Racing Pigeon Pictorial International — No 5521

On Friday July 8th, I arrivedat the Francisco SaCarneiro International

Airport in Porto, the third busiestAirport in Portugal. This modernterminal provides an impressivelink to the urban cities ofEurope, with a network ofinternational and domesticflights plus metro and direct cityto city bus links.

We were met by Mr Rui Repaswho is the race co-ordinator forthe Portuguese Racing PigeonOrganisation, along withAlexander Engstler from Austriawho was the Technical Supportassistant for the Electronic

Timing System trapping systemsponsored by Benzing and thePortuguese Benzingrepresentative Phillipe Junior.

A group of International fanciershad already been enjoying someexcursions and local sightseeingfor the two days prior to the racearound the Mira district. Mira is acoastal town, which sitsdelicately exposed between theAtlantic coastline, with its idyllicsilky sand beaches on one sideand ancient pine forests and alagoon on the other. Of themany European areas I havevisited this certainly is one of themost beautiful scenic places,

especially when you add this toits profound historic and culturalwealth. The sightseeing trips hadincluded a trip along the Aveirocanal, a Portuguese pastryworkshop and the Alegreporcelain factory and chapel.

The accommodation for theweekend was a traditionalPortuguese style hotel, set intranquil surroundings on thebanks of the beautiful Ria deAveiro lagoon, The Hotel Quintada Lagoa, was the perfectlocation and setting to get a real

Lee Fribbins

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feel for the Portuguese flavourof local life. The hotel hostedbeautiful walks around thelagoon, a sandy beach on itsbanks as well as relaxing pooland bar areas, eveningentertainment and a beautifulromansque style function roomfor the Saturday evening prizepresentation.

The race itself had attractedentrants from Portugal, Belgium,Holland, Germany, Spain,

Hungary, Italy, Greece, France,Romania, Switzerland, Argentina,Qatar, Norway, Croatia, Slovenia,Kuwait, United Kingdom andAustria.

The loft was one of the best Oneloft race environments I hadvisited, very spacious, with goodairflow, plenty of light withaviaries running the full lengthof the loft. The most striking

factor to me was plenty of roomfor the birds to feel at ‘home’rather than cramped, darkovercrowded sections. This lofthad the perfect design and in myopinion the most importantreason the training and racingschedule had been a success withlosses kept to a minimum despitethe weather causing some of theplanned training to be limited orreduced in distance.

The Friday afternoon and race

marking went smoothly, the 869pigeons were race entered bylocal volunteers of thePortuguese Federation and alladjudicated under the watchfuleye of Internationalrepresentatives from Unionsaffiliated to the FCI. The UnitedKingdom representatives Mr LesBlacklock RPRA President andVice President Mr David Higgins,both applauded in their

comments to me the good softfeather plumage and wingcondition, the weight of thebirds and overall fantasticgeneral health.

The Saturday morning and thebirds were released fromDogueno in the South ofPortugal. A distance back to theloft of 342km. The temperaturewas 20 degrees and was onlygoing to get hotter with a slightnorth westerly headwind to

contend with, a testing race wasanticipated with the leadingpigeons expected to takebetween 5 and a half to 6 hoursto cover the race distance. Iarrived at the loft at 10.30 andalready a good number offanciers had amassed with avibrant festive party atmosphere,with many food and drink stallsdoing a bustling trade and agrowing anticipation as to what

time the race winners wouldarrive.

I managed to spend a fewminutes with the President ofthe Portuguese Federation MrJose Luis Jacinto who explainedthat the annual MiraInternational One loft race hadbeen now taking place for thepast 20 years, its popularity clearto see with between 1000 to

1500 fanciers and friends inattendance by 11.30.

I complimented Jose and histeam on their excellent planningand organisation for the race.Jose, explained that the race wasabout two key factors. Firstly, thepigeons, the main prioritiesbeing their welfare, having aproper clean loft environmentand also a happy home. Thisstruck me as one of the mainreasons that this race wassucceeding when many fail after

a few years, good pigeons, goodhealth, good fitness means agood race will ensue. Jose andthe team were full of smiles andenjoying the company of theirfriends and internationalcolleagues, rather than stressingabout poor pigeon returns or abad race. They knew they haddone their hard work and thepigeons would repay theirdedication and commitment. The

second major factor Jose statedwas about the fanciers andfriends who Jose describedalways had an enjoyable day,with a festive atmosphere, withplenty of drink and food to passthe beautiful Portuguese summerday by.

By 12pm the atmosphere hadturned to one of greatanticipation and an electricnervous feel as the birds weremoving ever closer to the loft. Alleyes were focused no longer on

the beer glasses but a fixation tothe South as everyone wanted tobe the first to see the winningbird or birds arrive.

A few false alarms managed toget the butterflies within thestomach racing, but then at12.40 a whistle shrieked from themain loft manager as 11 pigeonsdived from dots in the heights ofthe Mira Skyline straight on to

the loft. The pigeons hadcovered the 342km distance inexactly 6 hours. A silencesurrounded the waiting crowd asthe first pigeons past over theBenzing finish line. The crowderupted and then fell quicklysilent once again as theannouncement on the big screenwas anticipated.

The overall winning pigeon POR6062104/16 was owned andraced by proud owner PauloJorge Moreira Martins and was

Racing Pigeon Pictorial International — No 5523

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officially clocked at 12.41.01,with ten countries making up thetop twenty race positions.

This race included many classifiedrace results: 1. The FCI Grand Prix

Ace Pigeon RankingEuropean Team Ranking

2.The European ChampionshipAce Pigeon Ranking

3.European Youth ChampionshipAce Pigeon Ranking

4.National Champions leagueAce Pigeon Ranking

A delegation of FCIrepresentatives were on hand inthe control room to oversee theclocking system and verify thepigeons in to the various racecategories as they entered theloft.

The pigeons continued to home

all afternoon, batches of fives,sixes, sometimes up to a dozen. Itwas a good working day race,the birds never dried up whichagain shows the condition andhealth the birds were in andagain compliments to the loftstaff and management needs amention.

A lunch was provided allafternoon in a delegation tentoverlooking the loft and arrivals.A thoroughly enjoyable eventwith the sun shining, fantasticcompany, good comraderybetween the different countriesand an opportunity to sit andrelax watching what we all enjoymost. The return of pigeons totheir home.

The evening was a real socialgathering, with a full five coursemeal, drinks and speeches from

the Portuguese President andofficials of the race and from theEuropean FCI representatives.

A truly enjoyable weekend withexcellent organisation, fantasticplanning and above all, asuccessful race. Thank you to thePortuguese Pigeon Federationcommittee, FCI delegates. I lookvery much forward to seeing youat next year’s event.

The UK has limited space forentries in next year’s race. If youare interested in sending a teamplease contact Carly Huggins, TheRacing Pigeon, who will sendyour details to the race organiseron 01206 843456.

A full list of the race results canbe found at:www.fpcolumbofilia.pt

Lee Fribbins

Top 10 Individual Results

Top 10 Ace Pigeon Results

Top 10 Team Results