Honours shared in final events of 2022 pigeon race programme

The final event on the 2022 East Cape and Border Union pigeon racing programme saw all the birds released simultaneously for their second Touws River race of the season, a distance of 740km to East London and a somewhat shorter 640km to the Kowie lofts.

The 7am combined liberation saw the pigeons take to the sky in clear conditions, something highly appreciated by the competing fanciers in view of the negative flying conditions that had been forecast for the weekend.

Thus it was that the winning birds in both events registered average flying speeds in the mid-80km/h range, with the East London lofts enjoying success in the yearling race, while the Kowie lofts reversed this in the any-age result.

The packs obviously enjoyed some wind assistance earlier en route, though nearer to East London the fresh northeasterly wind must have slowed down proceedings.

The top 10 yearling arrivals were all clocked in Border lofts, with first position going to a bird flown by Stuart Sanders and your scribe, of Northerns, at 83.4km/h.

Fellow northerner, Dennis Schenk took second and third positions at 83.1km/h and 82.99km/h respectively, with father and son clubmates, Colin and Jason James, coming in fourth at 82.96km/h.

The first Kowie arrival was registered by Brendon Samuel at 80.2km/h in 11th spot.

The any-age race saw the Kowie lofts dominant as they took the top five positions.

Here it was Koos Kooy of Kenton-onSea who took the honours at an average speed of 85.8km/h with Dave Tarrant’s first bird clinching second spot at 85.7km/h and Brendon Samuel taking the next two positions at 85.5km/h and 84.6km/h.

The first East London arrival was clocked by Ian Ristow and Les Jamieson of the Abbotsford Club at 83.4km/h, in sixth place.

Understandably, such long flying distances can take a toll on the speeds achieved and this was borne out in both races by the almost 50 minutes it took to fill the top 50 positions on each result sheet.

Local lofts can take a welcome break from racing until the 2023 season commences in June 2023, and the focus now shifts to the breeding season as fanciers strive to build their ‘winning team’.