On the morning of Friday 25th July two cars, with caravans in tow, set off for the now standard Allsorts hour & a half journey to Tai Lawr, Anglesey, well to be more accurate approx. 6 hours. Andy, Tina, Rebecca with Ben & Honey opted for the picturesque route up the A5. Kay, Rachel & I with Ollie, Abby, Monty, Rosie & Biscuit (Labrador), holidaying with us for the fortnight, opted for A31 & A55 via Chester.
Tai Lawr was in a secluded spot and down a narrow winding lane with a challenge of a narrow gate incorporating a 90 degree turn for those silly enough to take a 26' twin axle caravan. The PODS had also laid out a driving course around the flyball rings. The ground condition for camping was 'soft' (to say the least).
We were racing on the Saturday in Div 4 seeded 5 in a 6 team division. This gave us 5 races and with 5 dogs it meant each dog missing one race. Monty drew the short straw and had to have a different handler each time. Handlers were Kay, Rachel, Tina and myself, with Andy being box loader.
Race 1: Allsorts 'v' Killa Bytes (seed 4) Res. Ben Rosie had a run round problem and Monty a couple of early passes all resulting in us losing 3-0 (26.11 (L), 30.25(L), 30.42(L)).
Race 2: Allsorts 'v' Tricky Tykes (seed 1) Res. Abby Lost first leg with Ben having an early pass. We pulled back the second, but lost the last two to lose 3-1 (N/T(L), 21.21(W), 22.04(L), 22.18(L))
That saw the end of racing for the first half , we would not be back in the ring until 7pm for the second session.
Race 3: Allsorts 'v' PODlers (seed 3) Res. Monty No mistakes and good racing. Won 3-0 and a good way to start the evenings racing. Ollie gained his FDi on the last leg. Well done to him and Rachel. (20.40(W), 20.73(W), 20.79(W))
Race 4: Allsorts 'v' Maple Leaf Rockies (seed 2) Res Rosie Could we manage another win? Again no mistakes although Ben knocked the first hurdle over on the last leg but he recovered to take the leg and we recorded a 3-0 win. (20.31(W), 20.24(W - and the best time of the day), 21.95(W)).
Race 5: Allsorts 'v' Fun 4 Mutts (seed 6) Res. Ollie Our last race, and was a hat trick possible? No mistakes in the first two legs giving us a 2-0 lead. Ben dropped the ball on the way back in the 3rd leg meaning he had to run again. Had we asked too much of him? Both teams had a light but quick re-run of Ben gave us the 3rd leg and the hat trick for the evening session. (21.85(W), 21.30(W), 27.00(W))
The Tykes beat Maple Leaf Rockies in the last race of the div, giving us 2nd on count back and in the rosettes, well slate coasters to be exact. Then it was down to the beach for a well-deserved cool off.
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were free for sight seeing etc. The weather turned to rain and strong winds on Monday & Tuesday. How they ran multibreed, I do not know. Tuesday evening we attended the BBQ in the barn.
Wednesday the weather changed again, to being warm and sunny in time for our next competition. Allsorts was seed 2 in a 7 team Div 4. We were racing in Ring 2 with the Mad Mutts new lights. It was decided to leave Ben out of 2 races.
Race 1: Allsorts 'v' Giga Bytes (seed 6) Res. Rosie Made this more difficult than it needed to be, by having early passes in legs 2 & 4. Won 3-2 so a good start (21.15(W), 32.19(L), 20.54(W), 25.85(L), 20.72(W))
Race 2: Allsorts 'v' Fun 4 Muts (seed 4) Res Ben First leg we won with our best time of the day of 19.67. Some early passes ensured we lost our next 2 legs. Could we pull it back? Took the next to make it 2-2. Another early pass in the decider gave us a loss 2-3. (19.67(W), 26.88(L), 25.97(L), 20.44(W), 27.58(L))
Race 3: Allsorts 'v' Hillam Hot Shots (seed 5) Res Monty An unknown team to us, who ran as Hillam Hot Dogs in Div 2 on Sunday, but this would be a weakened team. Even with some early passes, we won 3-1. This was our last race of the morning session (21.65(W), 25.93(L), 22.12(W), 25.87(W))
We then had a long break until the second session.
Race 4: Allsorts 'v' Maple Leaf Rockies (seed 3) Res Ollie Won the first leg, but lost the 2nd & 3rd. Ben was getting tired so Ollie came in to replace him. The next 2 races we won to take the race to 3-2. (21.27(W), 21.27(L), 27.02(L), 20.52(W), 21.44(W))
Race 5: Allsorts 'v' Yorkshire Racers (seed 7) Res Abby Another new team to us but we had no mistakes to take it 3-0. (21.97(W), 21.84(W), 21.88(W))
Race 6: Allsorts 'v' Killa Bytes (seed 1) Res Ben This we lost 3-1 with Rosie having a few run rounds and Abby a double false start in leg 3. (27.35(L), 21.52(W), N/T(L), 27.06(L))
With 4 wins out of 6 we ended up in 4th place and some more slate coasters.
Wednesday was a busy day as I judged Div 2, while Andy was on ring party duty. Kay and Rachel were also busy helping out the Buccaneers. Rachel ran their start dog and Kay was box loader.
Thursday the rain had returned and was another day for sight seeing. (After having helped Andy of the Buccaneers and some of the Northern Bytes to get their caravans out of the soft ground.)
Friday was packing up and hoping we could get the caravans out of the holes they had sunk into during the week. No problems there so it was off to Devon for Andy, Tina & Rebecca, and back to Wiltshire for the rest of us. A happy but tired band of flyballers.