Yesterday I was fortunate enough to spend my day clay-shooting with Dame Ellen MacArthur courtesy of country clothing supplier Musto.
Having spent the inevitable three and a half hours on the dreaded M25, I eventually turned up at the West London Shooting Ground, narrowly avoiding Musto's press conference and just in time to join the shooting party before the competition kicked off.
I am certainly no 'dead-eyed-Dick' but what I lack in skill, I like to think I make up for with enthusiasm. I work on the principle that the more lead in the air, the greater the chance that something will fly into it!
But my instructor was having none of it.
"You've got the ability," he insisted without a hint of sarcasm.
"It's just that it needs to be channelled in the right direction."
And sure enough, after missing nearly everything on the first two stands, he identified my weak spot.
"You're holding your cheek off the stock."
"Get lower so that you're looking along the barrels rather than down on them."
The result? I actually started hitting those irritating upside-down ashtrays, even as they danced and jigged in the strong north-easterly winds.
But then it was my turn to shoot with Dame Ellen and her sponsor Nigel Musto who, as you might imagine, is rather keen on shooting.
Ellen, on the other hand, had never shot before. Everyone was hoping that she wouldn't show us up too badly.
However I had my suspicions. I've met achievers like her before - they're generally good at anything they turn their hand to.
Sure enough she hit more than she missed. After just an hour in the saddle her final hit rate reached a very un-novice-like 43 out of 80.
It's tempting just to dislike people like that from the outset.
"OK, so you're successful at what you do and you've got great reflexes that mean you'll be good at anything remotely sporty. I bet you can't hold a conversation for more than thirty seconds though."
Wrong again, Fone.
Of course she can hold a conversation - that's the most important part of her job. If she wasn't any good at mingling with people and addressing the press she wouldn't have half the profile she's got. And yes, over lunch she was chatty, charming and not at all smug about her in-built ability to achieve.