group – Mne Smaller (6m 57s); 30- 39 – Mne Brown (6m 16s, the fastest time of the day); 40-49 Lt Cdr Stevenson (6m 38s); 50 and over WO Paul Winton (6m 48s). The team event ensured the day ended with a superb fi nale: nine teams of four rowers and a cox competing at the same time. The Concept 2’s screen showed virtual


‘boats’ for each team racing side by side, allowing spectators to watch enthralled as the lead changed several times between Sultan’s team of TMs and PTIs and marines from 42 Commando.


Fox trot across Devon


TWO junior offi cers from Bristol’s reserve unit HMS Flying Fox completed the challenging Coast-2-Coast race – an epic 140- mile linear journey from north to south Devon by foot, bike and kayak over two days. Team Fox – Lts Henry Watts (on the left) and Mark Whiting – had to cope with tough conditions ranging from fog, wind and rain to glorious sunshine, plus a wide variety of different terrain and plenty of big hills, ascending 32,000 feet in total. Starting at Foreland Point (near Lynmouth at the top of Exmoor) the duo travelled through the National Park, across Devon and down on to Dartmoor. There they climbed to the top of High Willhays before heading


back around Dartmoor and into Princetown. Then a cross- country stage saw them arrive in Totnes where they collected a kayak for the journey down the River Dart.


Arriving at Dartmouth, all that was left was the small matter of a 19-mile run to Prawle Point; arrival there completed the journey across Devon from tip to tip. In total the duo covered 32 miles on foot, 100 miles by bike, and eight miles in a kayak. The reservists came a not-unrespectable 19th out of 34 teams competing with a fi nishing time of 21h 17m 36s. “That was hard, really hard, but awesome fun,” said lt Whiting. “I couldn’t have done it without my shipmate though. I found the cycling particularly tough so having him there to keep the pressure on me was vital. And I was proud to cross the fi nish line with ‘Royal Navy Reserves’ written across my chest.”


www.rniha.org.uk or from Kevin Cave manager@rniha.org.uk, administrator LS(CIS) D Smalley rn-admin@rniha.org.uk, or treasurer Lt Lappin treasurer@ rniha.org.uk. Training is at Planet Ice rink in Gosport every Tuesday at 10.30pm.


Because of Christmas, submissions for our January edition must be received by Monday December 6 2010.


As the teams entered the fi nal few hundred metres of this high-octane event the commandos demonstrated their supremacy and crept ahead to win by just four seconds from Sultan in a time of 11m 38s. Neptune took third with 11m 50s.


sport should ask their unit PTI or visit www. concept2.co.uk/challengeseries; those who fancy a crack at the outdoor version should contact Lt Roly Wilson of the Royal Navy Royal Marines Amateur Rowing Association on Sultan x3010 or sultan-stgme11@nrta. mod.uk.


Anyone interested in taking up the indoor Picture: LA(Phot) Darby Allen, HMS Sultan


Royal Navy had been pipped at the post by just two points by the Army B team but still managed a very creditable second place. It wasn’t all bad as the team took the top three in the shape of CPO Masheeder, 151lb 6oz (fi rst), CPO Nick Jones (SMQ South) 134lb 2oz (second) and Sgt Ads Palmer (RM Stonehouse) 96lb 15oz (third). Mash also won the best silver fi sh prize. All three lads as well as Mne


Craig Tucker (40 Cdo) won their sections, but unfortunately Cary Lake proved to be very peggy and the remainder of the results were mixed: third for Shep Shepherd, two fourth places for AET John Gaylard and PO Dodge Duan (both Yeovilton), and an unfortunate last for WO1 Pete Edwards (Yeovilton) – taking part in his fi nal match for the RN. His two carp must have been the smallest in the lake. The clash at Viaduct was not the only outing for the Combined Services. Sixty anglers from the RAF, Army, DSRA, Maver Royal Navy and the Police converged on Decoy Lakes for the CS-Emergency Services clash. The lakes to be fi shed included


Horseshoe, Willow, Beastie, Cedar, Oak and Yew. A closely- fought match followed with Maver Royal Navy fi nishing third out of the ten teams. The team was actually joint second but beaten on weight by a DSRA team. Top performers included CPOs Masheeder and Jones and Mne Tucker who were all second in their sections.


Swiss role for shooters


Rob’s rides to glory


RESERVIST PO Rob Smith was the RN’s highest-placed rider at the 2010 Inter-Service mountain bike championships Despite only being able to compete in six of the ten rounds, the


38-year-old from HMS Vivid took third place. The bronze rounded off a “very enjoyable season” for the senior


rating, who’s been racing this season in pink to raise awareness of breast cancer. He wore the kit to take part in the Inter-Service endurance championships in June and during his fi rst 12-hour solo event in July when he achieved a top-ten fi nish. Rob was inspired to wear the jersey after his wife Jane and a colleague from HMS Raleigh, PO Laura Washer, were both diagnosed with breast cancer. In recognition of his achievements this season he was presented with the RNRMCA President’s Trophy by Cdre Mark Beverstock. The award is an acknowledgment of Rob’s role in managing the


association’s mountain bike endurance race team, his organisation of next year’s Inter-Service competition and for the number of races he has taken part in this season as a representative of the RNRMCA. “It was only when they began to list my results from this season that I realised how much I’d ridden this year,” he said. “I thought getting third in the Inter-Service champs was as good as


TWO ratings from HMS Cambria – Leading Hands Bill ‘Pedlar’ Palmer and Steve ‘Scooby’ Drew – attended the 6th International St Barbara Shooting Competition in Liestal, Switzerland. The event is open to military and police reservists from across European; this year 179 competitors from 11 countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands,Russia, Switzerland and UK) took part. Weapons used included the Sturmgewehr 57 and 90 assault rifl es and the SIG P220 9mm pistol.


it was going to get and now to be presented with this trophy I may have peaked too early in this only my second year riding and racing in RN colours.”


In civilian life Rob works for VT Flagship at the Defence Maritime Logistics School in HMS Raleigh.


worthwhile attending this event – not only did we have the opportunity to use weapons we would not normally have access to but we also made friends with many of the other competitors, so much so that invites were received to go to shoots in Hungary and Germany next year and also to return to next year’s shoot in Switzerland that is due to take place in April.”


A good day’s shooting was had by all with Bill and Steve obtaining respectful scores fi nishing mid-table. Said Bill: “It has been


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