MIDLANDS NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

MIKE LAKIN

MNFC Hobbs & Son on Top of Pile from Ancenis

It was good to finally get a race underway on schedule when the 4,000 plus convoy got away at 6.30 am into light Westerly wind conditions from Ancenis which is located just a few miles to the East of the old traditional Nantes race point.

Troy Hobbs with 'Bill' his likely National winner

As is the norm the conditions weren’t totally ideal and it was obviously going to dictate the geographical locations of the leading pigeons. That said there once again appears to be some exceptional performances from all sections of the club and also a healthy number of birds right up into Scotland entered by the SNFC who were once again convoyed by the MNFC recorded on the day. So I wish to say a huge well done to all of these fanciers and their gallant birds. This once again highlights the superb qualities of the UK’s long distance pigeons who obviously mastered the localised heavy downpours.

The Provisional winners from this year’s MNFC Poppy Appeal Ancenis race are Barry Hobbs & Son from Raunds who clocked their two year old widowerhood cock with a healthy velocity of 1445 for the bird’s 345 mile journey. I spoke to Troy the son of the partnership who explained that after his dad’s death like so many others he has carried on the partnership name in memory of his late father. I’m sure that dad would be proud of your win Troy.

Looking at the provisional times and velocities it reveals that the first 11 birds recorded speeds in excess of 1400 ypm from no less than 5 different sections represented and all 12 sections in the first 50 verifications this amply highlighting once again the fact that the longer the distance the fairer the race. I shall be covering these fine individual performances in the full report so remember once again that if your name is in the leading four places in your section get in touch by email with a few details and a nice photo.

Mike Lakin