Training Races Recommence
We`re back ...and the arona team welcomes everyone into the new year and the re-commencement of the derby arona tenerife one loft race for 2017 ..after the first five initial qualification races having been completed and the three week break over the Christmas and new year holidays which also incorporated the owners and third party activation , a staggering 2,858 pigeons from the loft list of 2,904 pigeons were paid and activated by owners and new participants and will therefore be going forward into phase two of the training programme which restarted on the second week of January ,however rest assured ,during the break the arona team had carried on with the loft exercise programme on a daily basis to maintain the health and fitness level in preparation for the restart .
Phase 2 over the next few weeks of training the liberation's will move towards the north of the island from various locations until they reach training race 11 and the coastal town of santa cruz ,this will be the last of inland training for a while as its from training 12 that four sea liberation's will take place as we head out over the Atlantic liberating at various stages towards the island of gran canaria
team H. V. Venrooij 1st training race 6
so its Jan 10th and with the 2,858 pigeons safely basketed the training was back on schedule as the entries made their way to the liberation site approx 25 klm from the guazza lofts ,and with over 150 fanciers logged into the livestream from 0900 anticipating the news of a liberation time the chatting and friendly banter continued the arona team informed us that abel ledesma who was once again in charge of convoying the pigeons was preparing to release at 10.30 which would be confirmed once the liberation had taken place ,and with the temperature now reaching 24 degrees and a light wind the confirmation that the pigeons were away at 10.30 as planned was relayed to us all as everyone waited patiently for the sighting of the first pigeons to arrive above the lofts , unfortunately it was also reported that shortly after release the batch were struck by the peregrine attack which split the large group into smaller numbers so there was a moment of anticipation to see the result of such an attack would have on today`s race ..obviously something we as fanciers word wide have to face on a daily basis and the island of tenerife isn`t any different .
Neishy 2nd place race 6 after 30 minutes or so of flying time two pigeons were seen landing at the loft and shortly after landing they swiftly recorded their arrival just ahead of the first of many batches that we could visually see approaching the lofts what was good to see .was that the first two pigeons to arrive were not put off entering the loft by the masses above and therefore the first to arrive was declared the winning pigeon . the winner and honour of 1st international today represents team netherlands with Team H. V. Venrooij and pigeon named peter taking pole position with an arrival time of 11.02.05.90 ,in 2nd place was team Germany and the arrival for Neishy for Dieter Bartczak was close behind with a time of 11.02.51.55,for 3rd its teram croatia and with team blazevic and pigeon burlin being the first to time in from the first batch as they pitched the landing boards just a minute behind the first two on 11.03.1775,team Slovakia takes 4th place with pigeon anrea entered by Team Krajcik Daniel & Andrea recorded its arrival on 11.03.49.90 ,we stay with the eastern European countries for 5th and poland with team andrzej karczewski proving that third activation pigeons were once again worth doing as pigeon sammy the bull timed in at 11.03.53.15,in 6th place was the training race 3 winning syndicate as Team Bacskai Sandor-Kellner Andrea from Hungary timed in their entry grutter at 11.03.55.00 in 7th its the second arrival for team Germany as team Paul-Heinz Wesjohann with pigeon Rasied Status on 11.04.00.65 ,team jkg transport remain in the top flight again this week after taking top honours in training race 5 this time with pigeon jkg 7957 timing at 11.04.01.55in 8th position ,as team Belgium and pigeon mig 111 for Vincent Neirynck claims 9th spot on 11.04.04.60, whilst pigeon named Nikol for the Czech republic team of Team Bitta & Thiemel finishes off the top ten positions with a time of 11.04.08.65
burin 3rd international race 6 for team uk/ireland on this occasion dave hinkel that takes the honours for team gb from today's race for team representing TEAM England with pigeon pingo timing in 17th position on a time of 11.05.01.05 so training is once again underway on the island of tenerife to everyones delight and considering the three weeks break and the attack shortly after liberation 2,702 pigeon were registered home by nightfall ,and with the numbers being added too with more arrivals the following morning this gave the arona team a race percentage of 94.78%
pingo 1st uk/ireland for d hinkel race day 7 friday morning and with the pigeons basketed in preparation for departure to the liberation site for race seven , above the loft the skies where showing signs of a calima (sandstorm ),which the arona team were hoping and expected to clear as the day went on according to the forecast but unfortunately after keeping a watchful eye on the conditions by late morning and with no indication of any improvement ,the arona team finally decided to call it a day and held off the liberation until the following morning (sat) in hope for better conditions, a decision that everyone appreciated and welcomed for the welfare of the birds
Saturday morning and with a vast improvement in conditions with island temperature showing 22 degrees and clear skies the pigeons were on route for a planned 10.30 am liberation from a distance of approx 33 klm ,and with regular updates coming through we heard that the strings were cut and the birds were away at 10.35 at the home end and with live chat receiving 135 viewers the announcement from the derby arona mangement team was made indicating the guaranteed prize ,for the final race was confirmed as advertised at 120,000 euro (approx £105,000 sterling) for the winning pigeon and fancier in the final race . making the derby arona the highest paid final in Europe ..
wise lady 1st international for team Giuseppe Patti from italy so back to the race and as everyone waited patiently for the pigeons to arrive it wasnt long before the first batched circled above covering the journey in just under 20 min obviously taking advantage of a strong helping wind , as these landed the masses were soon upon us once again resulting in the entry board full to capacity as hundreds of pigeons waited their turn to enter the loft taking the top honour on this occasion was the Italian syndicate of Giuseppe Patty with his entry wise lady recording an arrival time of 10.53.43.55, just pipping the team Germany entry of team klass and sohn with pigeon flashlight sa into the runner up position 10.53.45.10, for 3rd position its pigeon sona for the Czech republic and Team Konopik & Motre 10.54.02.60 ,in 4th its the second arrival for team Italy as Team Thomas & Leonardo Nasternak pigeon came in 10.54.06.25,whilst 5th place goes to gunter sheerman as pigeon snowman 16 recorded its arrival at 10.54.06.65,in 6th position it team Italia once again this time with pigeon bam bam for Team Fiorini Daniele &Massaia Laura 10.54.06.66, Team Wiedermann - Bardos from slovakia take 7th with paula 5000 on 10.54.06.95 ,just holding off the German entry for Team Schnellin with pigeon bronco in 8th at 10.54.07.15, Sorin Florea from rumania takes the 9th spot with pigeon Atlantic whisper on a time of 10.54.07.20 and finaly in 10th place it was no ther than the 2016 final race winner Beniamin Neag from Austria with pigeon named nathen on 10.54.07.65
team klas& shon germany 2nd race day 7 as you can see from the times of the leading ten pigeons the race was some what of a blanket finish as in just under three minutes over 1,000+ pigeons had made their arrival known on the result ,for team uk/ireland the first arrival today and honours today go to Pieter Oberholster with pigeon south carolina recording 31st position with a time of 10.54.13 ,by the time the livestream had switched off approx 2,500 of the entries were safely home and with more coming in during the day as it was probable that a small number had overshot the loft or took a wider line of flight ,there was hopes of yet another good percentage of returns ,which clearly indicates that the right decision was made to hold off taking any chances the day before and wait for a more clearer day to liberate ..well done team arona..
1st team GB 31st international so if everything goes to plan in a few days the liberation's should be moving towards the northern part of the island towards the town of santa cruz and after such race on the port and last island training , we head out across the Atlantic to gran canaria taking in a few mid sea liberation's along the way and sights on the first island to island crossing and hotspot races finaly ..as for the averages these are changing all the time now after each race the positions are changing with different pigeons showing in the leading positions , however after seven races currently holding pole position is team casey and rainbow from england with pigeon named eddie and the following result as follows
ACE PIGEON top ten
England Team Casey & Rainbow eddie
18232 RPRA (Pigeon Association) Czech republic Lucas Go Team Vyslouzil Zdenek 18096
Czech Republic Club
Austria Les Paul Alois Wiefler
18021 Club Austria
Ireland Celtic Capall
Team Highway Lofts 17611 Irish Homing Union
Italia skindy
Team Danaila & Butnar
17286 Italia
Germany ATLANTIC 575 Alexander Gebel 17169
Saalfeld Club
Norway Wonderduk Team Gebert & Iura 17158
Norge Racing Pigeon Club
Wales Secret Four Team Secret Service
17136 Wales Club
Croatia Picolo Fiore
Team Stojak-Jenjic 17088
Croatia Pigeon Club
England Jody Andrei Antoce
16983
RPRA (Pigeon Association)
TOM HARRIS