Infinity Euro Open, Kongsvinger Open, Double Impact Course, EEO

2010 season Blast-off.
16 Days.
13 Days of shooting.
3 Matches
1 Course with Double Impact Training (Max Michel & Travis Tomasie)
66 Stages - 1180 Rounds
5600 Km total traveled distance.
Money spent.... don't wanna go there....

Infinity Euro Open
It all started with a drive south to the Infinity Euro Open held at the excellent shooting center in Philippsburg, Germany.
This was the 9th Euro Open Match, widely acclaimed as one of the best matches in Europe, the organization’s strive to keep that reputation is well reflected in the change in name from STI Euro Open to Infinity Euro Open .

The season has gotten to a late start as this was the first real match, and only the second match where I used my new standard gun, it would be semi successful.

Philippsburg is 880Km south of Team Headquarters in Denmark so we had all taken Friday off work for the drive. Flying is too much of a hassle with the amount of ammo needed so 8-9 hours on the road is actually not bad. There was a few road works but nothing major so the trip down was easy.

We stayed at the Hotel Kleiner in Waghäusel, mainly as it was what we could find, booking as late we did. Waghäusel and Philippsburg are not really any happening towns so next year we'll stay in Speyer, where there are more restaurants and things to do while not shooting. Thanks Frants for always finding good options.

Mats preparing on stage 2 or 4..

The match was 18 stages and some 350 rounds. I’m pretty sure all shooters support this way of dividing between short, medium and long courses. There are always a few stages at this match that could, if they were held anywhere else, be deemed carnival shooting. This year stage 12 was a little like that. But all is relative to your own performance, if you shot it well I guess you are more inclined to oversee the carnival factor, but if you crashed and burned it will most likely be followed by "this is not ipsc".. My jury is still out on this one.

Same stage, preparing the wrong plan...

Brandon Strayer of Infinity Firearms brought parts of Team Infinity across the pond to boost the "blue" colors at the match. They all enjoyed the match and I've never seen so many Infinity firearms in one place before.

One stage I didn't like was 17, it was fun to shoot but it had only 1 solution. It was more a display shooting for a target manufacturer than an IPSC stage. The rest of the stages were really good. The fantastic facility entitles the organizers to design and build really goods stages and they make sure to do just that.

I did have some problems with my equipment early in the match and that was really really expensive. I have a one frame and two slides, one 9x19 open and one .40 S&W Standard. I’ve been alternating slides in training with the 9x19 ejector in place and it has worked, but Murphy struck in full force at the match. I had a malfunction on the first stage which I thought was magazine related so I changed mag springs, another malfunction on the next stage and I changed recoil spring, it was not until the 3rd stage where the gun jammed so I couldn’t move the slide that I realized it was the extended 9x19 ejector that had bent and blocked the slide. None of the screwed stages had less than 22 rounds so it was really up hill from here. I have to admit the malfunctions are 100% my fault and not the equipment, a kind of rookie mistake. Once the correct parts were in place my gun ran like a dream… but I didn’t.

Wessel shooting

If  IPSC could be divided into actual shooting and "the rest". Where the rest is reloading, moving, activating targets etc, then I’m very pleased with how I shot the remaining stages on Saturday but "the rest" was a disaster. I dropped magazines from table starts, missed reloads and was not in tune with my choreography.
Sunday was not really any different apart from my shooting also took a downward turn. I’m writing this 2 weeks after the event and have written down what needs to be worked upon and forgotten the rest. I’m really good at forgetting the bad things that happen so i don't recall much at all from Sunday. The really good thing from this match is that my hits are really good, my precision is right on target and I have the best equipment possible.

Zig shooting

The award ceremony is by tradition a wet affair as it is run in Formula One fashion which I think most people enjoy. The only drawback is that the ceremony is mainly held in German and for an international match of this caliber I feel that English should be used, or at least both.

Mats shooting

A great match that was “sold” out in 25 minutes, 8 months in advance, I’m sure that that will not change for next year so make sure you keep an eye open for when the registration for 2011 starts.

Filming is not allowed in Germany so there are no videos from this match.

Results

Kongsvinger Open

3 working days after coming home from the Infinity Euro Open it was time to hit the road again. This time Zig and I turned 700km due North to Kongsvinger in Norway for the Kongsvinger Open. Along with most of top dogs from the Nordic Countries the starting filed was boosted by US top shooters Max Michel, Travis Tomasie, Henning Wallgren and Team Infinity’s Mike Burrell and Alex Szakacs. Max and Travis were in Norway to hold a few courses, more on that later.

I haven’t been in Kongsvinger for a few years and was really excited to be back even though the prices in Norway can keep you from smiling… A beer from the mini bar at the mediocre Vinger Hotel cost 65 NOK, that is €8.14 or $9,72!!!! For ONE beer! Luckily we had stopped at a border shop in Germany on the way home from the last match and stocked up on a few beers, there I bought a case of beer for 64 NOK…..Not that we drink any until the match is over….;-)

I was squadded in the super squad for this match and it was really good to see so many great shooters attack the different stages. My focus was to shoot my own game and I held that the whole way through the match but again “the rest” (as described above) was going to really hurt me.

Travis Tomasie – current world champion in Standard had a rough start to the match, probably due to not having any time for acclimatization after the long trip across the pond. He was not alone as many in the supersquad had problems with stage 1. It was a sneaky stage, shooting uphill and it invited for some gambling. A good speed shoot that I’m sure many of us would should different if given another go. I survived the stage well.


Travis on stage 1.

The next stage had the famous “Ecuadorian double swinger” a great target array first seen at the 2005 World Shoot. A great speed shoot and I again shot well.

Mike Burrell of Team Infinity engage the "Ecuadorian double swinger"

There is always a new target contraption at this match, this year it was the “double” swinger on stage 3. A vicious thing that I’m pretty sure the targets really didn’t need to be changed on during the course of the match. I shot a M but not on the swinger…

At the distance you can see the very fast double "Kongswinger"...


Stage 4 was a ultra high speed short stage… I lacked that last warp speed but survived ok.

Even on stage 4.

Stage 5 was a 32 round field course with only the new small targets and 4 plates. I’m sure a lot of shooters were intimidated by their small size, but not Mike Burrell of Team Infinity he shot with his normal lightening fast splits but for the first time in many years, ran past a target incurring a double M and procedure. Otherwise it would most likely have been another stage win for Mike. I like the small target for practice but am not sure that they are so great for a dynamic long course but I do think they favor me so I might come to like them..

Travis on the move.

Stage 6 was a medium course that had it all, speed, precision and precise movement. It had a couple of long range shots so I did pretty well. However I did see that all my hits were of to the right, two clicks on the sights and I was bang on again, dropped a few points due to that.

Me on stage 6.

Stage 7 was another great speed shoot could be shot in numerous ways. I crashed by accidentally activating the safety after shot 1 doubling my time as the timing went out the window.

Even found the perfect timing for this stage.

Stage 8 – was a really good field course that again had it all. I was back in form and shot to the best of my ability.

Travis on the move, notice the finger is on the frame clearly outside the trigger guard.

Stage 9 – The big thing here was where to fit the magazine change, some opted for two. I told everybody that I had a 19 reloadable magazine and would run the stage with 1 reload…. Murphy heard that as well…I started of pretty good but jammed my pinky finger in the magwell as I reloaded, the magazine fell to the ground, I threw the next magazine over the gun in good old fashion so I was down to the last magazine in my belt! The remainder of the stage called for 19 round including 2 distant swingers… I had no option but to shoot it clean which I did….puha. But fittingly the rest of the squad had a little laugh at my reloading show, I couldn’t do much else but to laugh along.. But damn again “the other” was expensive.

Mike engaging the relatively fast and distant swingers.

Stage 10 & 11 were great short courses that I shot a little too slow but I survived. Travis had a different plan on stage 10 and it was almost successful.

Travis on 10.

Even on 11

Its getting a little repetitive but stage 12 was another great course of fire. I was pleases with my movement into the last part of the stage as I ran a slightly different route than the others. Most shooters stopped at the two right targets before going into the last opening, I did a wider turn around the barricade and shot those two targets on the move. I’m not saying it was any better but stopping and getting going again is not my strong suite therefore I try to prevent that as much as possible, on this stage it saved me a lot of time.
Mike Burrell has amazing speed both in feet and gun and won the stage just ahead of Travis.

Mike just about to engage the first targets on stage 12

Stage 13 was a long course that cost me a miss. The very last target could be engaged from the far left of the stage or from the last position. Shooting if from the left meant a full stop so we all opted to take it from the last position, which for us lefties was really really awkward. Both fellow lefty Steinar Haugli and I dropped a M on that target. We should have shot it from earlier position. A great stage that Travis won in good fashion.

This is a small step!....

Stage 14 was the famous jungle run, this year it was not as exciting as before at it was only 1 shot per target and an ultra low opening but still a really good  stage.
This match was top notch in all aspects, the stages were great, with so many visitors the competitions was great as well. Many things can be said about Norway and its inhabitants  but they sure do know how to put on great IPSC Matches. Make sure to put Kongsvinger Open in your calendar for 2011… but bring your own beer.

All stages are filmed and can be viewed in the gallery.

Double Impact Training Course.

Lars Syversen had arranged for Max Michel and Travis Tomasie to come across the pond to give a few courses. I had read great reviews of their courses on the Brian Enos forum and was not going to pass on this opportunity to train with two of the best in our sport.

For the course Even had arranged a camper so we lived on the range, it was a great solution as it enabled me to save some money.

Travis giving Even some good clues.

The course ran Monday and Tuesday and it was great, these guys are very serious about their shooting and believe in their method of training, their commitment was very inspiring. If you want to know what the course was about there are no shortcuts, HARD WORK is the basis for all success and if you have a chance sign up for a Double Impact Course make sure you do and they will show you how to work hard, you will not be disappointed. They gave me the tools to evolve my shooting platform from a M4 Sherman to a M1 Abraham ;-) 

I had to leave a little early on Tuesday to sprint to Gardemoen Airport to cash a flight to Vienna via Copenhagen as I was starting the Extreme Euro Open at 07.30 Wednesday morning….

Course 1.

Extreme Euro Open

Søren, Zig and the CiC of Team Capsicum Damark drove down to Znojmo which enabled me to send all the ammo with them as I couldn’t bring enough by plane.

The flight from Oslo to Vienna (via CPH) was smooth and uneventful. My luggage was on the belt in Vienna as I approached it so I could pick up my rental car and be on my way to Znojmo within 20 minutes of landing, that is amazingly fast and I was very grateful.

The CiC of Team Capsicum on stage 25.

The weather in Norway was 26 degrees and sunny, the weather in Vienna was 10 degrees and rain, that doesn’t fit with my image of travelling 1700km south…

Wessel after rocking on a stage, he would later be very questionable be DQ'd for having the finger on the trigger while reloading... the only problem is that he lacks the last part of his trigger finger and its physically almost impossible for him to do what the RO claimed.

I arrived at the Prestige hotel in Znojmo just before midnight but it took me a while to settle down enough to fall asleep. Breakfast was at 06.00 and the rest of the team was already up. The weather was not looking good.

This is one of the coolest guns around, Zig's "White Lion"

The torrential downpour continued during the entire morning and delayed the match. I can handle the rain and the spirit was high but I couldn’t keep my hands warm and shot accordingly on the stages we had to swim through. We fell so far behind schedule that we convinced the RM’s that it was best for all that we dropped our last two stages and recovered them on Saturday, that was accepted and we happily left the range completely soaked from head to toe. I shot one stage well and survived two but “the other” screwed me again on two stages. Not a good day on the range. It took two day for my rangbag to fully dry out.

Me on the run at stage 5. Picture curtesy of Alonas Ritvas.

The afternoon squads had better luck with the weather, they had to wait to get going but most didn’t have to shoot in the rain. The match organization did a great job in brining in heavy equipment and pumps to drain the range so the shooting on Thursday – Saturday would be fair for all and on relatively dry ground.

Me shooting. Picture curtesy of Alonas Ritvas.

As a complete contrast to the Vinger Hotel in Kongsvinger in Znojmo we only pay €1 for a pint of good pilsner at a really good hotel.. Oh well but we are serious sportsmen so it’s only for price comparison. We’ll call it the IPSiCk Index.

Zig getting going under the watchful eyes of Saulius. Picture curtesy of Alonas Ritvas.

Thursday and Friday I shot conservative and really points, again “the other” stuff cost me a lot of time but I was also testing a few things from the course. To shoot a match of this size without incident is not really realistic so I was content with my performance of Thursday and Friday.

I woke up stressed and in a bad mood on Saturday and knew directly it would be uphill from there, why? I have no clue. I had two brass related malfunctions on two different stages and shot 3 M and 2 PT on Saturday, I really really had a rough day but was pleased with finishing well on the very last stage. It could have been my body saying, enough is enough as the last 16 days have been crazy.

This years Extreme Euro Open was really good. The stages were greatly improved over last years and tested our abilities to the fullest. There were still problems will poppers and that is not acceptable in a match that cost €200. Some RO’s also need to reed the RO creed so they can learn that their job on the range is not about their right to abuse the power they just have been given. With that said a huge thanks goes to all the officials and the often forgotten helpers that endured another Extreme match so we shooters could exercise our favorite past-time. Hats off to you all.

Rumor said that there will be no Extreme Euro Open next year… I hope that is not the case.

Many of the stages were filmed (none from Wednesday)

I’m not happy with my performance at the moment, there are too many things that go wrong although my hits are good, but I’m pleased with a lot of other things and this has been a great couple of weeks.

I’m very fortunate to be part of a great team, without their support I couldn’t fulfill the crazy plans I come up with. Thanks guys. I’m also very fortunate to be supported by Capsicum Danmark and Infinity Firearms with the absolutely best possible equipment.

Next week I’ll debut in Open at the Nordic Open Championships…