Pompey Mick

Solent Fed at Messac for our second Channel race , birdage is suffering because of the 7day ruling and NFC & BBC racing as well. This will be a big problem in 2007 if the 7day rule persists because we race OB every week across the Channel. it's our bread & butter racing.

Anyone racing from Portsmouth this Sat. 1/08? I hope to go down to the site and take individual photos of the Transporters there and identify them. I would like the proposed lib times if poss.

Hi, Rockinrick, The Southampton & Dist NR Programme is as follows: 1/7 Stratford; 8/7 Clay Cross : 14/7 Thurso: YB 22/7 Newbury: 29/7 Buckingham: 5/8 Stratford: 12/8 Newbury: 19/8 Buckingham: 26/8 Stratford: 2/9 Derby or Clay Cross: 9/9 Clay Cross: 16/9 Wetherby Young Birds all Friday basketting. I got this information from my Uncle who races with them.

It,s definiately not Portsmouth, the liberation site is a seafront common, the one in the video looks like a racecourse.

To coin a footballing phrase, speckled, F*** King 'went over the top' in the 'England' thread.

Let's see some support for the girls,get busy with your PM's to them and Richard if you care.Don't let one man spoil this Forum.

12/12 FROM FOUGERES YESTERDAY 170MLS Lt NE IN THE CHANNEL LEADING BIRD IN CLUB 1282

Try this download link for an easy to operate photo resizer to enable you to post your photos http://www.naturpic.com/download/prsetup.exe

Anyone from Sidcup who can help repatriate a lost YB currently residing in a budgie cage in Sidcup. I need a fancier to rescue my pigeon so that I can arrange to collect it. Pompey Mick

Solent Fed up at 11.00 Fougeres Lt E wind.

Here in Portsmouth 07.30, broken cloud with blue sky, no significant wind.

By all means Richard, next time I go to the Common I will try and improve my video skills.

you can only do that once, Keano, What about the following week? Race on a Monday ? Also you cannot basket within the 7 days,

I can see that the 7 day ruling is not such a problem when your Channel races are of a reasonable distance, but when you live on the South Coast as I do and ALL your Old Bird races are Channel races, starting at 100mls then it becomes a a serious problem and will affect birdage amounts dramatically. We have just basketted for Fougeres tonight and because of this ruling numbers are 50% down. This is because members have committed birds to the BBC & NFC next week, and the Fed is at Messac and no birds raced this week will be eligible. The same will happen at our third race, which is Cholet, only the birds which have successfully raced Fougeres this week will be in contention for that race, and so it goes on. When Channel racing is your weekly Federation racing the 7day rule will cause severe problems for fanciers and even racing alternate Channel/Inland races will not solve the problem.

I see the Irish fanciers have been given the go-ahead for French racing,no mention of a 7 day Isolation for them. www.agriculture.gov.ie

Solent Fed at Fougeres, 170 mls, we have yet to crack 200mls this season, and our longest scheduled race is Cholet 257 mls to me. We started North ,got as far as 135mls after 5 races, we were then switched West and started a new programme again and got as far as 180 mls in 4 races. We now have gone South and started a new programme AGAIN, culminating at 257 mls for OLD BIRDS. When I see the distances other feds are achieving I wonder what the Solent Fed is all about.

It's nice to WIN your group when you're playing below what you are capable of. THINGS WILL ONLY GET BETTER

Having read the DEFRA risk assessment there is no mention of distance restrictions, it only refers to the time the bird is away from the loft from liberation time, up to 48hrs it's 7 days 'isolation', over that time frame it's 21 days ,though this could be waived if it is a hard race. It also talks of not racing from previously infected or high risk areas, it doesn't mention any distance restrictions as far as I can see, in fact it caters for overnight races with it's 48 hr ruling. The risks that have been identified are of a very low category and the report even acknowledges that to date' pigeons have not contributed significantly to spreading avian influenza viruses' With that kind of conclusion it is up to the pigeon fraternity to provide a risk assessment theirselves which will show that it is safe to race pigeons.

In 1986 I temporarily used part of a garden shed for my YB team of 24 birds, it was 4' x 4' with a small trap on the side. They flew out of their skins, winning 7 out of 8 yb races and excercising like mad. Then, like a fool, I demolished it and moved the birds to a purpose built loft the next season.

Portsmouth,07.00 Bright & sunny, no wind. What's it like in Plymouth, Grovehomer? We're at Yelverton.

Here is the latest episode in the Race programme, hot on the heels of programme F/subsection C/ amendment B we have the finite race programme of the OB season (or is it). When the news came through that we could race as far south as Bergerac we waited with bated breath for the amended programme that would surely come. In their wisdom,with obvisually some information from Mike Lycett's sister, they had pre-empted the DEFRA ruling and decided that there would be no racing any further then Cholet , 257 mls to me ,so the news that we could race Saintes & Bergerac would surely lead to an amendment to the amendment. Tonight we received the latest race programme and sure enough it had been changed. Programme F/subsection C/amendment B was Fougeres 17th June, too late for that one, 24th Messac, 1st July Cholet, 8th Messac and 15th Cholet. With the new DEFRA regulaions we are now racing 24th June Fougeres, 1st July Messac, 8th Cholet and to end it all on a high note for the rank & file members of the 'Mighty' Solent Federation we shall be racing, wait for it, Messac 208 mls. This is nothing but a slap in the face for the hudreds of Solent Federation members who support the Federation week in week out, not when it suits them it would seem that this Federation is being run for the benefit of the so called 'National Flyers' who look upon Club racing as something they just trod in, this is just not good enough and my Club members have decided to post an official complaint to the Federation on this matter. Will we have any support?

I see the NFC aren't hanging about with four races scheduled for July. You won't have to post your entry forms just take them with you to the previous weeks marking.

I agree to a certain extent Stuart, the South Road can be just as unforgiving as the North Road when the conditions are wrong. I don't think line of flight is a big problem, and if your pigeons have flown reasonable distances on the North they should be ready for anything. Here on the South Coast flying with the Solent we normally start with an Exeter 110 mls west then spin them straight across the Channel. Many of the flyers around here refuse to fly along the Coast and choose to put their birds straight across the Channel. We have no problem with line of flight because we can't train that way unless you count a short spin from the Isle of Wight. With Young Birds we have flown the East Route ,Eastbourne & Hastings and then flown from Guernsey, so as you can see we continually fly dogleg routes but they still come home.

You should go on Talk24 morton you pay a fixed monthly fee and can phone any landline for free on Cable. Invaluable in these times, I am sure getting my monies worth.

Now that we can race as far South as Bergerac will we be tearing up the umpteenth race programme we have received from the Solent and proceed further than Cholet. I cannot believe they acted on hearsay when they formulated the latest alternative programme which we received on Friday which limits us to Cholet. The Solent Fed committee has acted like a cat on a hot tin roof this year jumpiong before they are pushed. Twice they have formulated programmes just days before official news was due, why the haste? Why formulate anything before you know, Where did the 'information' come from which said we could only race as far as Cholet. Pure guesswork it would seem. I can see no reason why we cannot race from Bergerac this season, push the OB programme back to accomodate it if necessary. I am sure all the Classics will be racing to the furthest distance they can so why not the Solent as we fly the shortest distance of all. Or are we just a glorified training Federation cowering in the shadow of the Classic clubs