rasbull

Hiya Walter, I use the East Coast software and find it really good. What are you disillusioned with?

Hiya Showman. I have set up my own website/websites. The most important thing is the web address. This is something that you will have to purchase (around £10 for 2 years or something like that). If you are planning on selling products you plan making you will need to appear in search engines promptly and a clear, easy to remember website address is essential. If you want any advice on where and how to start please send me a PM for some tips. Free hosting is ok but has is limitations! Richard Shepherd

:lol:

My dad kept them all his life. He was disabled so used to help when I was younger. As he deteriorated my interest grew and finally we went into partnership. He passed away in 1999. I continued on my own for 3 years before I moved house. The garden of the new house was too small for a loft. I moved back to my old address in 2008 and restarted in the sport....best decision I have ever made!

I had a young bird this year who went into a club mates loft 20 miles away. I collected the bird the same day and tossed it up on the way home so he had to work to get back just like all his loft mates did. I was about 15 miles from home when I let him go. I arrived home and to my surprise he was not on the loft! I phoned my club mate back and he had returned to his loft! I agreed to pick him up again a couple of days later and after doing so entered him to the race on the saturday. Again he returned to my club mates loft instead of mine. I agreed to pick him up again and he was trained throughout the week to get him back on line. Race day come and he was sent and despite the training he again went to my club mates loft. We decided then that after the 200 miles the coming saturday if he returned to my club mate again we would transfer him. Folkstone race turned to be a real slog and I couldn't believe it when this cock actually landed on my loft! Cracked it I thought! I let the birds out then 2 days later for a fly and they entered the loft for feeding. I shut the loft up and thought no more. I then had a phone call the following day to say a club mate had one of my birds. I phoned him up and he said he had that bird back in his loft! I was sure it couldn't be the same one as he had flown out the previous day around my own loft. I went up to the loft while on the phone and to my shock couldn't see the bird who had worked all day to return to my loft from 200 miles! So the cock has had 4 races and returned to my loft just once in that time and even on that occasion went to the club mate as soon as he had recovered on the first opportunity he had! So going back to the original post - I think if I had collected him and placed him back in my own loft instead of making him fly home I probably would have avoided all the hassle I have had with this bird!

If I remember correctly think I sent an email to the RPRA requesting the amendment to my address!

The name you fly under has to be your own name - cant be a loft name. To solve this I have added 'Rasbull Lofts' to the first line of my address so any correspondence from the RPRA or WHU has my loft name on as well!

I think in Wales this year one man has been streets ahead having won around 4 Nationals at least. This man in my opinion is top class - Derek Flowers.

Culled what has not met the grade leaving me with 10 stock birds, no old birds and 25 youngsters. 35 in total so more than happy with that. Will purchase 5 or 6 new stock birds to test for next year.

Hiya m8, why not make them yourself? They are so easy to make its untrue! I have just built myself 7 sets and has cost me no more than £80 for the lot! 1 sheet of 8 x 4 plywood/wafferboard is more than enough to make 1 set no problem!

Hi guys. I am after some information regarding a south road club I could join for 2011? I live in Brecon, Mid Wales and want to know what is the closest club or clubs to me and if they have any members on here? I currently fly in Merthyr which is 20 miles south of me so anywhere around that distance would be ideal. If anyone has any contact details I would be most grateful. Thank you.

Didn't Owen and Hogarth win it?

Yes it is true, was speaking with Derek Nicholls and I asked him what was happening for next season and he confirmed Mark Williams was taking over as the loft manager with Russ still being involved. They are also rethinking about going south and more than likely to be staying north. However they are looking at extending the final race to Kelso 275 miles.

We have 2 comeback races left for the season. How many have you got left in your federation?

Have seen this on the website and looks very interesting. Thinking of giving it a try next season.

I don't quite know what to think regarding the final race. Part of me is happy yet the other part feels let down! Firstly I would like to congratulate the winner, Mr Ken Darlington on winning 1st Open Europa Classic and a cool £21,000. All 5 syndicate birds arrived home safely and recorded 178th, 202nd, 403rd, 565th and 614th. They promised so much yet when it counted have delivered very little! In terms of my own loft I have to be content in knowledge that I sent down 3 and all 3 timed in the final race. There were 1278 birds in the race from the start and I placed all 3 of mine in the top 44% of the initial birds entered. I have improved on my first years attempt at this race when 3 made the final race but only 1 made it into the result finishing 422nd. So in terms of improvement they have made big strides forward in that respect. My 5 year plan included finishing in the top 100 this year, and although we have come 78 places short of achieving this I have to be satisfied. However, when you dedicate your life to winning - anything less is going to be painful to swallow! I will now plan for a breeding season with the birds that have not made the grade being replaced with new stock that have been proven and we will start again. The birds that have bred this years entries will be given new partners and we will see what is produced next year. They will have one more chance in the stock loft and if they come up short that will be their last. My ambition of winning this race burns as bright as ever and I am even more determined to now improve on the 178th position I have obtained this year. So all in all, I am disappointed in the result of today but have to look at the series as a whole, and all things considered it has been very pleasing. Its when you don't move forward and stand still or fall backwards when you are in trouble! The Rasbull Share Syndicate will be back next year and I promise it will be bigger and better than ever before! A big thank you to all the Shareholders in this years event. Anyone wanting to reserve a share please email me at Rasbull@hotmail.co.uk. Watch this space!

Hello Shareholder! The Final of the Europa Classic 2010 is finally here! 817 have been race marked and will take to the starting line with an expected liberation Sunday 12th of September 2010 around 8am. The birds took 7hrs to complete the distance last year but with a tail wind forecast they should be arriving a lot quicker this year! The Share Syndicate has been a resounding success this year with all 3 of the original entries making the final race and 2 out of the 3 'additional purchased' birds also making final. The birds have performed well in the training tosses and have been as far as 160 miles. The highlight would have to be in the 4th Hotspot with the syndicate birds timing just 3 seconds behind the winner and 3 of the 5 in the top 100 of the result!Added to this the birds have obtained the following results in training/hotspots - 1st, 4th, 5th, 5th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 33rd, 37th, 37th - A decent set of performances against up to 1,000 birds! I would like to thank all the shareholders for participating and I hope you have enjoyed following the birds progress as we have gone through the various stages towards the final race. I will be running the syndicate again next year and would like everyone who was involved to be so again as the way the pigeons are being bred they can only improve year on year in an attempt to find that 'Golden' pigeon who is capable of winning 1st Open Europa Classic......and who's to say that won't be this year! I also believe you have a decent run for your money and if they can pull it off in the final then that would put the icing on the cake! I am going down to the race myself on Sunday and any shareholder who would like me to call them upon the result being known please email me with a phone number and I will phone as soon as the winning pigeons arrive at the finish line. The below is the anticipated prize money of the final race (this is not official and based on last years payouts when a similar number of birds entered the race. It will give an idea of the prize money structure and what to expect. Obviously if one of the syndicate birds finishes in the prize money positions that amount will be split 4 ways between the shareholders within that pigeons syndicate. The prize money is a 3rd of what was planned but when there is only 1/3 of the loft full this is to be expected. I know the lower prizes are small but the aim when we entered was to win and the prize for that remains what was advertised when we set this venture up....£5,250 each shareholder if we win! 1st - £21,000 2nd - £4,500 3rd - £3,000 4th - £1,500 5th - £900 6th - £600 7th - £450 8th - £390 9th - £360 10th - 19th- Between £330 and £210 20th - 30th - £180 30th - 40th - £120 40th - 70th - £90 70th - 100th - £60 Thank you and Good Luck! Richard Shepherd www.Rasbull-lofts.co.uk www.PigeonPixels.co.uk

The last training toss from 35 miles was today and the syndicate birds were 12th, 69th, 75th, 379th and 699th out of the 807 that timed in! Well that's it! The final training toss of the 2010 series has been completed and after 33 races ranging from 35 miles up to 160 miles - all 3 of the birds I bred have made it through to the final race and 2 of the 3 birds the syndicate purchased are going to be there as well! It is a great achievement as asking people to pay for a share and then the bird could be lost within the 1st few tosses is a bit worrying to say the least! However, the people who have been involved this year have more than had a run for their money and each will have a crack at the £21,000 first prize that is up for grabs! I will be attending the race this year again and this time will be more than optimistic of getting one in the top end of the result. I entered 3 last year and only one made the final result and finished a disappointing 422nd in the final. (the other 2 were lost in the final). The stock loft saw a big transition as a direct result of this and after starting back up in 2008 parted with the birds I had heavily invested as the results were not up to scratch. A new plan was then formulated to obtain quality proven birds and to start again. The results we have achieved this year (only our second year back) have by far eclipsed the results the old generation of stock birds produced the year before! We will hope for a good result in the final and then we will continue our plan of introducing quality, proven birds into the loft to create that golden gene pool that we all strive for! We will be running the syndicate again next year and will be hoping to send 12 young birds all bred by Rasbull Lofts to the race, anyone wishing to have a bit of fun throughout the summer in addition to their racing please feel free to get involved. I have a number of people already on the list for shares and anyone who might like to join us please drop me an email at rasbull@hotmail.co.uk and I will reserve a space for you! That just leaves me to say thank you to all that have been involved this year and may we have every success in the final this Sunday. C'mon the Rockets!

Well there is just 1 more training toss planned for the Europa birds before they are basketed up for the Final race taking place on Sunday. They were trained from 35 miles today and all 5 of the syndicate birds clocked within 74 seconds of the winner. They recorded the following positions:- 13th, 89th, 252nd, 466th and 545th from the 808 birds recorded. This is the 2nd time I have entered this race and barring any mishaps in the last trainer, on both occasions I will have got all 3 of my own bred youngsters to the final race!

Checking through my computer records I have been working out how many youngsters I have lost in racing this season. I have sent to 6 races and they have been up to 200 miles which was my aim for this season. Starting amount of birds - 28 Sent - 6 races up to 200 miles Amount still in the loft? - 14 (50%) Amount flown full 200 miles? - 10 (36%) Amount lost? - 14 (50%) I believe that is a good set of percentages and a nice amount of birds to carry through the winter. If I could retain 50% of starting youngsters every year then I would be happy!

The Europa birds were trained today from 50 miles and they recorded 130th, 154th, 292nd, 375th and 401st out of the 811 that trapped with even the 401st bird being within 2 minutes of the winner!

The Europa birds trained today from 35 miles and all 5 trapped within 1 minute of the winner recording 85th, 201st, 252nd, 290th and 367th out of the 814 that timed in. Just 6 days to go to the big one!

I am getting the early times coming up, I am using Google Chrome as my browser!

just had 1 more so 8 from 11 now! My brother just had his last one so had 3/3! There working back slowly

I have had 7 out of 11, but time was rubbish! Other in the Gurnos club that I know of - 1/6, 2/8 and 1/3