This year it was the Army's turn to host the Inter-Services shore competition. The venue to be used was Princess Parade in Kent where the Navy had previously held their own championships. The beach was divided into three zones with each service then having four anglers per zone. The person scoring the highest number of fish points was then awarded one point down to the angler scoring the least amount being awarded twelve points. The points for each service were then added together to give a team zone winner and then the three zones were added to give an overall team winner for each day and then a total overall. The competition was fished over two days. The Navy were quietly fancied by the other two services to be the team to beat.

The first match was an evening match, fishing from 1800 - 2359. With big tides and a large swell, the three team captains decided to stop fishing at 2300 to ensure the safety of all anglers. The total number of fish caught was 1048, with the main species being Whiting, Dabs and Dogfish.

Steve Redding managed to secure first position, with Nathan Lankester taking second to ensure the RN took zone 1. In zone 2 the Navy also managed to win the zone with Mark Duncan finishing third, Andy Bridson in fourth and Steve King in fifth. So far the results were looking extremely good for the Navy. In zone three Ian Gibbs secured first place with Simon Stockley finishing third to give the Navy a clean sweep in all the zones.

The overall placing after day one were as follows:

The Navy had a healthy lead over the other two services and only themselves to blame should they not win the Inter-Services. However, day 2 proved to be a totally different game. The Army could sense they were losing a grip on the trophy that they have retained for the last few years and upped their tempo for day 2.

With Julian Shambrook mentoring the Army and offering sound tactics, they managed to do what the Navy had done previously on day 1. They fished hard and well to secure all three zone wins, but comprehensively in zone 3 by taking the top four places. Ian Gibbs in zone 1 managed to secure third place giving him a combined total of 4 zone points. This ensured he was the top angler at the Inter-Services. Well done to Nathan and Andy for also finishing in the top 10.

Day 2 results were as follows:

These results proved disastrous for the Navy with overall combined scores below:

Yet again and for the last few years the RN managed second, but what was pleasing was to see new anglers representing the RN and for us to field a full team. Next year's competition will be hosted by the Navy with the probable venue being Arbroath. For individual results, you can download the results from here.