Ad Fortuin has been a well-known name in Dutch extreme long distance racing for many years. In 2019, for instance, he was the glorious winner of International St. Vincent (against 10,597 p.) and the year before he won 1st National Agen. Furthermore, many will know him as Supply Agent at PIPA. Thanks to his friend Hugo Batenburg, he fully switched to the extreme long distance races and each year a large number of eggs and/or youngsters are transferred from Hugo to the lofts in Strijen. We can call the lofts of Ad Fortuin a satellite loft of Batenburg v.d. Merwe (Klaaswaal). This year, with several tough extreme long distance races, the results where of an exceptionally high level. Besides the sensational result on National Perpignan on August 6th, there were many other top results and beautiful series. We will introduce several of the best racers below. As you will read, especially New Laureaat plays a big role in these achievements.
NL20-1481285 Mels, 1st National Perpignan (3,805 p.)
With an average speed of 1004 m/min, Mels won the 1st National and 2nd International Perpignan (12,094 p.). On 24th July, Mels also booked a top result on Marseille winning 84th National (3,312 p.). The father of Mels is super breeder Mat, son of Willeke (1st Int. St. Vincent '19). His mother is Miss Urk (v.d. Berg Pigeons, Urk). Mat and Miss Urk are the parents of a.o.:
2nd Int. Perpignan '22
13th Nat. Marseille '22
74th Nat. Marseille '22
84th Nat. Marseille '22
285th Nat. Narbonne '21
724th Nat. Narbonne '21
736th Nat. Pau '22
877th Nat. Agen '21
NL20-1481252 Sef, 3rd National Perpignan (3,805 p.)
2 hours after the winner Mels, Sef arrived with an average speed of 899 m/min taking 3rd National. Interesting to mention is that the 2nd National was won by Hugo Batenburg. Father of Sef is a son of New Laureaat (1st International Barcelona). Mother of Sef is Dght. Luna May (3rd Nat. Barcelona). Children of Son New Laureaat x Dght. Luna May performed the following this year:
17th Nat. Perpignan '22
83th Nat. Agen '22
153th Nat. Agen '22
170th Nat. Agen '22
The 12th National was won by Guus (NL20-1481246, Guus is again a grandson of New Laureaat. Besides this 12th National, he won 32nd National Agen as a yearling.
The 17th National was won by Yent (NL20-1481233). Yent is...another grandson of New Laureaat and a full brother of Sef. Mother is Dght. Luna May and father is a son of New Laureaat.
The fifth early pigeon on National Perpignan was Maradonna (NL20-1481282), who took 29th National. Maradonna is, as you could guess...another grandson of New Laureaat, this time paired to Willeke (1st Nat. St. Vincent '19). This cock honors his name fully. Just like Maradonna wasn't fond of training and relied on his talent, this cock flies to the neighbor's chimney when let out to train and watches his loft mates train for a full hour. When the pigeonflyer is turned off, he is the first to be back in the loft. However, it must be said that he, just like his namesake, shines when it counts. Maradonna has already won the following prizes as a 2 year old:
799th Nat. Pau '22
37th Nat. Tarbes '22
29th Nat. Perpignan '22
As mentioned above, there were also several top results on other extreme long distance races:
NL21-1178424 Yfke, 3rd National Narbonne (6,260 p.) (and 3rd International)
Yfke manages to take an absolute top result as a yearling, winning 3rd National Narbonne against 6,260 pigeons. That she is a talented racer is no surprise when looking at her pedigree. Her father is a son of Special One (1st Int. Barcelona) and her mother is a daughter of New Laureaat (12th Int. Barcelona).
NL21-1178402 Joep, 3rd National SII Bergerac (5,655 p.)
On a distance of 829km, Joep was clocked in the morning at 08:04. With an average speed of 1232 m/min. he took 3rd National Sector II against 5,655 pigeons. Being a grandson of New Laureaat, Joep won the following prizes as a yearling:
27th Nat. Bergerac 25,618 p. '22
159th Nat. Agen YL 6,174 p. '22
NL20-1481150 Faas, 13th National Marseille (3,312 p.)
On the tough edition of Marseille, Faas managed to fly to a 13th National. After the pigeons were released in Marseille at 07:00, he arrived on the lofts in Strijen at 21:52:00 after having flown 944km with an average speed of 1057 m/min. Faas is a full brother of Mels (1st Nat. and 2nd Int. Perpignan '22) and thereby a son of Mats x Miss Urk.
NL21-1178481 Venus, 15th National Agen YL (6,174 p.)
The last pigeon we will introduce in this article is the hen Venus (half sister Maradonna). As a yearling she won 15th National Agen and this year she was also good for a 123rd National Narbonne. In her magnificent pedigree we find the phenomenal New Laureaat on both mother's as on father's side.
Lastly
On Perpignan, Ad managed a result that seemed impossible. With a 1st and 3rd National, 8 pigeons in the Top 100 and 18 pigeons arriving on the day of release you may say to have dominated the result. Even more impressive is to see that pigeon friend, and base loft Hugo Batenburg also achieves a phenomenal result. There's more...the international winner of Cuffel Pere & Fils (FR) is a 50% Batenburg v.d. Merwe pigeon.
Ad says the following when asked how he looks back on the race; "The two podium spots are the most beautiful, but the arrival of Maradonna gives me goosebumps. He dives straight onto the antenna through a 30x30 centimeter hole, where all the other pigeons walk to after having landed. He is without doubt the most special pigeon I have ever had."