Messac OB Race Paul Kilcoyne from Weston Super Mare 1 st Open 1 st NW Section with The Kewstoke Flyer The great racing we have been given over the last few weeks by all Clubs, Combines and Federations has contributed to the 2,641 birds 324 members have been able to send to this race. After waiting for conditions to improve at Messac Nigel liberated the pigeons at 8.15am in to a light NE wind and blue skies. (If you read the Convoyers Report there is a link where you can view the liberation on youtube). Marking went very well at all marking stations and once again thank you to everyone who helped. When marking for Pau please could all members arrive promptly at the Gloucester and Frome marking stations as there is no crate delivery for Southampton for this race and we need to make sure the transporter arrives at Southampton in plenty of time to start marking. Congratulations to double Classic winner Paul Kilcoyne from Weston Super Mare 1 st Open 1 st NW Section. Paul previously won the Carentan OB race in 2012. My winner The Kewstoke Flyer is a 4 year old dark chequer cock. He is a pure Busschaert and bred from birds obtained from the late John Brooker of the Turner lines and Mark Evans of Heart of England Auctions. He is also a son of my top breeder (The 41 cock) which is sire and grand sire to several winners including a winner of the WoESRC flying against 5,000 birds. The Kewstoke Flyer was sent to Messac sitting 18 day eggs. This season he has already scored for me several times winning the first Club race, then going on to win 17 th Open from BICC Alencon 6,900 birds, two weeks ago. He also went to Guernsey Classic a few weeks ago when we had a strong south south west wind which would virtually decide where the leading birds were going to be and ended up being 22 nd Section 703 rd Open. All birds are flown on the natural system and fed on natural corn with a few peanuts added. I would like to thank my wife Theresa for trapping the birds after training tosses and wish everyone good luck for the rest of the season. Pictured with Paul is loft apprentice 15 year old Zack Ham holding Paul s Carentan OB Classic Winner Kewstoke Express.
Paul Kilcoyne and Zack Ham. In 2 nd Open 2 nd NW Section postion are top flyers John and Nigel Taylor from Bristol flying as R.E Taylor & Sons (Brothers John and Nigel have previously won the Classic from Sartilly and Carentan). Although unraced as a young bird this 3 year old mealy cock who was sent sitting 8 day old eggs has scored regularly and in his previous race was 4 th Club Carentan. His sire was bred by Luc Van Hoecke of Oedelem, Belgium and raced successfully, whilst his dam was a gift bird to John and Nigel s Mum by local ex fancier Ron Davis from the same lines. Very little training is done but the birds are out every day pecking in the garden and are sent regularly to the coast with the Bristol Federation. The birds remain together 365 day a year with the same partner. John and Nigel s latest winner is a bit of a character as he nests in the trap and has to spend much of his time trying to stop other birds invading his territory. The brothers would like to thank all Classic Officials for their hard work (the birds returned in excellent condition) and congratulate Paul Kilcoyne on his fine win.
Nigel and John Taylor. Leading the SW Section and 3 rd Open is Charlie Riley from Milborne St Andrew. Charlie has been racing pigeons for approximately 40 years on and off and lives with partner Maggie. He races with the strong Weydor Specialist Club where I know he has been top prize winner on numerous occasions. Charlie s Section winner Charlie s Boy is a 2 year old Janssen De Klak. This cock bird has certainly shown signs of being a winner in his young life, often being first bird back to the loft; CSCFC Guernsey 2014, NFC Carentan 2013, BBC Niort 2013 and NFC Saintes 2013. It was in 2005 that Charlie decided to race De Klaks and purchased some stock from Ponderosa UK Stud and Spracklen & Thomas of Dorchester and he hasn t looked back since, winning 1 st & 2 nd Open NFC Fougeres in 2012. This cock bird was bred from his own stock and is elder brother to double Section Winner from Tours Open YB race 2013 and is related to the bird which was 2 nd Open NFC Fougeres 2012.
Charlie Riley. Runner up to Charlie in the Section is friend George Owers from Bere Regis 2 nd SW Section 4 th Open. My pigeon Purbeck Lad is a blue yearling cock raced on natural and was sent to this race sitting 6 days and not raced as a young bird. His previous races before this one include BBC Carentan, CSCFC Guernsey and Carentan with the NFC. The bird was bred from pigeons gifted to me from my good friend Mervyn Gray of the Wyatt & Gray partnership. George Owers.
5 th Open is young Brian Milkins from Bristol. Brian timed a two year old Busschaert cock which is winning his first major prize, this cock was part of a small team that was raced celibate last year as Brian didn t have enough hens. Brian has a real fondness for the old Busschaert lines and this one comes from the old Pearson and Dransfield lines and is closely related to his 1 st Club 1 st WoESRC Tours 1,600 birds in 2010. As you can see they do throw a pretty pied. Brian has flown such a marvellous pigeon over the last few years gaining victories in both the National Flying Club, Central Southern Classic and the West of England Combine. Brian also won the Fougeres race in the Towers SRFC on Saturday, the cock he won it with was the nest mate of Teds Lad who won 1 st Section 1 st Open NFC Cholet. This bird hasn t flown for a while due to illness however Brian decided to put him back on the road. That about sums up the form that Brian Milkins is in at present, Kind Regards Stuart Wilcox, Brian Milkins personnel press officer and PR Manager. Brian Milkins. The Winner of the NE Section & 6 th Open is without doubt someone who contributes a lot to our sport from Club level right up to Classic and National level and deserves every success Eamon Kelly (Lloyd & Kelly) from Steventon. First of all I would like to congratulate all of the winners on a difficult race and my mate Ernie Smith. The pigeon is a 2 year old pied hen. It was bred by my good friend Roger Lowe from Reading. It is bred down from a pure De Raw Sablon, all 4 grand parents bred by Freddy Vandenheede sire of hen won many prizes including 3 rd Open NFC National Saintes.
This is the first time she has performed really well. Hopefully this will cheer Roger up as he seems to be very miserable lately. She has raced on roundabout and all pigeons will be re-paired after the Cholet National for the long distance races. I had 18 birds out of 20 on the day and 2 the next morning. (Pictured with Eamon is young Jamie-Rae who obviously gets his gorgeous looks from his Mum). Eamon, Grace & Jamie-Rae. 7 th Open Rob & Maureen Kerr from Gloucester. This little yearling hen we timed raced 8 times last year with the West of England and was 2 nd Club in the last young bird race. This year she has flown 3 inland Combine races and the CSCFC Guernsey race. She's a Staf Van Reet X Vandenabeele flown on the roundabout system. I would like to acknowledge and thank Alen Gibb, Marie Kelly and Joe Lanciano for setting up the Gloucester marking station which is proving to be a tremendous success.
Rob & Maureen Kerr. 8 th Open Nev & Di Spracklen of Spracklen & Thomas from Dorchester. Nev and Di's pigeon is a 3 year old Dutch rung widowhood cock. This pigeon was having his second Channel race of the season. When he arrived he had to fly under about 200 pigeons that had been liberated from Portland, but for the first time this season he trapped brilliantly. He is the quietist pigeon they have ever owned, you can walk into the loft and he will just stand there, if you talk to him he doesn't move and stands like a statue. He arrived at Nev and Di's loft as a young bird and has been a consistent racer ever since. The loft sent fifteen birds to the race and had twelve on the day and two yearlings Sunday morning. Nev and Di would like to congratulate the winners of the race and also Charlie Riley who Nev and Di are great friends with and who is the winner of the South West Section.
Nev & Di Spracklen with Grand daughters Lilly & Olivia. 9 th Open Martin Edwards of Weston Super Mare timing a 3 year old Grizzle hen. In preparation for this race she went to BBC Carentan and BBC Messac. She is off Jos thone blood lines and was sent to this race sitting 14 day eggs. All my birds are flown on the natural system and are on open loft from 5am every morning. Training is from Dorset (45 miles) once a week. My birds are fed on countrywide mix. I would like to thank Phil Newton for training my birds and taking them to the marking station.
Martin Edwards with daughter Tia & Roxey the dog. 10 th Open Hughie Eades of Street timing a 4 year old hen raced on a dual widowhood system. This hen has been winner of many prizes throughout her career, including 1 st Club from Marmande 460 miles. Her breeding is from my old family of distance winners. The Grand dam was four times in the Tarbes National result twice on the day. My birds are fed a mixture of three Verse Laga corns. They receive very little training once racing starts as they exercise around the loft for 1 hour twice a day.
Hughie Eades. Runners up in the NE Section are the Dynamic Duo Ernie Smith & Darren Baker (loft 2) from Swindon. We entered 18 widowhood cocks. They have had two inland races with the Wiltshire Federation, Guernsey with the CSCFC and then on to Carentan with the Wiltshire Federation where we took the first 3 positions in the Fed. We did have 8 drop together so we could have taken the first 8 positions. After this race they were left at home for two weeks ready for the Messac Classic. Our first bird clocked in from Messac was a 3 year old blue Koopman cock bred from stock which we bought in 2003 where they have gone on to breed us and other fanciers many winners over the years.
Ernie, Darren & Mitch. With what looks like to be another star of his loft 1 st SE Section goes to Johnny East Wind Attrill of Salisbury. Well done everyone at the CSCFC, great race again. My first bird home was a blue bar cock of Janssen x Van loon from Colin Edwards of Romsey. I bought this pigeon at the Classic breeder/buyer sale in 2010. He is a very consistent bird, always with my early ones. In fact I sent Nightmare and two other Section winners and he beat them in this one as he has in the past. His sire was Janssen from Ron Ayres and the Dam is a Van Loon who was 1 st Club Bergerac on the day for Colin Edwards. Well done to Rob Jones in the BICC and Tony Wareham in the BICC & Classic.
Johnny Attrill & daughter Kacey Leigh. 2 nd SE Section is Tony Wareham from Southampton. Firstly, a big congratulations to the winners. The first bird that arrived for me is called Bomber because of his last two digits on his ring 52. He is without doubt the largest pigeon I have ever bred. That hasn t stopped him though from being a multiple Club winner and scoring excellent results in bigger competition. His dam is an Irish Jan Aarden and his sire being bought from the RPRA One Loft Auction where he had won a hot spot race. (breeding unknown). Bomber has been a very consistent bird for me, taking 62 nd Open CSCFC Guernsey three weeks previous. He will now go on to NFC Cholet this coming week. Since having a major operation in February, it has left me unable to do the simplest chores in the loft. My partner Lillian, who has always taken a keen interest in my hobby has had to do the daily chores around the loft (cleaning/feeding and watering). I really do think she enjoys it, as normally it s me in the loft out of her hair and now the roles are reversed. She says it s a woman s touch!! I would like to thank Robbie Jones of Bartlett & Jones for taking my birds to the marking stations as without his help I would not be able to race my birds. Nothing is too much trouble for Rob he has been a real diamond. Also to Bill Norman as most of you who know him, he doesn t drive, yet he will walk to my house to collect or drop off my clock and paperwork and will take a crate of birds if I am sending in the Club. (On behalf of everyone from the Classic, we wish Tony a speedy recovery).
Lillian with Tony Wareham s Bomber. Convoyers Report Having loaded the 2,641 birds for this year s Classic Messac race and 50 birds sent by Guernsey Pigeon Club we made our way to the docks where the birds were all fed and watered before the night crossing to Caen, arriving at 06.30 am. After unloading we parked up in the ports lorry park and watered the birds before the journey to Messac leaving at 09.00. the journey to Messac was clear and sunny all the way. We arrived at Messac at midday and once the lorry and trailer were in place all the birds were watered before feeding at 3 o'clock. With all the birds fed and watered by 4.30 pm I started making calls to the Mainland and the Channel Isles for weather updates for the weekend which was looking very promising for an early lib the next day. Saturday dawned at 04.30 with clear skies overhead but with a very heavy dew it became very misty as the morning progressed, with more calls being made every thing looked good once the sun had got up and burned the mist off. The reports received from the Channel Isles and the mainland were very good, it was just our end that was the problem as the mist was not clearing as quickly as I would have liked. By 07.30 the sun began to warm up and the mist began to clear and by 08.00 all was looking good and with all the strings cut the birds were away into clear blue skies to the north and bright sunshine and a light NE wind on site, the reports gave a bank of cloud about 40 miles to our north but with the really good start the birds had, I felt that this would not be a problem.
The journey back to the docks was bright and sunny with a light northerly wind all the way and the channel crossing was smooth with wall to wall from coast to coast, so once again the weather was very kind to us with the good liberation sky that others on the continent sadly did not have. My thanks to all the markers, weather advisor's, Bill our driver, Duncan (bucket) Elliot for all his help, the committee and last but not least Clare, a great team giving great racing. To see the liberation video go to http://youtu.be/tfiwgqj8-3w Nigel Rigiani On site at Messac. Telephone & Website verifications which may be subject to change Open Mem No Flying Name Town Ring Number A-A-T Velocity 1 NW150 P Kilcoyne Weston Super 14 14 1 1226.39 2 NW1206 R E Taylor & Sons Bristol 14 20 36 1212.18 3 SW782 C A J Riley Blandford 13 13 8 1211.83 4 SW144 G Owers Wareham 13 11 43 1202.96 5 NW165 B E Milkins Bristol 14 23 2 1196.67 6 NE573 Lloyd & Kelly Steventon 14 44 51 1188.94 7 NW7 M/M R Kerr Gloucester 15 7 35 1188.03 8 SW145 Spracklen & Thomas Dorchester 13 13 59 1187.68 9 NW269 M Edwards Weston Super 14 22 47 1186.59 10 SW122 H Eades Street 13 59 22 1183.34 11 NW483 A R Jenkins Cheltenham 15 18 30 1183.34 12 SW107 Mr & Mrs M Gower Fordingbridge 13 37 47 1180.73 13 SW157 C Carpenter & Son Poole 13 15 54 1179.57 14 NE317 E Smith & D Baker loft2 Swindon 14 42 59 1178.49 15 SE405 J Attrill Salisbury 13 52 41 1178.11 16 SW516 A Stephens Parkstone 13 17 40 1178.02 17 NE145 P Baker Swindon 14 43 49 1174.71
18 NE317 E Smith & D Baker loft2 Swindon 14 44 55 1172.65 19 NW32 P Phelps Gloucester 15 15 21 1167.15 20 SW543 Tony Swain Dorchester 13 17 1 1166.92 21 NW489 Janet Wilcox Bath 14 18 12 1166.56 22 SW635 M & M Wiffen Dorchester 13 19 21 1165.60 23 NW39 N Templar Bristol 14 32 38 1165.00 24 SW101 Mr & Mrs N Smith Salisbury 13 56 14 1161.61 25 NW288 A O Brooks Paulton 14 22 30 1161.37 26 NE172 M/M D J Noakes Reading 14 39 48 1158.27 27 SE204 Tony Wareham Southampton 13 43 20 1156.48 28 NW97 S Wilcox Bristol 14 37 39 1155.42 29 SE94 P Abrook Cowes 13 23 9 1154.37 30 NE115 Mr & Mrs C Merrills Swindon 14 53 4 1151.91 31 NW142 Trevor Cooke Longlevens 15 24 39 1149.59 32 SW653 B Woods Shaftesbury 13 52 46 1148.61 33 NW117 A & S Thompson Radstock 14 25 7 1148.41 34 NW148 P Newton Weston-Super 14 38 10 1145.07 35 NE410 S & P Kulpa Reading 14 43 47 1145.04 36 NW65 G Clift Tirley 15 35 49 1142.92 37 SW143 Mr & Mrs B Crutcher Poole 13 27 28 1135.29 38 SW101 Mr & Mrs Cooper Bournemouth 13 29 26 1132.52 39 SE255 G Matthews Fareham 13 43 15 1130.59 40 SE37 F Smith Portchester 13 44 17 1129.81 41 NW350 S Slade Calne 14 48 46 1129.23 42 SE19 M/M Moody Portsmouth 13 45 43 1127.53 43 NW108 M Herbert Cheltenham 15 33 50 1126.64 44 SE784 Wearn Brothers 1 & Ramsdean 14 2 19 1126.61 45 NE149 A Docherty Swindon 14 59 14 1126.23 46 SE89 T Powers Whitehill 14 16 16 1125.12 47 SW24 M White & Son Bournemouth 13 34 25 1122.52 48 NW340 Mr & Mrs G Lloyd Hereford 16 3 49 1121.84 49 NE546 D Morris Swindon 15 3 30 1121.80 50 NE101 R Beaconsfield Marlborough 14 45 57 1121.36 51 SE686 J & T Austin Portsmouth 13 41 47 1121.08 52 SE615 J Ross Portsmouth 13 45 10 1119.81 53 NW185 J Singer Frome 14 26 28 1119.53 54 NW558 S Hanman Gloucester 15 38 16 1118.40 55 NW110 S Dangerfield Stonehouse 15 21 30 1117.95 56 SE1275 P J Nightingale Portsmouth 13 45 33 1114.48 57 NW266 P Weems Chippenham 14 51 57 1112.99 58 SE500 D Mitchell Fareham 13 49 21 1112.43 59 NW570 Clive & Jill Rogers & Neil Radstock 14 37 42 1109.06 60 SW316 T Vincent Dorchester 13 35 56 1107.04 61 NW263 E Harvey Coleford 15 36 5 1107.03 62 SW279 A Baverstock Poole 13 38 3 1103.88 63 NE134 P Kenny Wantage 15 12 48 1103.09 64 NW681 B Sheppard Trowbridge 65 SE1711 B & L Scutt Portsmouth 14 43 34 1101.75 13 49 37 1101.75 66 SW629 K & C White Weymouth 13 28 8 1101.24 67 SE372 D M T Whitcombe Southampton 14 1 3 1101.10 68 SE777 Peter Fyfield Borden 14 27 18 1099.43 69 NW542 Brown & Elliott Devizes 14 42 6 1098.46 70 SW165 Corey & Roger Owers Crewkerne 14 2 43 1095.97 71 SE1734 L Patterson Portsmouth 13 53 30 1095.62
72 NE113 E Smith & D Baker Swindon 15 8 40 1095.48 73 SW187 M Ward Blandford 13 52 31 1094.58 74 NW113 K J Hillier Peasedown St 14 45 48 1092.70 75 SW128 Mr & Mrs T Anderson Poole 13 39 40 1091.31 76 NW155 F J Quinn Devizes 14 47 47 1090.62 77 NE348 S Hughes Swindon 15 14 26 1090.55 78 SW549 Fournier & Harrison Bridport 13 46 24 1088.15 79 NW208 Picton Bros & Son Newport 15 23 0 1087.88 80 NW134 M/M G & M Wile & S Lias Withywood 15 0 56 1085.89 81 NW278 A Hofton & Son Gloucester 15 51 1 1085.52 82 SE302 J M Edwards Southampton 14 3 21 1085.42 83 SE325 M Whitcombe Southampton 14 6 45 1083.54 84 SW206 S Jack Tisbury 14 19 24 1083.46 85 SE430 K & L Cleife Portsmouth 13 59 24 1082.27 86 SW428 Mr & Mrs Ford Weymouth 13 32 36 1081.69 87 NE621 R J Lowe Reading 15 10 28 1081.57 88 NW294 A Smith & Son Wotton Under 15 25 2 1081.42 89 SE118 D Spencer Nr Fareham 13 58 52 1080.89 90 SE11 R Murray Southampton 14 3 35 1079.55 91 SW113 Jane Johns Weymouth 13 33 30 1078.99 92 SW545 A Phillips Weymouth 13 33 24 1077.44 93 SW450 C Bartlett Salisbury 14 26 19 1068.87 94 NE328 Mr & Mrs E Kulpa Reading 15 11 4 1067.59 95 SW107 Mr & Mrs L Cowley Grimstone 13 51 50 1067.58 96 SE53 Mr & Mrs B Wall Havant 14 6 2 1066.67 97 NW172 R A Jones & S Robins Blakeney 15 46 52 1066.21 98 NW83 G Hancock Devizes 14 57 59 1065.71 99 SW246 I Stockley & Son Poole 13 47 28 1064.99 100 NW863 L Nicholls Bristol 15 11 55 1063.00 Pau Our next race is the Pau (race code 5034) Blue Riband Race on Friday June 20 th. Marking will be on Tuesday 17 th June 2014. Your last posting date is Saturday 14 th June. Remember we have the Blue Riband Certificate to fly for. This certificate is awarded to any pigeon which has appeared in the top 100 of the result 3 times or more from Tarbes/Pau, since 2008. Congratulations to all the trophy winners from our Guernsey Old Bird Race, flown on Saturday 10 th May 2014. P Abrook (SE94) Rennes Cup, Reg Heynes & Son Trophy, SE Section Trophy, 150 Ponderosa UK Stud Voucher, a replica and a framed photograph of the winning pigeon. R J Lowe (NE621) Runner Up Trophy, NE Section Trophy and replica. R G Cobb & Son (SW503) SW Section Trophy and replica. S Slade (NW350) NW Section Trophy and replica. R J Rome (NW426) Cotswold Trophy. Clare Norman. Tel: 023 80573919