Flying wonders endure some heavy turbulence

LOCAL pigeon fanciers on the Border must surely be wondering what is in store next for their pigeons as they head for the fourth race on the current programme of more than 400km from Richmond in KwaZulu-Natal.

The second Kokstad event a fornight ago produced exceptionally hot, dry conditions that took a heavy toll on the birds’ performances.

Last Saturday, when flying from Ixopo (375km) it was a case of heading directly into near gale-force south-westerly winds for virtually the entire race distance.

Once again, local fanciers found themselves spending anxious hours scanning the skies, awaiting their feathered friends’ arrival.

The early release times, in an effort to assist the birds, did little and it took five-and-a-half hours for the first birds to reach East London.

The lofts from two local clubs shared Top 10 honours in the event, with Gavin Dargie’s (Northerns) first arrival posting, in pigeon racing parlance, was a pedestrian 68km/h.

This gave his loft a two-minute winning margin over Ian Ristow and Les Jamieson, also of Northerns, who posted 67.8km/h.

Third spot went to Abbotsford’s Simon Amos Brown (67.5km/h).

On the result sheet, the times were staggered with flying speeds falling off noticeably as the birds continued on down the coast to Port Alfred or turned inland towards Queenstown. The first Eastern Cape pigeon, flown by Peter Webster, registered 61km/h, while the Queenstown loft saw their fastest bird post 60km/h.

The Any-age event produced a similar scenario, only with flying speeds still slower – as was to be expected as the winds increased in velocity during the morning.

The Ristow/Jamieson loft took first position at 66.3km/h, with Dargie taking the next two positions at 66.1km/h.

A feature of the event was that three Northerns’ lofts and two Abbotsford fliers shared all coveted Top-10 positions, with Michael Engelbrecht picking up three top spots.

Fanciers can only hope the Richmond race will produce kinder flying conditions in order to allow their pigeons some respite. Results: Border Homing Union/EC Pigeon Federation: Yearlings (766 birds) – Ixopo

1 and 4 – G Dargie (NFC); 2 and 6 – Ristow and Jamieson (NFC); 3 and 8 – S Amos Brown (AFC); 5 and 9 – D Schenk (NFC); 7 – J Luff (NFC); 10 – Drie Duiweboere (AFC).

Border Homing Union/EC Pigeon Federation: Any age (762 birds) – Ixopo

1 and 8 – Ristow and Jamieson (NFC); 2 and 3 – G Dargie (NFC); 4 – D Schenk (NFC); 5 and 9, -10 – M Engelbrecht (AFC); 6 and 7 – Jacobs Loft (AFC).

Key: AFC – Abbotsford Flying Club; NFC – EL Northerns Flying Club.