Northamptonshire Ramblings

I wonder how many fanciers studied the various weather web sites leading up to basketing for the first BICC Channel race, and reached the decision not to send. It’s hardly a wonder the English have this reputation for talking so much about our climate when it is as varied as it is. On the Wednesday prior to May 1^st, four different and established weather sites were forecasting three different wind directions for the Saturday, and between the Met office and XC weather you could choose between ENE and SSW in this area. As they say - “you pay your money and you take your choice”. However many of those fanciers who did not send must have wished they had, when Saturday May 1^st, turned out to be a cracking day for a Channel race with light westerly winds and big high fluffy white cloud. The weather that had been forecast clearly detracted from both the BICC local send and the Northamptonshire Championship Club, with the BICC marking at Ringstead being some 45% down on last year with 195 birds. In the NCC eleven members sent 97 birds to this 240 (approx) mile Channel opener. The BICC released at 8.00 am and birds were expected to match the velocities earlier in the morning of those birds racing from Poole with the Harrowden Fed and from Portsmouth with the Northampton SRFC ~ i.e. around 50 and 45 mph respectively. This prediction was almost spot on with Andy Smith clocking two of his widowhood hens at 12.48 to record 1459 & 1458 - a clear ten minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Albert Farrow clocked two minutes before the five hours was up to take third and was the only other NCC member to break 1400 with Barry & Troy Hobbs fourth on 1399. With forty birds on the result and less than 200 yards separating the first 25, and with everyone reporting good returns it perhaps proves that weather-watching prior to the race can be a risky exercise.