UkPigeonRacing

Does anyone know the purpose of this rule. Gotta admit to being totally piss3d off with it.
Last Bicc race was a holdover. Heldover until the day of my little grandaughters bitlrthday party.
This coming bicc race looks like it could also be a holdover when it is my wifes birthday and she has planned a family picnic.
Its bad enough that I will likely miss my birds coming home, let alone have a bird disqualified for not verifying within 30 mins.
Apart from causing me a whole load of anxiety, all the rule seems to do is take any flexibility and benefit out of the ETS system.
Surely it cant be just me that enjoys a family life outside of pigeons?

The rules are very easily added, but very rarely taken out!

The rule is there to stop people attempting to fiddle as you are aware or at least should be. There are ETS systems that can be connected to your mobile phone to inform you when your bird arrives so that you can verify remotely, for non ETS users it’s tough luck if no one’s there then verification can’t happen, I used to get around this by having a friend stand in for me when I flew on my own.
We all have lives outside the sport, it just depends what your priorities are.

Bowbroom wrote: Wed Jun 04, 2025 11:58 am The rule is there to stop people attempting to fiddle as you are aware or at least should be. There are ETS systems that can be connected to your mobile phone to inform you when your bird arrives so that you can verify remotely, for non ETS users it’s tough luck if no one’s there then verification can’t happen, I used to get around this by having a friend stand in for me when I flew on my own.
We all have lives outside the sport, it just depends what your priorities are.

Again I agree (getting to be a habit) Your either racing pigeons or your not. If you can't be there don't send. In my younger days I missed many birds arriving from races, made worse by working shifts.

I get why the rule is there, but these days with the ETS systems the security is far far better than clock have ever been, so far more unlikely to be interfered with.

I also work shifts, so I also occasionally miss out on seeing birds return. However as I'm sure we all know, racing pigeons is not just a weekend sport, and we look after them every day, so for some of us, not being there to see them home is unfortunately part of it, but seeing the race sheet results, we still know it was worth it!

My family know that Saturday is race day so thry never organise anything on Sat. Instead they organise things for a Sunday.
I get that I wont see my birds come but in the event of a holdover I think that the 30 min rule could be dropped or should be able to phone the sec and say dont disqualify my bird as I will be at a wedding or whatever.

Make a proposition to the BICC AGM to remove the rule, if you get sufficient support you’ll get what you want

Diamond Dave wrote: Wed Jun 04, 2025 6:35 pm My family know that Saturday is race day so thry never organise anything on Sat. Instead they organise things for a Sunday.
I get that I wont see my birds come but in the event of a holdover I think that the 30 min rule could be dropped or should be able to phone the sec and say dont disqualify my bird as I will be at a wedding or whatever.

Dave, if you were able to phone the sec and make an excuse to why you couldn't verify, what would be the point of having a Verification rule?

Ah. I didnt mean on the day of the race King. I meant at the time of the announcement of the holdover - the day before. Or send an e.mail.
I didnt really consider it as an 'excuse" as you put it but more of a pre- determined agreement that you wouldnt be in a position to verify your bird within 30 mins because of the situation the holdover has put you in.
It would add a bit more flexibility to the rule.

- I guess that last sentence containing rule and flexibility is a contradiction in itself but was asking why the rule was needed in the first place.

If it looks like a holdover that might interfere with something you prefer to do then has been suggested don’t send