Derby Arona Tenerife one loft race

Record entry as 4000 pigeons register for the 2018/19 race

Its early december and as such with the doors now closed for this years entries into the derby arona Tenerife one loft race, from early April the derby  arona team after months of promotion ,at various shows and media outlets  welcome   pigeons to  Tenerife , as a result of country co Ordinator’s  working  tirelessly on behalf of the race to provide quick and efficient transport facilities

Belgium co ordinators roger mertens .jacky and jelle creemers

As we speak ,and with training race one not too far away  the team have reported a record number of pigeons for this year’s campaign as approx 4,000 pigeons are now housed  within the loft representing thirty six countries from all continents and  corners of the world making this year a record breaking year for the derby arona Tenerife one loft race

With the early entrants some of which have been there for approx. six months or so freely exercising around the lofts, over the past  weeks and months the latest inmates have now come to the end of their confinement period and are now  let free to exercise daily, high above the lofts in the warm sun

With all entrants in, this also means a busy time for the arona management team as they document and process each of the pigeons entered within the race into the system, a time consuming period  we would all agree with so many entered  ,so whilst everyone is welcome as ever to visit the lofts and view the set up ,during any

Young roxy robson being presented with her 2018 derby arona certificate at the recent Doncaster show

planned holidays on the island, please respect their  time is valuable to achieve their goal to get all the administration ready for the start of training in early December

During the coming weeks as we all wait the start of training the arona team will start the unique annual process of photographing each of the pigeons that are within the loft, after such a challenging procedure  has been overcome these will eventually be added to the individual accounts of each participant  as part of the documentation offered to evaluate the performance and progression of each individual pigeon entered as the racing progresses through to the final race,

this process will take some time and whilst the team try to achieve completion prior to the start of training we must appreciate this may well over run slightly and as such the early initial orientation short pre activation races may well have started or coming to an end  ,but rest assured the job will be completed as soon as possible

after a few weeks of loft exercise were all set weather permitting to kick things off On the 4th of December as the pigeons will ,for the first time be basketed and taken a few klm away from the loft and whilst it may seem trivial distances at first, these short training races are provided to give the birds the experience and override the fear of leaving  the crates in mass numbers ,orientate and learn  the route back to the loft

It is after the fifth and final pre-selection races from approx. 25 klm that the owners and entrants have the opportunity of activating their reserve pigeons this process is done in this way to ensure the entrants that after weeks and months of loft exercise and learning their surroundings the pigeons are settled and ready and in the loft as they  we go into the new year when the training recommences and becomes more intense and demanding as they make there way to the north of the island ..

After completion of island training the pigeons will be setting out across the Atlantic for a number of mid sea liberations at various points inline with the first island to island survival race from gran canaria ,this is from where the challenge of leaving land beneath and heading out over the full stretch of open waters in the direction of Tenerife is put before them  ..over the years this has proved to be a daunting ask for the pigeons as a little reluctant at first to take on the challenge they finally brave up to the task laid in front of them and come across to return to the loft

The race route covering many Atlantic crossings

Its from the island of gran canaria that two  hotspot races will be held the first from the eastern side followed by the 2nd hoptspot from the  west of the island when participants will be competing for the offer of the cars on offer or cash equivalent, following hotspot two the race moves further east as they pigeons by now have overcome the Atlantic crossing from one island to another ,however the next stage is a double island flight from Fuerteventura for hotspot 3 before the final race on or around march 29th depending on the weather at the time as the team wont and don’t take any chances as to the welfare and safest passage possible to complete the course back to the loft

Some of the latest visitors to the derby arona loft

So with December the 4th nearly upon us  its time to sit tight and experience the 2018/19 derby arona tenerife one loft race ,over the next few months we will update all participants via various avenues within the fancy press around the world ,social media and the arona website

Following race day 5 theres a few dates to remember  from December 13th to the 21st you the owner have the one unique opportunity to activate your pigeons at a cost of 220 euro and keep them within your teams something to remember is these pigeons have already overcome the settling period and orientation and five training races its now time for the entrant to put  the faith in their entries and grasp this opportunity of keeping them  within your team ,unfortunately if not then all un-activated pigeons will from thereon up until the 7th jan go open to any interested third party party individuals who will take over ownership and any winnings these pigeons may win in the coming weeks ahead.

The Derby Arona team

like many fanciers around the world awaiting the start of the 2018/19 race series ,wishing  all participants good luck in the forthcoming derby arona adventure.

Remember all race are shown via livestream showing total transparency throughout via the website www.derbyatlantic.com

Tom Harris

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