The 61-year-old Akersloot fancier has been a household name in Gran Fondo Marathon pigeon racing for decades. He has won numerous head prices on flights of more than 900 km and has frequently remained at the top of the podium in major national and international competitions on the European circuit. Kaptein is a carpenter by trade and for several years has served the well-known Brügemann family from Assendelft in their cheese market. Ijsbrand began his first steps in pigeon racing when he was 12 years old, thanks to a cousin who had pigeons and introduced him to sports circles. He always kept the loft at its current address, the mother’s house.

Recently, Ijsbrand has the help of his neighbor Tijmen Soeterbroek. Tijmen became interested in pigeons at age 10, when he saw pigeons arriving from some flights. But it was at 16 that he started to really get involved in the sport, and now he shares his passion with Ijsbrand.

1.- Can you give us some details of your facilities, please?

The facilities are simple, but very spacious for the number of pigeons we handle. The main building is the former stable of the family. The upper part consists of 4 departments of 9 meters long and at the bottom it has 2 departments for the reproducers with large aviaries, and an important hole for the baskets, feed and for some carpentry work. On the right side they have a 6 meter long garden loft and at the back of the farm they have another 5 meter long loft for the pigeons. All facilities have a wooden grating, together with a thick layer of sepiolite on the floor that is usually renewed 3 or 4 times a year. The nests and perches are cleaned once or twice a day. The facilities look clean and fresh, well ventilated, and there is good weather for the pigeons. However, differences are clearly perceived between the barn’s barn departments, reminiscent of the old Brügemann brothers’ loft; while the dovecote in the garden is inspired by the installations of Cees van der Laan.

The pigeon loft behind the barn looks like that of my friend Jan Roelofs, with little ventilation. All the departments have similar pigeons and all of them breathe good weather. So what’s the best? …… I don’t know, although I love the pointy cubicle of the barn. People say that this cannot be a loft, but the truth is that pigeons are very comfortable in it. I often jokingly call it … the worst loft in the Netherlands.