The Carron Year 2007
What a start to our 2007 event calendar - A New World Speycasting Record
Gordon Armstrong creates a
New World Speycasting Record
at the inaugural
Loughs Agency Speycasting Competition, Ireland.
The weather was not kind - the rain was
unrelenting - everyone was wet through but
that did not dampen the spirits of
the Carron team who went on to achieve
five places in the final of this event.
However during the qualifying rounds held on
Saturday, Gordon achieved a
new world speycasting record of 68.75 yards |
 |
The six top Qualifiers were:
Gordon Armstrong - Carron (206ft 3 inches) 68.75 yards. New World Record!
Gerard Downey - Ireland (205ft) 68.33 yards
Murray Richardson - Carron (203.6ft) 67.86 yards
Ruairi Costello - Carron (189ft) 63.00 yards
Andrew Toft - Carron (186.5ft) 62.16 yards
James Chalmers - Carron (182.5ft) 60.83 yards
The previous record had been set by Scott Mackenzie at the CLA Gamefair in 2005.
Scott is a ghillie at Ness side, the next beat along from Gordon, who is a ghillie at Ness Castle on the river Ness, Inverness.
The final took place on Sunday afternoon and was very wet and blustery.
|
 |
|
Pictured from left to right : James Chalmers (Carron), Gordon Armstrong (Carron),
and Gerard Downey (Ireland) |
|
1st |
Gordon Armstrong |
Carron |
194 feet |
|
2nd |
Gerard Downey |
Ireland |
190.5 feet |
|
3rd |
James Chalmers |
Carron |
181.5 feet |
|
4th |
Ruairi Costello |
Carron |
176.2 feet |
|
5th |
Murray Richardson |
Carron |
174.5 feet |
|
6th |
Andrew Toft |
Carron |
172.6 feet |
Hearty congratulations must go to Gerard Downey, Ireland who not only achieved 2nd place in the final but who had also beaten Scott's previous world record in the qualifying round on the Saturday with a cast of 68.3 yards.
Incidentally, Gerard was using his new Carron 17 foot 11 inch Carron rod and a competition 105 foot head Carron spey line.
All the finalists were using Carron rods and lines.
The Carron Year 2006
The Emerald World Masters 2006 World Casting Championships - Ireland September 2006
Results just in.....
Sunday 3rd September - saw the Emerald World Masters Team event for invited countries, with the Scottish team gaining first place, United Kingdom team second and the Irish team third.
Monday 4th September - saw the Emerald World Masters Individual Spey Casting Championship.
The winning line up:
!st - Gordon Armstrong
2nd - Knut Syrstad
3rd - Scott Mackenzie
4th - Gerard Downie
5th - Murray Richardson
6th - Ian Gordon
Making Gordon Armstrong of Carron, the undisputed World Champion of 2006 - Wow!
CLA Game Fair - Broadlands, Romsey. Hampshire. - 28th, 29th & 30th July 2006
Another very successful weekend for the Carron Team.
Friday 28th July saw our youngest team member, Blair Banks age 15, achieving a well deserved first place in the Hardy Youth UK Open Salmon Distance Championship and a second place in The Greys Youth UK Open Trout Distance Championship. Well Done, Blair.
Blair showing us how Speycasting is done.
Saturday 29th July saw success for Ruari Costello winning first place in the Men's UK Trout Distance Championship,
first again in the Knight Frank Trout Accuracy Competition, he took second equal place in the Diawa UK Salmon Distance Championship being beaten by Carron's Norwegian competitor Mikael Bloomberg who came first with a cast of 39.5 metres.
Ruairi also achieved second place in the CLA International Open Saltwater Championship, a new competition for 2006.
Ruari and Mikael of Carron and Cameron Smith of Sharpes showing off their spoils.
Sunday 30th July - The main Competition of the year
The CLA Game Fair International Open Speycasting Championship 2006
The final six competitors for this trophy were:
Andrew Toft - Carron
Ruari Costello - Carron
Knut Syrstad - Loop
Gordon Armstrong - Carron
Blair Banks - Carron
James Chalmers - Carron
The first three places went to:
1st - Gordon Armstrong
2nd - Andrew Toft
3rd - Ruari Costello
What a result! Well done Boys! We are proud of you!
Andrew, Gordon and Ruari receiving their awards from the CLA Chairman, David Haugh.
We also gained the manufacturers trophy for our Carron rods and Carron Jetstream lines.
A big thank you from Jimmy and Gwyneth to all of the Carron team that weekend for making it such a success.
A special mention to Joanna for keeping up the spirits - including buckets of Pimms - for the whole team - the whole weekend!
Malcolm for his unstinting presence and expertise he showed on the stand..... and James for everything else.
Success has it's moments!
Markree Castle, Sligo - Ireland 15th & 16th July 2006
James Chalmers receiving his prize from Brendan Begley, President of the Irish National Casting Association for winning the Markree Open Speycasting championship.
The Scottish Game Fair - Scone Palace, Perthshire. 30th June, 1st & 2nd July 2006
This weekend saw more success for the Carron team.
The weather on the Sunday was particularly stormy and damp, but that did not deter the Carron boys.
James Chalmers won the Kenmore Open Speycasting Competition with Andrew Toft achieving second place.
Ruairi won The Challenge Trophy which was a combination of both overhead and speycasting.
Blair won the Junior Speycasting and the Salmon distance competition.
A tremendous result for the boys, well done to them all.
The Irish National Game Fair - Emo Court, Ireland. 3rd & 4th June 2006
Gordon wins again!
Gordon Armstrong accepting his prize for winning first place in the Irish Open International Speycasting Championship from event organiser Margaret Eggill.
The weekend turned out to be a hot one, the sun was shining all weekend and so were the boys from Carron.
Jimmy in a line of Carron winners.
Gordon Armstrong, Blair Banks�and Ruairi Costello.
Blair at fifteen years of age is our junior ambassador, here at Emo he wowed the crowds with his casting.
He and Ruairi, our Irish team member managed to take several of the prizes that weekend.
The Golden Gate Spey-o-Rama - San Francisco U.S.A. May 2006
The Carron Team after a very successful Spey-o-Rama in May 2006
A fantastic event for the Carron Team.
Gordon Armstrong improved on last year's second place to tie for first place in the 2006 event his longest cast being 50 yards. James Chalmers finished in a very commendable seventh place.
The Tweed Show - Kelso, Scotland. April 2006
Gordon Armstrong looking pleased with himself after a superb win at The Tweed Show
This competition gave a 'real life' measure of the abilities of caster and equipment. To achieve the competitors used standard 15 foot salmon rods rather than a specially prepared competition distance rod. All equipment was thoroughly scrutinised and measured beforehand. The results from this event truly endorse Carron Rods and Carron Jetstream lines as the supreme choice for all anglers.
The results from The Tweed of the six Speycasting finalists are
|
Position |
Name |
Team |
Rod |
Cast Distance |
|
1st |
Gordon Armstrong |
Carron |
15ft Carron 95ft 11/12 |
53 yards |
|
2nd |
Knut Syrstad |
LOOP |
15ft SA XLT |
48 yards |
|
3rd |
Mikael Bloomberg |
Carron |
15ft Carron 95ft 10/11 |
47 yards |
|
4th = |
Andrew Toft |
Carron |
15ft Carron 95ft 11/12 |
46.5 yards |
|
4th = |
James Chalmers |
Carron |
15ft Carron 95ft 10/11 |
46.5 yards |
|
5th |
Grant Mackenzie |
Carron |
15ft Carron 95ft 11/12 |
44 yards |
The Carron Year 2005
Our Carron team attended several events during 2005 and aquitted themselves exceptionally well - making a great deal of new friends along the way.
Grand River Spey Casting Competition - Ontario Canada
Andrew Toft demonstrating his winning cast in October
Ian Martin 2005
Andrew took first place closely followed by fellow team member James Chalmers.
CLA Game Fair - Belvoir Castle, England
The Carron Boys celebrating with a fine bottle of champagne in July
In the Overhead Competition Gordon took first place with another Carron caster Ruari Costello taking second place.
Gordon then went on to the finals of the International Open Speycasting Competition and had the audience absolutely glued to their seats as he battled with Scott Mackenzie, producing one the most exciting finals ever witnessed. It took three cast offs to decide the winner in the most atrocious weather conditions.
Gordon was pipped at the post, attaining second place with third place won by fellow team member Grant Mackenzie.
Emo Castle Game Fair - Ireland
The Carron Team had a strong presence at the Irish National Country Fair in June
Gordon Armstrong shows off his prizes at Emo after taking first place in the Ghillies competition which combined the skills of Spey casting and Overhead Casting using a fifteen foot Carron Rod and Carron Jetstream line. He also achieved second place in the Open Speycasting Tournament. Gordon narrowly missed first place by half a yard, James Chalmers came third, Andrew Toft fourth and a new team Calum Manson achieved a very creditable sixth place. Calum also won several other prizes and awards in accuracy and distance competitions.
The Golden Gate Spey-o-Rama - San Francisco U.S.A.
The Carron boys flush with success after a fantastic weekend at Spey o rama in April
Gordon Armstrong finished a close second in the prestigious Jimmy Green Speycasting Tournament closely followed by team members James Chalmers who attained third place and Andrew Toft achieving fifth.
Also joining in the celebrations are Frank Chen, Jimmy Jack and Bob Meiser.
