Old News
2011 I Love NY Flyball
Another club record bites the dust as the Weston Whirlwinds
Lightning posted a blistering 17.7 seconds at the
"Buffalo
Wings I Love NY Flyball" tournament on October 22
and 23 in Batavia, NY. The team of Bella, Krave, Mattingly,
and Torre left it all on the mats as they battled Buffalo
Wings and Dogtown for bragging rights in Regular 1. In the
end Lightning placed third but not before giving the other
teams a run for their money.
Another ace handler in the family? Maybe so! Sebastian,
handling Jeter by himself, helped the Buffalo Wings vets
team take second place in their division. In the process
Jeter ran a 5.1, faster that we've seen him run in a long
time (we heard that Sebby got Jeter to run so fast by
whispering "Nomar is better" in his ear but that's
probably just a rumor). This was Sebby's first time running
a dog all by himself; we hope to see more of the same in
the future.
In Open 4, Canine Mastery Jumpmasters Good Times, featuring
Winston from Weston Whirlwinds and Parker from No Speed
Limit, placed third in their division. A good time was
had by all!
In pumpkin carving news, Weston Whirlwinds snagged the prize
for the Scariest Pumpkin. Unfortunately there are no
pictures because the photographer was frightened away!
A big thanks to Buffalo Wings for running such a great tournament.
We look forward to having a rematch against them at
the Santa Paws tournament in Farmington in December.
2011 CanAm Classic
3 days, 12 races, 2 titles, 1 First Place, 1 perfect start -
that was the 2011 CanAm Classic for the Weston Whirlwinds
Hurricanes, held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in
Indianapolis, Indiana from October 7 through 9, 2011. The
team placed 3rd in Multi 2 on Friday, 1st in Multi 3 on
Saturday (while winning all 5 of their races that day), and
3rd in Multi 2 on Sunday. Torre and Remi both earned their
FMX titles, while Mattingly (handled by Kevin from Buffalo
Wings) recorded a perfect start.
We owe a big Thank You to the Buffalo Wings, who helped us
with Boxloading (Joel and Ailsa), handling (Kevin and Toby), pass
calling (Toby and Kathy), and ball shagging. We couldn't have
done it without you!
The team traded Welcome Baskets with the
Barkaholics, who
traveled to Indianapolis from Sarasota, Florida. The trading
of baskets was a new addition to CanAm this year, something
we hope becomes a tradition.
And then of course there was the entire CanAm experience. The
weather was excellent and the racing was - well, at times it
was beyond exciting. Watching the CanAm Championship Final race
between Rocket Relay and Instant Replay was worth the trip
in and of itself; the race went to five heats, with the
final heat ending in a 15.565 second tie. Rocket Relay
won the championship on a tiebreaker, having run the
fastest heat - 15.299 - during the race. The only thing
that could have made it more exciting was if the World Record
had been broken - maybe next year!
A video of the event can be seen
here.
Stills of the event can be seen
here and
here.
2011 Somerville Dog Festival
A good time was had by all at the
Somerville Dog Festival, Sunday September 18 in Conway Park.
We ran three demo races of three on three and the crowd seemed
to enjoy it, even though the dogs were thoroughly confused by
the wide open spaces. The weather was excellent, and it
was fun watching the other demos at the fair. We look forward
to doing it again next year!
Survivor 2011
Weston Whirlwinds Hurricanes placed 1st in Multi 2 while
Lightning placed 3rd in Regular 2 and Northern Lights
placed 3rd in the Veterans division at the Survivor 2011
tournament on September 3-4 in Foxboro, MA.
Hurricane Irene roared through the region the previous weekend,
and there was some question whether power would be
restored at the Mass Premier Courts in time for the tournament.
Much to the relief of all, repair crews brought
power back on the day before the tournament.
At the tournament both Wish and Coal made great strides in
their Flyball careers - Wish ran his first full time slot,
earning his FDCh in the process, while Coal earned his FM.
Congratulations to both dogs and to their handlers Susan
and Paula!.
A video of the tournament can be seen
here.
Pictures of the tournament can be seen
here
and here and
here.
Foto Finish 2011
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning, consisting of Mattingly, Krave,
Torre, and Addie, smoked the competition at Fetch 'n Fly's
Foto Finish 2011 tournament on August 5-6 in Henrietta, NY,
scoring impressive victories in every one of their races
while coming in first place in the Regular 1 division. The
humidity was high but the thunder and lightning held off
until the end of what was ultimately a very relaxing
tournament for the team.
Weston Whirlwinds Howlin' Hurricanes, running in the Open 2,
finished very respectable third place. The team, consisting of
Sting from HOWL, Parker from No Speed Limit, One from HOWL,
and Remi from Weston Whirlwinds, gelled quickly and gave the
competition a run for their money, including very exciting
5-heat races at the end of each day against the ultimate
first place finishers, 2 Fast Fur U's Challengers. Junior
Handler Neveah, in her second Flyball tournament ever, did a
great job running Sting in start. We look forward to seeing
Neveah at more tournaments in the future.
Jeter, running on Buffalo Wings' veterans team "Classic Racers",
participated in a bit a history by helping Monica Johnny's
dog Jiffy earn her FGDCh-70. What an accomplishment that is!
Pictures of the tournament can be seen
here and
here.
Videos can be seen
here
and
here.
Barkaritaville 2011
The weather outside was hot but the air conditioning was
cool as the Weston Whirlwinds fielded three teams -
Lightning in Regular Division 1, Hurricanes in Open 2, and
Northern Lights in Veterans - at A.R.F.F's
Barkaritaville Tournament, July 30-31, 2011 at
Mass Premier Courts in Foxboro, MA.
Wish ran on both Lightning and the Hurricanes and officially
made the transition from "in training" to "active". He's
going to be a great Flyball dog. And on the vets team,
Skye came out of retirement to relieve Toby, who was feeling
stiff after recovering from a bout of anaplasmosis. Good
work Skye!
Pictures of the tournament can be seen
here and
here.
A video can be seen
here.
Jump for the Stars 2
The weather was chilly but the dogs were hot as Weston Whirlwinds
Lightning ran a club record 17.804 seconds at the
Boston Stragglers Jump for the Stars 2 tournament at
Gemini Dogs in Littleton, MA, June 10-11, 2011. The
team of Bella, Krave, Mattingly, and Winston ran admirably
all weekend in spite of (or maybe because of) the drizzly
weather. Torre even made a cameo appearance for the last
two heats of the tournament when Bella came up lame.
Krave earned her FM while Winston earned his FMCh.
Pictures of the event can be seen
here
Seekonk Flyball Grand Prix
Weston Whirlwinds Hurricanes placed first in Multi 2, while
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning placed third in Regular 1 at
the Seekonk Flyball Grand Prix, May 21-22 2011 at
Sherwood UltraSports in Seekonk, MA. This was a new
venue for Region 13 Flyball, and everyone greatly
enjoyed the soft turf surface of the facility.
Lauren and Krave posted a perfect start while running
for the Lightning.
Pictures of the event can be seen
here
and here.
A video of the event can be seen
here.
Flyball at the Fairgrounds 2011
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning ran a club record 18.17 seconds
while placing third in the Regular 1 division at the New
England Trailblazers Flyball at the Fairgrounds Tournament at
the Franklin County Fairgrounds in Greenfield, MA, April 30 -
May 1, 2011. This was the first time the club ran a team with
three Border Collies and their showing was impressive. All they
need is some time to practice, and watch out, Region 13! The
team of Bella, Torre, Krave, and Mattingly was truly something to
see; we look forward to more great things from them in the future.
Weston Whirlwinds Hurricanes placed a very solid second place in
the Open 3 division, losing out to Long Island Road Rage on the
third tiebreaker during what was a very long tournament for some
of the older veteran dogs. Nice work team!
Also of note: Mattingly earned his ONYX; Addie and Liz,
while running for the Hurricanes, posted their first ever
perfect start.
Spring Fling 2011
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning scored an impressive 1st place
victory in the Regular 2 division at Maine Coast Runners'
Spring Fling tournament in Dover, NH on April 9-10, 2011.
The team was solid, consistent, and fast, recording a club
record time of 18.4 seconds, as well as earning the highest
point totals of any team in the tournament - 830 points out
of a possible 900. Bella, Krave, Torre, and Addie ran
perfectly in 32 out of 36 heats and partially recovered
(enough to get them points) on 2 of the remaining 4. Very
impressive!
A video showing passes from one of their races can be seen
here.
Weston Whirlwinds Hurricanes managed a very respectable 2nd
place in the Open 2 division. The team of Mattingly, Coal,
Winston, and Remi (with a little help from Krave) ran well
most of the tournament and helped Wish run his first
official heats and earn his FD. Nice going team!
Weston Whirlwinds Northern Lights was a little
short handed as one of the dogs that was supposed to race
with us had to pull last minute. So the team was Scarlet,
Jeter, Nitrous (from Ruff Enuff) and Toby with Skye as the
emergency relief. There was a lot of pressure on this team
to be clean to get the 259 points Jeter needed to earn his
30K title. The first race of the day started out perfect -
3 clean heats all under 24 - and it looked like that title was
going to happen quickly and we would be able to dig into the
cupcakes. Well it got a bit interesting after that but no
worries - in the second to last race of the tournament in
the last heat of the race we got the final points to get the
title and the celebration began!
The teams were helped by Junior Handler Sebby, who did it (almost)
all - ball shagging; helping to run Bella, Krave, Winston, and Jeter;
and even learning a little about box judging. Good work, Sebby!
Titles earned:
Wish - FD
Torre - FM
Bella - FM
Scarlet - FMX
Jeter - FGDCH-30K
Pictures of the event can be seen
here and
here.
Mardi Gras - the Hangover
Thanks everybody for a great Hangover! Pictures from the
tournament can be seen
here and
here. Video can be seen
here.
Mardi Gras Madness 2011
56 teams from 23 clubs participated in Weston Whirlwinds'
Mardi Gras Madness 2011 tournament February 19 and 20, 2011
at the Central Massachusetts Expo Center in Fitchburg, MA.
Even though the weather during the tournament was good (if a
bit cold and windy), the snowy winter took its toll as the
60 degree temperatures during the days leading up to the
event caused the roof of the Expo Center spring numerous
leaks, causing one of the rings to be relocated not once but
twice, the second time on Saturday morning just as racing
was about to begin. But everybody jumped in and in a flurry
of activity that was truly impressive to watch the lanes
were untaped, moved, and retaped in record time - 20 minutes
by one reckoning. Our thanks go to all the competitors who
helped us with the move; without you we couldn't have done
it!
Our thanks also go to our co-hosts NASDOG, who manned the
soggy lanes; in addition to dealing with the relocation they
also had to deal with a half-broken EJS system which meant
that the line judges had to call early passes manually. Great
job NASDOG!
Pictures from the event can be seen
here »
A video from the event can be seen
here »
Mardi Gras Madness 2011 gear is still available at the
Mardi Gras Madness store.
Flyball MAINEia 2010
Pictures from
Flyball MAINEia 2010 can be seen
here »
CanAm Classic 2010
On October 8, 9, and 10, 2010, Weston Whirlwinds helped set a
Guinness World Record for the largest flyball tournament
ever when 810 dogs were recorded at the CanAm Classic tournament on
October 9. Mattingly, Jeter, and Torre made the trip to
the Indianapolis fairgrounds for three days of intense
racing which included Spring Loaded tying their world
record time of 15.22 seconds in the R-1 final.
Flyball Teez'R
Pictures from the Ballistics Flyball Team
Flyball Teez'R
tournament, September 25-26 2010 at the Franklin County
Fairgrounds in Greenfield, MA can be seen
here »
Survivor 2010
Survivor 2010, held at
Mass Premier Courts September 4-5 2010 in Foxboro, MA
was a real friends and family affair for the Weston
Whirlwinds, where we had visits from mothers, sisters,
aunts, uncles, cousins, husbands, children, friends, and
neighbors, many of whom had never seen Flyball before. We
even put some of them to work handling dogs and shagging
balls! A great time was had by all.
Lightning, consisting of Mattingly, Coal, Jeter, and Winston
with Rush and Bella as backups, was seeded last in Regular
Division 2 but managed to come in 3rd place with a best time
of 21.03. Coal had a little bit of a rocky weekend but
pulled it together for the last race so ended on a positive
note. Rush did a great job coming in for Coal and had
several clean runs; it was so exciting to see Rush having a
good time out there. Mattingly did a good job and had a few
near perfect starts, including a .003 that was spoiled when
the other team false started and a .002 that counted. John
did a fantastic job running Jeter at his first tournament as
a handler. Winston was still recovering from injuries at
his last tournament but seemed really excited to play so
that's a very positive sign. Bella also substituted a
couple times for Coal on Saturday and Sunday, so kudos to
her for pulling double duty!
Hurricanes, made up of Bella, Torre, Caine, Scarlet with
Mattingly and Ailis as backups, ran in Open Division 2.
This team was really solid over the weekend, posting some
great times in a tough division (fastest time of 20.45) and
ended up in 3rd place. Bella did great in the start
position, posting some good starts and some great overall
times including a bunch of 4.1's. Torre did an amazing job
- she ran clean all weekend, with best times around 5.2, and
was able to pass Bella without having to be thrown into the
lane. Caine was his ever consistent self and ran clean all
weekend with times around 5.0 which is great for the vet
dog. Scarlet had a great tournament. She was clean all
weekend and really served well as the anchor dog. We were
racing against some fast teams and she ran her heart out
trying to beat them. There were some really tight races
with this team where we either won or lost by just 10ths of
a second so it was exciting! Mattingly didn’t have to come
in at all for this team. Ailis didn’t race but had really
consistent warm-ups, leaving Renee from 2 jumps to go to the
box to get the ball. We will continue to stretch her out
and she will be racing someday soon we are sure!
Congratulations to all the guest handlers who helped us out,
including Cindy's sister Shari, Cindy's cousin Robbie who
helped Cindy run Torre for the last race of the day, and
Sebby who helped run Winston and Bella.
Pictures of the event can be seen
here »
Foto Finish
On August 7-8, 2010, Weston Whirlwinds Lightning attended
Fetch 'n Fly's Foto Finish tournament in Henrietta, NY.
Fielding just four dogs and three handlers, the team of
Torre, Addie, Mattingly, and Remi held it together for an
intense weekend of racing, coming in 2nd in the Regular 2
division in an exciting, down-to-the-wire finish that was
only decided at the last race of the day. This team had
never run together before so the first few races were a
little ragged, but after some lineup shuffling that put
Torre running start dog for the first time in her career,
the team managed a decent first day and an excellent second
day of racing, with only two N/F heats out of 18 heats total
that day and a fastest time of 20.690. Mattingly earned his
FMCh, Remi earned his FDCh-G, and Torre earned her FDCh-S.
In addition, Remi was elected to the "Green Team",
which was chosen from all the dogs attending that had
started racing since October, 2009. Congratulations to the
team and to the new title holders!
Weston Whirlwinds owes big Thank You's to Toby from Buffalo Wings,
who ran Mattingly (in addition to running his team, his dogs,
and judging), to Judy from Moonspinners, who did an excellent
job boxloading for the team, to Susan from 2 Fast Fur U for
lending us her EZ-up, and to Belinda from Moonspinners and
Kathy from 2FFU for calling passes. In addition lots and lots
of people helped us with ball shagging. Many thanks to all; we
couldn't have done it without you!
BARKaritaville
On July 31 and August 1, 2010, Weston Whirlwinds co-hosted
ARFF's
Barkaritaville tournament at
the Mass Premiere
Courts in Foxboro, MA. In addition to co-hosting, the
Whirlwinds fielded three teams - Lightning, with
Copper, Coal, Bella, and Torre running in the Regular 2
division, Hurricanes, with Mattingly, Scarlet,
Winston, Max, and Rush running in the Multibreed division, and
Northern Lights, with Sally (from Flyball MAINEiacs),
Caine, Toby, and Jeter running in the Veterans
division.
The veterans showed how it's done, running very consistently
and taking first place in a really tough Vets division (yes,
they even beat Ruff Enuff).
Going into the tournament there was some doubt about how
Lightning would perform. This was Torre's first
stint running full time, Bella had ripped a pad the previous
week, Coal sometimes has separation-from-mom issues, and
Copper has been skittish since his collision during the
Spring Fling tournament in April. Luckily the dogs held it
together and performed very well, even when the boxloading
was less than perfect (something about two balls in the
box at the same time, or so it has been reported).
The Hurricanes lived up to their name and proved
a little tempestuous, having problems with early passes,
dropped balls, and exiting the lanes. The high point
came at the end of the tournament when Rush came in for
Scarlet and had successful runs as start dog - and
had fun doing it! But then there was the incident of
the disappearing boxloader - perhaps the less said about
that the better, although it made for some interesting
moments in the lanes.
Congratulations to the dogs who earned new titles:
Rush - FDX
Torre - FDCh
Max - FDCH-Gold
Toby - FMX
Jump for the Stars
With a surprise late-day surge, Weston Whirlwinds Lightning
slipped into second place in Regular 2 by beating both
NASDOG and Canine Mutiny in the last two races of the day at
the Jump for the Stars tournament in Littleton, MA,
June 12-13 2010. The tournament featured a perfect start by
Angelica and Bella (0.000 FTW!) in a heat that ended up in a
tie with NASDOG (20.947 seconds). Bella, Addie, Winston,
Remi, and Toby performed admirably despite the difficult
venue and the uncooperative weather, which included periods
of steady rain on Saturday and fog and mist on Sunday. At
least the heat stayed away for the weekend!
With only four handlers each day, the team needed help to
get through the tournament and were ably assisted by our
friends from White Mountain Mayhem (Trish, boxloading), ARFF
(Kim and Annie, boxloading; Les, pass calling and ball
shagging), and Boston Stragglers (John, ball shagging), as
well as others. Our sincere thanks go out to all of them.
Spring Fling 2010
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning, consisting of Mattingly,
Coal, Max, and Remi, with a cameo appearance by Ailis and
backup by Addie, smoked the competition to come in first in
Regular division 2 at MCR's Spring Fling tournament in Dover,
NH on April 10-11, 2010.
The Hurricanes, consisting of Addie, Scarlet, Copper,
and Winston with backup by Mattingly, took second place in
Open 2. Copper had to be replaced by Mattingly after a crash
when a dog from MCR crossed over into his lane; he was OK
physically but bruised mentally. The high point of the
team's day was when Torre, who had been running warmups,
ran a perfect complete race and earned her FD. We look
forward to great things from Torre!
The Northern Lights, consisting of Caine, Toby,
Jeter, Fling (from MCR), and emergency stand-in Libby (from
NET), had a good time running in the Veterans division and
took 2nd place.
Both Coal and Remi earned their FDCh-S titles.
Pictures from the tournament can be seen
here.
Youtube videos from the tournament:
Vets
Lightning
Hurricanes
Everybody
Mardis Gras Madness 2010
2 days, 19 clubs, 48 teams, 2 rings, 247 races, 2 ties,
and 1 dead heat - that was Weston Whirlwinds
Mardi Gras Madness 2010, February 13/14, 2010
at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel and Trade Center
in Fitchburg, MA. The weather cooperated even if the
heating system didn't, and a great time was had by all.
Weston Whirlwinds teams Lightning
and Hurricanes matched their seeding by coming in
second and third in their divisions, even though
Lightning had some tense moments when they broke out
twice by almost half a second.
Congratulations to both teams and to all the dogs that
won new titles!
Pictures from the tournament can be seen
here.
Flyball MAINEia 2009
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning posted a club record of 19.447 seconds,
placing 3rd in a tough Regular 2 division at the
Flyball MAINEiacs
Flyball MAINEia tournament November 7-8, 2009 in Boothbay
Harbor, Maine. The team lost out to Ruff Enuff B on the
second tiebreaker but overall garnered 581 points. Toby and
Kirby shared a spot on Lightning, while Jeter ran on
CxM's Surrender the Booty and Bella ran on on MCR's
Run Fur Fun. Kirby earned his FDCh, Bella got her first
points, and up-and-comer Remi got another taste of single
dog racing. A good time was had by all.
See pictures from the tournament
here »
See a video from the tournament
here »
Batavia 2009
On October 17 and 18, 2009, Weston Whirlwinds Lightning
participated in the Buffalo Wings I Love NY Flyball tournament
at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. At the
tournament the team tried out the new
Dan Phillips
flyball box which Cindy Henderson won at the Can-Am
classic two weeks before. There were alarums and excursions,
there was angst and anguish, there was a dash across town in
search of white duct tape, there was a box malfunction, there
was a last minute adjustment session using borrowed wrenches
and adjustment instructions downloaded from the interwebs on
the iPhone. There were costumes and a pumpkin carving
contest, and of course there was plenty of Flyball action.
Kirby earned his FD and FDX while Mattingly earned his FMX.
Maria did an excellent job at her first tournament running
both Kirby and Jeter while also serving as the designated
pumpkin carver. The team ran very consistently and earned
over 700 points.
Poundhounds Demo
On September 20 2009, Weston Whirlwinds gave a Flyball demo at the
Poundhounds
Barktoberfest in Westboro, MA. It was an absolutely
beautiful day, and everyone had a great time. Some of the dogs
in training got in on the action - Bella and Remi both did
a great job running some heats; Torre just did some recalls
but those went really well also. All the other dogs - Mattingly,
Jeter, Toby, Addie, Ailis, and Winston - did a great job. Two of our
retired dogs, Skye and Tegan, got in on the action as well and did
fantastic.
See pictures from the event
here
and at
White Whiskers Photography.
Survivior III Tournament
Weston Whirlwinds Lightning took 1st place in Regular
Division 2 at CMJ's Survivor III tournament
on September 5-6, 2009, outlasting second place
NASDOG Need for Speed by one heat out of a total
of 36 heats. Congratulations to Mattingly, Max,
Addie, Winston, Rush, and Coal!
The Weston Whirlwinds Open team didn't fare so well, but
Ailis recorded her first points and earned her FD, while
Coal and Rush continued to improve. Great job everyone!
See
pictures of the tournament »
Fetch 'n Fly's Flag a Flyin' Tournament
The Weston Whirlwinds placed 4th in Regular Division 1
at the Fetch 'n Fly Flag a Flyin' tournament in
Henrietta, NY, on June 13 and 14, 2009. Mattingly, Jeter, Addie,
and Winston put up a valient effort but lost 3rd place to
Buffalo Wings Smoked by a tiebreaker. The team's best time
was 20.476.
See
pictures of the tournament »
