German translation here

Well, I am once again sitting in Atlanta airport waiting for my flight back home, replaying in my mind the fantastic experience that was this year's Area 2 Desert Classic. What a SUPER match it was!

I must admit that I am not objective. I have always liked the Area 2 match. I love the range out in the special Arizona desert, the great professional folks of the Rio Salado shooting club, and the special friendly atmosphere of this match. It's one I try never to miss!

But this year's match was truly something special. For a match consisting of only 11 stages, one does not expect to find so many truly spectacular stages. Of the 11 stages, I would say that 6 or 7 were so good, as to be "the best stage" in any normal Area/level III match. And that is a truly spectacular achievement, earned through hard work and dedication of the members of this club. What a great job they did.

I've always said that a good stage is one which forces you to think. One in which there are multiple options, and the solution requires some brain power, not just shooing skill. After all, planning your tactics correctly, and running your plan successfully has always been a part of the challenge in this sport. And this match was truly a mental teaser! There was stage after stage of 28-32 rounds brain twisters, which after a while, made you feel like you were "cramming for an exam" as one shooter I spoke to put it.

It was tough! It was challenging! It was confusing! You could see the targets again and again, you could choose which way to go, what to shoot from where. Lots of tight head shots, lots of moving targets. A real challenge.

Some shooters, I am sure, were not too pleased. This match has been, in the past, a hoser match, at least in part. Not this year. On top of which, we were not allowed to walk the stages the day before the match, something we Europeans are used to, but which is not the norm in the US... On most stages, the squads were allowed ONLY the 5 minutes after the stage briefing to walk the range - and that was not nearly enough for most to figure out the best way of shooting.

The open super squad started on stage 2, which was one of the most difficult stages in the match. The shooter had to start seated on a motorbike. He then moved forward, while loading his gun, and entered into the shooting area. Here he was faced with multiple targets, 4 plates, 2 swingers, a drop out and?.lots of very precise shooting positions to be be able to see them all. The Open shooters, with the 29 rounds magazines had a easier time of it than the Production guys, who, in the USPSA, are allowed only 10 round magazines.

In production, a close fought battle developed between CZ's Angus Hobdell and Glock's David Sevigney. Dave, who often runs away with the match early on, was plagued by multiple errors, and Angus was tight on his heals all the way through. Dave prevailed with an excellent run on their last stage, while Angus dropped some points and had to settle for 2nd. But it was a lot closer than Sevigney's usually dominant margin.

In Open we saw the return of former World Champion Matt Mclearn. He is remembered well as the champion who surprised so many by winning the 1993 WS, and then retiring from competition IPSC shooting shortly after. He is now back, still fit and strong, and shooting better and better with each stage, as the layers of rust seem to work themselves free.
Other top Open shooters where JJ Racaza, Matt Burkett, USPSA president Mike Voight and myself.

As the match progressed, it became a 2 horse race between JJ and I, as we swapped the lead again and again, never finishing more than a few points apart on each stage.
I was shooting an excellent match, keeping my mental game well together, and finishing the match with no penalties, and dropping only a few D's. But disaster struck for me on stage 6, where I had 2 malfunctions costing me a total of 7 seconds! That translated to 56 point dropped to JJ, and that would be enough. Although I continued to battle and win stages, he kept his cool and shot an excellent match, not giving me more than a few points per stage, and winning a good share of them himself. In the end, he would beat me by less than 40 points, less than what I lost on that one malfunction. IPSC can be a cruel sport some times!

JJ Racaza, who is a true champion, offered me the 1st place plaque after the award ceremony, as he said he felt I deserved it more. But of course, the win and title were his, and well deserved. I was content with having shot an excellent match, and finishing a close 2nd.

The final results were:
Open:

Limited:

Production:

So now I are about to board the long 9 hour flight across the pond. This was the very last big match of the 2005 season. Amazing, it feels like the season just started?
Have a great winter guys, rest a little. Shoot a little, and be good,

As always I have my sponsors to thank for making this possible.
Drummen Custom Guns
Berry's Fmg
Competitive Edge Dynamics (CED)
Mpro-7
Rescomp Handgun Technologies
Lapua/Vihtavuori
Aimpoint
BUL Transmark

Until the next time I wish you all excellent shooting.
Saul Kirsch

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