Before I get onto the result of the Tours Race I would like to let you all know the phone number of our secretaries Mr & Mrs Nicholson it is 01403266107 email classicclub@binternet.com if you have not had your paper work yet, please let Steve know and he will send it out to you. The new Web Site is http://www.londonandsoutheastcc.co.uk
David Hughes winner of 1st Open Tours
Now to the race - It was very hot and I bet a lot of fanciers got sun burnt waiting for the birds to arrive. First Open and 1st NW Section winner was D Hughes of Windsor on 1270ypm with a two year old cock, which was hatched from eggs he bought, and it is a Van El Sacker he feeds Verse - Laga champion. He has 36 widowhood cocks and 20 widowhood hens, he breeds about 50 young birds and they are bred in his garage, his loft is 15ft x 6ft and his garden is only 33ft long so not much room for another loft. He would like to thank the members of his club Windsor RPC for the help they all give to each other, they are a good lot of lads.
John & Sarah Willis winners of 1st SW Section Tours
Second Open and 1st SW Section J & R Willis & Family of Frimley doing 1263ypm, this, a yearling Cock bred from his own stock birds which came from Ian Benstead of Capel. He flies Natural and has been 1st Section BICC 6 times, he feeds mainly Beans, his stock loft is 24ft and two 18ft for racing, he breeds about seventy young birds and they stay natural as well, and don’t get raced. This is the part I hope I get correct the breed of this bird stems from Shepard Woodford who won his first race in 1899 which was five hundred miles. The parents the Sire was out of Gail Supreme which was 1st British Section Pau, its Dam was 18th Open Tarbes on the day, its grandparents were also International winners. John loves racing from five hundred miles or more.
Mark
In third place and 2nd SW Section on 1257ypm was Mark Gilbert from Windsor with a 3yr old De Weert x Jim Biss this was the son of the bird that won Mark the BICC Messac race last week what more can I say about this Gentleman of the sport as its all been said before except he is a little older since I last spoke to him.1st NE Section was won by M McAllister of Furneuax Pelham on 1101ypm this a 05 hen sitting eggs, the dam is from Granger & Worman Vandebeele and grandparents out of Magestic Star & My Girl he feeds Gems Best All Rounder and is a member of the BICC & NFC and sends his birds with the Thames North & South on a Saturday.1st SE was R Nicholls of Tilbury on 1117ypm who I was unable to contact the phone number I have is 01375845277 so Mr Nicholls could you ring me please so I can get a report in. I understand that the winner is pooled and has won the Unikon ETS system well done David.
Gary Dye
The next race is from Tarbes on June 19th Marking on Tuesday the 16th last years winner was Darren Mc Fadden of Cranleigh doing 1271. I will catch up with the second section winners later. Good luck to all for the Tarbes Race.
Listed below is the weather and convoyers report for Tours.
Weather Report
A view seldom seen over northern Europe from one the weather satellites showed clear blue skies over England, the channel and France. This set the scene for this LSECC race from Tours on Saturday. The emphasis was for an early liberation to take advantage the cooler conditions and lighter winds that were available at first light. Data arriving Saturday morning at 05:00 hours gave wind direction in the channel as east north east force 4 which is about 16 mph. This wind speed was sustained all morning although at times reached force 5 over the open sea. Having said that the winds were significantly lighter overland both over France and England. Visibility was excellent as far as the eye could see as supported from data received from the channel lightship. I continued to monitor the webcams positioned along the French coastline during the morning and skies remained almost cloudless. These weather conditions resulted in a fairly difficult race for the LSECC birds mainly because the east in the wind.
Steve Appleby.
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Convoyers Report
Collected all the birds from marking stations and thanks for all the assistance we received from the markers at each station. Arrived Portsmouth docks at 17:00 hours fed and watered the birds. As I was reliably informed of a calm sea crossing the water was left on for the birds over night for the ferry journey. Travelling to Tours we stopped for 2 hours and watered the birds again. Arrived Tours on Friday 12:00 hours and at 1300 hours fed and watered the birds. At this stage we needed to replenish the transports water system. We were able to do this with the help of Patrick, Eric and Stephen from one of the Belgium transports on site for which we were grateful. The birds rested well for the remainder of the day. Up at 04:00 on Saturday morning and contacted Steve for a weather report. He said that weather conditions were good but advised an early liberation to beat the rise in temperatures and wind increase over the channel. Liberated at 05:30 under clear blue skies. The birds broke into 2 batches and left the site immediately. Travelled back to Caen in good weather but on arrival looking out to sea could see the noticeable increase in the wind from the east. Thanks for the help from my assistant Steve and well done to all the winners.
Fred Healey.
PEDRO
01273709626
Peter.pigeon@ntlworld.com