Many highlights
Tjeerd & Jouke Elzinga have reason enough to look back on the 2022 racing season with pride. With victories against a large number of pigeons, a podium spot at the 'Nationale Eendaagse Fondspiegel' (national one day long distance competition) and many references, there was enough to celebrate. Especially on the long distance races, with distances above 750km, these men performed very well. With the following results in Afdeling 11 Friesland '96 North they took a podium spot (3rd) at the 'Nationale Eendaagse Fondspiegel' in Cat. 3 (category for fanciers basketing more than 41 old birds across 4 races);
11-6 Sens 591 km - 3603 p. 19-29-30-31-33-50-77-126-127-137-139-167-168-172-etc.(30/38)
25-6 Saulieu 669 km - 2381 p. 11-38-61-67-74-75-96-120-125-126-136-175-177-etc.(23/30)
9-7 Vierzon 720 km - 1846 p. 11-23-57-58-61-87-142-146-etc.(16/20)
23-7 Issoudun 752 km - 998 p. 1-3-13-17-18-19-32-45-58-60-73-etc.(17/20)
Daughters Blue Harry strike on final race from Issoudun
The last long distance race of the 2022 racing season was flown from Issoudun (752km). In Afdeling 11 Friesland '96 (North) 998 pigeons were basketed for this tough race. A total of 2,024 pigeons were competing for the NPO victory. In North, the victory (2nd NPO Afd. 11) went to Tjeerd & Jouke with their NL20-4215038 arriving at the lofts at 19:57 with an average speed of 1258 m/min across 752km. The 20-038 won the race in the 'Noordelijke Unie' (Zone 4) against 1386 pigeons. The winner is a daughter of super breeder NL15-1848864 Blue Harry (NL07-2007621 Harry Jan Hooymans x NL12-1783886 Daughter Harry). A quarter of an hour or so after the winner, the NL21-4220950 was clocked. She thereby took an impressive 4th place in the 'Noordelijke Unie' (Zone 4). The 21-950 was the revelation of the long distance season in 2022. She too is a daughter of Blue Harry and moreover, a granddaughter to icon NL17-4289807 Prince Esmee. With the following results the 21-950 finishes as 1st Semi-prov. Ace Pigeon Long Distance;
33rd Sens 591 km - 3603 p.
79th Sourdun 552 km - 4164 p.
126th Saulieu 669 km - 2381 p.
Victory Boxmeer against 7,574 pigeons with again a role for Prince Esmee
In the weekend that NL20-4215038 won the long distance race from Issoudun, her son NL22-4231022 wins 1st Boxmeer (District 2) against 7,574 pigeons. The 22-022 follows in his grandfather NL17-4289807 Prince Esmee his footsteps who has NPO victories from Sens (1st Nat. Sector 4 against 8,762 p.) and Morlincourt (1st against 8,939 p.) on his palmares.
Grandchild Prince Esmee becomes 1st Semi-Prov. Ace Pigeon
Another star of the 2022 racing team is the NL20-4215045. This granddaughter of Prince Esmee finishes 2022 with a total of 17 prizes and a.o. 1st Semi-prov. Ace Pigeon Allround (300 lofts). An overview of her titles in 2022;
1st Ace Pigeon Allround Rayon
3rd Ace Pigeon Midfond Rayon
5th Prov. Ace Pigeon Middle/Long Distance
Successes at Golden Algarve Race and AfrikaPro OLR
There were also successes at the increasingly populair One Loft Races for fanciers racing with Elzinga bloodlines. For instance, the NL22-81432200 (Grandson Prince Esmee), racing for Hendrik Wilpers won 5th Final Golden Algarve Race - Million Euro Pigeon Race. The final was raced from Braganca (505km) with 3,622 pigeons at the start. In the semi-final from Castelo Brance the 22-200 finished 11th against 4,275 pigeons.
Grandchild Hallilujah wins Race 3 at the AfrikaPro OLR
In the new, challenging, OLR AfrikaPro Premier One Loft Series the NL21-1504836 Yaro won Race 3 for Gerard Koopman against 631 pigeons (280km). Father from the winner is a son of NL15-1850078 Hallilujah (Son Harry J. Hooymans x Esmee). Hallilujah is a daughter to the phenomenal breeding pigeon Prince Esmee.
Impressive references
Jaap Scheele (Terneuzen, NL) houses a true crack on his lofts; the NL19-3908080 Adriaan. This phenomenon has received attention in an earlier article and has a.o. the 1st Melun Afdeling 1 Zeeland against 10,375 p. In 2022, Adriaan adds a second provincial victory to his impressive palmares from Melun, this time winning 1st Melun against 9,624 p. Adriaan is a grandson of NL12-1005204 Esmee who became 1st National Ace Pigeon WHZB-TBOTB for Tjeerd and Jouke. Esmee, as grandmother of Prince Esmee, lies at the foundation of many Elzinga successes.
National victory for Nicolescu Sorin
In Romania, there was another success with a role for the Elzinga bloodlines for Nicolescu Sorin. His RO 21-2022291 Revolution won 1st National Focsani (282km) against 14,000 pigeons. The father of Revolution is a grandson of Prince Esmee.
Gerard Koopman wins 8th NPO Issoudun with grandchild Prince Esmee
Gerard Koopman (Ermerveen, NL) achieves another top result with a grandchild of Prince Esmee. The yearling hen NL21-7051070 Ferona wins 8th NPO Issoudun in Afdeling 10 against 1,766 pigeons. Her mother is a daughter of Prince Esmee, who was paired with the phenomenon NL16-4784182 Manu of Gerard Koopman, who took NPO victories on Chateauroux and Bourges.
Strong foundation
In 2022, Tjeerd and Jouke prove once again that they house a solid foundation. Pigeons which not only help themselves, but also help others achieve top results. Moreover, the Elzinga pigeons also manage to shine at One Loft Races. These achievements will undoubtedly be continued in 2023...