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42 NAVY NEWS, OCTOBER 2007
Ice age dawns
THERE are some people
largest proportion from the Royal
in the Senior Service who
Marines.
can’t wait for the summer
The skeleton is very similar
in style to the Cresta – the
heat to cool (I wouldn’t competitor is face down. The
mind it simply appearing
track is much safer, however, and
– Ed).
the sleds somewhat more swept
Yep, with frost and snow
up. Speed is what it is all about
looming, the RN Winter Sports
and the thrill of hurtling down a
Association is gearing up for an
track with your chin a mere inch
especially busy season – and
away from the ice is something
looking to encourage a bumper
that only experience will tell you
turn-out during its annual trip
if you are going to enjoy. The RN
to the Alps.
runs a representative skeleton
The association can trace its
team which competes at the Inter
roots back to the RN Ski Club
Service Championships.
– and while the club itself no
Although the Navy does not
longer exists, alpine
currently have a luge team, interest
skiing remains the
in the sport is on the increase and
most popular of all
it is hoped that a full-blooded
the sports under the
Inter-Services will be part of the
RNWSA ‘umbrella’.
programme in the not-too-distant
Many readers will no
future.
doubt remember the RN ski
If all this speed sounds a bit
championships being held in
daunting, the Army runs two
Scotland when a handful of people
week-long ‘ice camps’ in Calgary,
tried to negotiate the sometimes
Canada, in October and November
almost barren slopes of Aviemore.
for service personnel want to try
● Big fi sh, big pond... LAET Si Fisher poses with his 13lb 15oz carp, captured during the RN/RM
Nowadays, with the event having
the bobsleigh, skeleton or luge.
championships at Sapphire Lake Picture: PO(Phot) Sean Clee, RN Photographer of the Year
Whilst some fi nancial support
moved to the Alps in line with
may be available, individuals
the other two Services, the alpine
wishing to attend will be
championships have become
expected to make a personal
the biggest participatory event
contribution.
in the Senior Service’s sporting
Reel talent on display
Finally, although
calendar.
mainly run by the RN’s
Over the past four or fi ve years,
ANYONE who has been into a fi shing tackle shop packages, rods and bedding.
adventurous training
up to 1,000 serving personnel
recently will be aware that carp angling is now the Representatives from the Fleet Air Arm, Devonport,
organisation, ski
have attended the event, often
most popular discipline of the sport and the RN and Portsmouth and the RM competed over 48 hours.
accompanied by 500 ex-
RM are becoming increasingly active in it. The aim was to catch the highest total weight of
servicemen, friends and families.
The sub-branch of the coarse section currently has carp on a lake which was known to be less productive
A recent addition to the
nearly 50 members all of whom share a passion for
there’s the Cresta
when heavily pressured. Some excellent angling
championships is snowboarding,
catching specimen carp.
Run at St Moritz, where the
managed to produce a great competition.
while traditionalists are catered
A more specialised type of fi shing, it focuses on
Senior Service lifted the crown in
mountaineering
The warm and still conditions were not ideal for
for with Telemark skiing – proving
catching one species only, namely the king carp that
2007.
still falls within the RNWSA’s
carp angling but four different anglers banked fi ve
increasingly popular among the
comes in two main strains, common or mirror.
Competitors (male only, sadly)
domain. It is exactly what it says.
carp.
Royal Marines’ skiing community.
Membership has nearly quadrupled over the last
are invited to lie face down on a
You climb up a mountain, then ski
The next match will take place at Willow Park over
The Navy participates each
old-fashioned sled, likened to a tea
down it.
year and the increase in numbers is attracting interest
the weekend of October 26-28.
year at the Inter-Services alpine
tray by some, and go all out down
It does require a good ski
from the commercial sector with potential sponsorship
If you are interested in RN/RM carping please
championships, which encompass
a track reaching speeds in excess profi ciency for obvious reasons,
deals from the likes of Dynamite Baits and Trakker.
contact either PO Si Baker on Culdrose (93781) 2156
both skiing and snowboarding.
of 60mph at times. but novices are encouraged.
The second match of three this year was the
or PO Si Gay on (93781) 7361, or visit the forum at
Through experience, knowledge
Whilst the Cresta Run takes An introduction to ski
inaugural RN & RM AA Carp Championships at
www.rnandrmaa.org.uk/yabb/YaBB.pl
and performance at the RN
place on a freshly-built track each mountaineering is usually available
Sapphire Lakes, near Newark.
Carp championships results:
championships, teams of skiers season, the bobsleigh, skeleton at the RN Alpine Championships
Eighteen sailors and Royal Marines pitted their 1 – Sgt Billy Faragher (CTCRM) with two fi sh totalling 31lb 10oz; 2
and snowboarders are selected bob and luge are contested on the and one, sometimes two,
angling skills against each other for the trophy and
– Cpl Matt Harding (RM Band Dartmouth) biggest fi sh, 17lb; 3 – LAET
to undergo additional training same purpose-built track. expeditions are run a year, usually
over £1,000 worth of donated prizes including a
Si Fisher (RNAS Yeovilton) one fi sh of 13lb 15 oz; 4 – Sgt Del Bauduin
(CTCRM), one fi sh of 11lb 4oz; Top pair – Sgt Faragher and Sgt Jack
followed by competition in what Bobsleigh boasts the current in Europe.
fi shing holiday to Edens Lakes in France, several bait Broughton (RM Stonehouse).
is the peak of representative winter RN team of the year; the present If any of this has whetted your
sport in the Services. GB team which competes in the appetite contact the RNWSA
However, if ice is more your World and Europa Cups and Secretary Cdr Gary Skinns at
thing, then the RNWSA has a Olympics, consists almost entirely HMS Temeraire, 9380 27880 or
number of options. For starters, of Service personnel – with the e-mail rnso6@a.dii.mod.uk
Sharks dig teeth into plate
THE Sharks Rugby 7s
exceptional display of top-drawer
Trophy beyond Brothers
team travelled to their
7s play.
second tournament of
The Sharks proved to be too
much of a handful for a tiring
the season at Worthing, Voyagers outfi t and dominated the
writes WO1 Don Shaw
fi nal, winning by 62-0.
THERE will be no Inter-Services trophy in the RN Earlier in the day the Army’s A grade took revenge
(Fleet HQ).
All in all, a very impressive and
rugby league silverware cabinet again this year after for last year’s defeat to the Navy in another great
The Worthing 7s Tournament
pleasing 7s tournament for the
the Army infl icted their fi rst defeat in four years on match. All memories of a washed-out summer were
is in its fi fth year and is one of
Sharks and coach Billy May.
the Senior Service in an incident-packed match at banished as the A grade sides took to the pitch in
the major 7s events in the south,
The Sharks’ points tally over the
Burnaby Road. bright sunlight with the thermometer showing 70˚F
attracting many top teams.
fi ve games was 183, with just 26
The fi rst 20 minutes were scoreless with both sides plus.
The Sharks travelled with
conceded. There was also a nice
having tries disallowed; fi rst the RN were denied for The A grade competition is getting ever more
a strong squad with a blend
silver platter and £150 in the kitty
a knock-on as the ball was carried over the line, then popular, especially in the Navy with competition for
to boot.
of experience: senior players,
the Army kicked through but took the ball from RN places as fi erce as that of the Senior squad.
Team captain Rob Lloyd led
including Rob Lloyd, Dave
full back Kev Botwood without giving the required In a similar way to the corresponding fi xture last
by example with an impressive
Pascoe, Carl Saunders and Josh
ten metres, so Lee Innes was also denied the four year both sides tested each other but put no points on
personal contribution of 58
Drauniui, and youth – ‘Cowboy’
pointer. the board until the 25-minute mark
points.
John (pictured right), Luke Dando
It was Innes who broke the deadlock with a As a result of a defensive error after some good
Carl Saunders played most of
and Ryan Wells from the U23s.
straightforward penalty in front of the posts on the Navy pressure the fi rst points were posted by RN
the day in the centre and made
It was also nice to welcome Les
20-minute mark. This set up a fl urry of scoring scrum half Wayne Lewis, who slotted over a simple
some great breaks and even more
Dennis back after his time away
leading up to the half-time break. The RN struck fi rst: enough penalty. More exchanges between the two
impressive defensive tackles.
on board HMS Endurance; Les
a promising attack seemed to have faltered but on the teams were to no avail as the score remained 2-0 to
‘Cowboy’ (more on him below)
has come back strong and fi t and
last tackle prop Lewis Taylor put through a grubber the RN at the break.
in the Plate quarter fi nal against and Dave Pascoe played pivotal
made an instant impression in his
which Scott Partis followed up to touch down to the The RN started the second half the better with a
Spartans 7s. Again the Navy roles in the sweeper position,
fi rst 7s tournament of the season.
left of the posts, converting his own kick to give the break from Baz Sloan putting the Army under early
side proved that they were now constantly talking to the guys in
With 18 teams making the
Brothers a 6-2 lead after half an hour. pressure.
excellent exponents in the art of front to help keep their shape.
journey to the Raiders home
. The initial Tackled deep in the Army half Sloan moved the
7s play. Les just went on and on using
The RN lead lasted barely three minutes
ground, there were 36 matches
break came from centre Nacamavuto who broke the ball back into centre fi eld allowing Lewis to hoist a
Spartans left the paddock with power and pace when required
played and a total of 1,522 points
no points to their name against an and a couple of young lads from
Navy defence and, after the initial thrust had been kick into the heart of the Army defence.
scored during the day.
impressive 45 point Navy victory, the U23s got the taste for winning
halted, Army scrum half Steve Fox went over for the The Navy challenged for the ball, beat the Army
The round robin matches were
20 of the points coming from the in front of a good crowd.
fi rst of his tries. Innes was on hand to convert, 6-8 defence and sub Rob Lackin grounded the ball to
organised into two pools of 18
hands and feet of the skipper. Meanwhile, POET(WE) Wayne
– which was how the score remained until half-time. stretch the Navy lead.
games with pool winners going
The run of games in the other ‘Cowboy’ John has been selected
The fi rst minutes of the second period were A successful kick again from Lewis gave the Senior straight into their respective fi nals.
side of the pool saw them drawn to skipper the U23 team in the
scoreless until Partis brought the RN level with a Service an eight-point lead. The fi rst game saw the Sharks
against QJP who looked a well- build-up to the Inter-Services
well-executed penalty from 30 metres out. The RN continued to press for further scores and drawn against RBS Royals, the
balanced 7s side. tournament later this year.
Again the Army responded within a few minutes indeed crossed twice only for the referee to judge that No.2 seeds.
After a slow start – and losing His play is typifi ed by his
with Fox again going over for the score; this time the ball had not been grounded. Despite dominating most of the
by 14 points to 7 at half time – the ability to see space and use his
Innes was unsuccessful with the kick. These two let-offs for the Army plus an injury to game, the Navy team were not
Sharks got a hold of the game, acceleration to exploit it.
The soldiers now had the initiative and despite infl uential centre Tyler Helm gave the soldiers the able to turn possession into points,
spreading the QJP team across Blessed with one of the best
much hard work by the home side, the breaks would opening they were looking for and in the last quarter eventually losing 5-7 as the Royals
the park on both fl anks and using passes in the Navy, he can provide
not come. The Army pack dominated the latter stages of the match they ran in four tries – all goaled by scored a last-minute try under the
good handling skills and pace to a fl y half with that all-important
of the game, with the wings taking advantage of the centre ‘Vic’ Reeve. posts; our only try was scored by
eventually win 33-14. extra metre of room in which to
space available. It was a disappointing result for coach Tony team captain, Rob Lloyd.
After a long hard day the Sharks play. If the team plays in his image
It was Fox who sealed the match with his third try Newcombe and manager Mark Brocklesby, but The Sharks improved
had to dig deep to ensure they this season it will be an exciting
of the night and again Innes was on target to add the certainly for the fi rst 60 or so minutes the RN were continually throughout the
performed to their best in the one to watch.
extra two points. more than a match for their Army opponents. tournament and went on to have
plate fi nal against Voyagers, a well- ‘Cowboy’ has been a regular
A disappointment for all concerned on the blue Experienced hooker Mark Robinson, in his fi rst an impressive win over Worthing
established 7s invitational team. for the Navy U23 side and has
side but the Army, with a lot of experience in the season with RNRL, had a good game with full back in their second game 38–7. The The skills, pace and competed in the last three Inter-
pack, stifl ed the Navy’s play. Adam McCrohan impressing. Regulars Lee Hunter tries were scored by Les Dennis commitment displayed by the Services tournaments at age group
As usual RN playmaker Scott Partis was targeted and ‘Jack’ Lemmon also made good contributions but (two), Josh Drauniu (two), Rob Sharks in the fi nal was wonderful level as well as being an integral
by some extremely over-zealous hits from the Army at on the night it was the Army that came out on top Lloyd and Luke Dando. to watch. part of the cup winning senior side
virtually every opportunity. 24-8. The third match saw the team The Voyagers were treated to an at the 2006 Commonwealth Cup.
042_NN_Oct.indd 1 19/9/07 14:19:01
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