BSCC - News

Leighton Buzzard Hasler (18 Jul 2021)

18/7/2021

A dozen Stortford paddlers faced fiercely hot weather to compete at the Leighton Buzzard Hasler, and came back with seven gold medals and two silvers.

On the 12 mile course, Joe won Div 2 in a time which was less than a minute under the promotion time to Div 1.

Mike & Chris won their doubles race on the 8 mile course, and Jacque & Dave repeated their success at Norwich to do the same on the 4 mile course.

Tom B and Edward took the top two positions in Div 9, despite Tom stopping to help Edward recover from a capsize, in a perfect demonstration of the sportmanship which runs through kayak racing. Edward's finishing time confirmed his transition into Div 9, despite being under 14.

Three members of the Klumpler family were competing for the first time, with particular success for Oliver who won the remaining gold medal of the day for the club in Div C, one of the new u14s divisions. As a consequence he has now been promoted to Div B.

Others taking part in their first race to great credit were Karen (Div 9) and Jasper (Div C). Oliver and Jasper also raced a second time to take bronze in the mini-K2 race.

There were 89 competitors at the event, drawn from 7 Eastern Region clubs and 5 clubs from further afield, including a strong showing from Banbury.

SINGLES -
12 miles, 6 portages
Div 2: Joe Fitzpatrick 1st (1:37:17)
4.5 miles
Div 9: Thomas Barton 1st (45:13 adjusted), Edward Kirtland 2nd (45:32), Karen Bradley 4th (46:50), Jaroslav Klumpler 6th (48:01)

DOUBLES -
8 miles, 2 portages
Div 4: Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze 1st (1:10:51)
4.5 miles
Div 8: Jacque Cayford & Dave Cayford 1st (41:20)

GEOFF SANDERS (u14) -
2 miles
Div B: Emilie Klumpler 5th (32:15)
Div C: Oliver Klumpler 1st (20:30), Jasper Kirtland 2nd (21:19)
K2: Jasper Kirtland & Oliver Klumpler 3rd (20:09)

The full race results have now been published.

Photos courtesty C Sze & F Klumpler

Nationals (10-11 Jul 2021)

12/7/2021

Seven members of the club went to the National Marathon Championships at Reading, most taking part in both K1 and K2 classes across two days of racing.

Everyone did well at this prestigious annual event, but none more so that James Smythe who came 5th out of a field of 26 in his singles race and partnered Stuart Dunn to a Gold Medal in doubles.

25.2km, 2 portages
SMK2: Joe Fitzpatrick & David Gurney [CLM] 15th (2:09:54)
SMK1: Joe Fitzpatrick 12th (2:00:10)
U23 SMK1: David Gurney [CLM] 13th (2:03:10)

12.6km, 1 portage
O44 VMK2: James Smythe & Stuart Dunn [IND] 1st (56:32)
O44 VLK2: Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling [MAI] 4th (1:08:26)
O49 VMK1: James Smythe 5th (59:58)
O49 VLK1: Kerstin Queeney 5th (1:15:37)

8km
O54 VMK2: Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze 15th (39:23)
O59 VMK1: Chris Sze 9th (41:46)
O64 VMK1: Gordon Bullock [BAD] 7th (45:41)

See full results here.

All photos by Chris Sze

Norwich Hasler (23/5/2021) & Reading Circuit (30/5/2021)

31/5/2021

The first Eastern Region Hasler to go ahead since the autumn of 2019 was held by Norwich on 23 May, and was attended by a small team from BSCC. You can tell how chuffed these three are to be back racing from their expressions!

There are no club points being awarded this year due to the pandemic.

19.5km, 2 portages
Div 2: David Gurney (CLM) 5th (1:33:55), Joe Fitzpatrick 6th (1:39:47)

13km, 1 portage
Div 4 doubles: Gordon Bullock (BAD) & Chris Sze 3rd (1:06:35)

Photo courtesy Chris S.

6.5km
Div 7: Kerstin Queeney 5th (37:08)
Div 8 doubles: Jacque & Dave Cayford 1st (38:27)

The Norwich website has the full (provisional) Norwich results.

Three club members also went to the Reading Circuit Race on 30 May and competed with success.

12 miles, 2 portages
Div 2: Joe Fitzpatrick 4th (1:36:15)

8 miles, 1 portage
Div 4 doubles: Gordon Bullock (BAD) & Chris Sze 4th (1:06:09)

The Reading CC website has the full (provisional) Reading results.

Chris's videos of the races can be seen here:

Leighton Buzzard Winter Series marathon (26 Jan 2020)

27/1/2020

Eighteen Stortford paddlers made the long trip to Leighton Buzzard for the penultimate race of the Winter Series.

Edward and Libby each won silver medals in boys and girls u12K1 respectively, and there were bronze medals for Chris (Vet M K1), Kerstin (Ladies K1), Jamie & Jamie (Jr K2) and Josepha & Malcolm (TC2).

8 miles (2 portages):
Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Ian Abrams 9th (1:19:08), Jacque & Dave Cayford 11th (1:25:38)
Vet Mens K1 - Chris Sze 3rd (1:16:17), Mike Toomey 7th (1:20:14)

6 miles (2 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 5th (1:11:56)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 3rd (1:03:52)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 3rd (1:02:58), Catherine Robinson & Kayleigh Gaulton 5th (1:17:34)

4 miles:
TC2 - Josepha Wallbank & Malcolm Duckworth 3rd (50:51)
u14 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 4th (49:16)
u14 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 4th (51:35)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 3rd (54:52), Libby Gaulton 5th (57:12)

Hosts Leighton Buzzard put out a strong team and were very close to being the overall winners on the day, but the winning spot went to Chelmsford CC by a single race point. Stortford were third on the day, which means that BSCC now stands third in the WS league table behind Leighton Buzzard.

BSCC were again the team winning most points from unranked juniors so have consolidated our lead for winning the Dick Grieve trophy.

Full race results and individual series positions can be found on the FRA website.

A few photos are can be seen in Angela's Flickr album and Chris has added a video of his race to You-Tube

Chelmsford Winter Series marathon (12 Jan 2020)

15/1/2020

Chris & Richard put in another good performance at Chelmsford and were the fastest Vet team in the senior K2 race.

Jamie & Jamie were delayed by stopping to rescue a capsized paddler, but still took silver in the junior K2 class, in which they seem set to win the series trophy.

Edward took the bronze medal for u12 boys and Libby the silver for u12 girls.

Malcolm & Josepha are now locked in a tussle with a Barking crew in TC2 to see which of them is going to get one of the coveted series glasses.

8 miles:
Senior K2 - Chris Sze & Richard Winstanley 4th (1:00:47), Jacque & Dave Cayford 14th (1:19:06)
Vet Mens K1 - Mike Toomey 9th (1:17:35)

5 miles:
u16 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 8th (59:02), Tom Holloway 9th (1:01:26)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 4th (53:06)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 2nd (1:03:09), Catherine Robinson & Kayleigh Gaulton 3rd (1:05:06)

3 miles:
TC2 - Josepha Wallbank & Malcolm Duckworth 3rd (28:35)
u14 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 5th (26:38)
u14 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 4th (26:37)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 4th (30:38), Libby Gaulton 5th (31:27), Hudson Loveday 10th (36:14)

Stortford were first on points won by unranked juniors (Tom Barton, Tom Holloway and Jack Gaulton being our high-scorers here), so we remain at the top of the Dick Grieve league.

The winning club were Chelmsford CC, with Leighton Buzzard second and BSCC third. This leaves BSCC and Leighton Buzzard neck-and-neck for overall second place in the series. There are two races to go - one of which is the Leighton Buzzard home event, so we shall have to put out a good team for the next two races if we don't want this to slip through our fingers.

Full race results and individual series positions can be found on the FRA website.

A few photos are can be seen in Angela's Flickr album and Chris has added videos of his race to You-Tube

Cheshunt HYMB Winter Series marathon (15 Dec 2019)

17/12/2019

Chris & Richard made a formidable crew in the senior doubles race at Cheshunt, taking the bronze medals in a very impressive 52:44. Mike P & Alasdair also put in a great performance to secure 5th place.

In the under-12s class, Edward won the boys bronze medal and Libby took the girls silver.

7 miles (4 portages):
Senior K2 - Chris Sze & Richard Winstanley 3rd (52:44), Mike Panrucker & Alasdair Bruce 5th (58:33), Ian Abrams & Gordon Bullock [BAD] 7th (1:00:34), Jacque Cayford & Dave Cayford 12th (1:09:22)

5 miles (4 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 5th (54:23)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 4th (44:56), Catherine Robinson 8th (1:04:51)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 1st (46:19)

3 miles (2 portages):
TC2 - Malcolm Duckworth & Josepha Wallbank 4th (32:20)
Boys u14 K1 - Jack Gaulton 3rd (30:15)
Girls u14 K1 - Eilidh White 4th (32:00)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 4th (34:09), Libby Gaulton 5th (36:06)

There was an excellent team result for the club, with BSCC taking a convincing 2nd place behind Chelmsford. This places us in second place overall in the Winter Series league behind Chelmsford CC - but only one point ahead of Leighton Buzzard CC. With LBZ's home race still to come, retaining that lead is not going to be easy.

We were also second at Cheshunt for points scored by novice juniors, which means that we are currently in the top position for the Dick Grieve trophy.

See a league table and a link to the full results on the results page. A few photos are can be seen in Angela's Flickr album.

Cambridge Winter Series marathon (1 Dec 2019)

2/12/2019

The Cambridge race saw a record number of Class 9 entries (long distance K2/MC2), necessitating a split start. Amongst the 30 boats participating were Stortford's Mike P & Chris, who were the first SuperVet crew to finish and Ian & Gordon, who were the first UltraVets.

Jamie M & Jamie G were the only Stortford paddlers to bring home gold medals, winning the junior K2 race for the second time in succession.

Alex found himself the only novice paddler amongst some much more experienced competitors in Boys u16 but, nothing daunted, he achieved a very respectable time. Kerstin was again the fastest lady SuperVet.

Malcolm seemed to be particularly delighted to be back in a Canadian, as he showed Josepha just what trusty old "Victoria" can do in the right hands. The TC2 class seems to be regaining its old popularity, and the bronze medals won by the pair came after some very close-fought competition.

7 miles (4 portages):
Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze 8th (1:10:41), Ian Abrams & Gordon Bullock [BAD] 11th (1:11:54)

5 miles (4 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Alex Mulvey 5th (1:10:46)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 5th (1:01:24)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 1st (57:45), Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson 4th (1:25:27)

3 miles (2 portages):
TC2 - Malcolm Duckworth & Josepha Wallbank 3rd (34:30)
Boys u14 K1 - Jack Gaulton 7th (32:27)
Girls u14 K1 - Eilidh White 4th (33:03)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 5th (37:09), Libby Gaulton 7th (39:17), Hudson Loveday 12th (43:17)

B. Stortford were fourth overall, behind Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC and Leighton Buzzard CC. We were third on Dick Grieve points (scored by novice juniors) behind The Royal Hospital School and Cambridge CC. See a league table and a link to the full results are on the results page.

Some photos are on Angela's Flickr album. Chris has also put up a video of the race on You-Tube, which you can see on the Videos page.

B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (3 Nov 2019)

6/11/2019

Twenty-two paddlers turned out for the club's home race - including a welcome return for Joe Surrage. All the more welcome for securing a gold medal in the Vet Mens K1 race! Mike Toomey won the new fastest UltraVet medal in the same class.

Also on the long course, Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze put in a good performance to come 8th in a strong field of 17 boats, and were also the fastest SuperVet crew.

On the middle distance course, Jamie M & Jamie G again proved a strong pairing as they rocketed to victory in the u16 K2 class. Kerstin won bronze in the ladies race but was also the fastest lady vet.

There was also a silver for Libby in the u12s as the 2nd fastest girl, and a bronze for Edward K as the 3rd fastest boy.

Brand new club member Thomas B acquitted himself well in his first race, in which he found himself pitted against an unusually large field of very experienced competitors.

7 miles (6 portages):
Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze 8th (1:07:13), Jacque & Dave Cayford 14th (1:22:45)
Vet Mens K1 - Joe Surrage 1st (1:02:53), Mike Toomey 7th (1:13:19), Kevin Warbrick 9th (1:17:18)
u18 Boys K1 - Connor Higgins 5th (1:13:57)

5 miles (3 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Thomas Barton 11th (1:12:04), Alex Mulvey (ret)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 3rd (55:45)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 1st (55:11), Maddison Loveday & Catherine Robinson 3rd (1:13:20)

3 miles (1 portage):
TC2 - Josepha Wallbank & Jo Brewer 6th (46:36)
u14 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 5th (33:14)
u14 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 4th (35:07)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 3rd M (37:33), Libby Gaulton 2nd F (38:14), Hudson Loveday (ret)

Ten clubs entered teams. Stortford came second overall, behind Chelmsford and ahead of Leighton Buzzard. We were joint first with Chelmsford for Dick Grieve points (based on performance by novice juniors only).

Full race results are on the FRA website. See photos of the Stortford race in Angela's Flickr album

Chelsmford Hasler (20 Oct 2019)

23/10/2019

The 2020 Hasler season got off to a good start at Chelmsford. Although the Stortford team (21 in number) was small by the standards of a couple of years ago, it was the largest team we have put out to an away race in the past year - and over half of those who went came home with a trophy!

Connor and Kerstin paired up to win Div 6 doubles with a time which also beat most of the Div 5 doubles crews as well.

Other awards went to Jacque & Dave (1st in Div 8 doubles), a 2nd for Jamie G & Jamie M (2nd in Div 7 doubles), and Catherine & Maddison (3rd Div 9 doubles).

Well done to our four Lightnings who all won trophies in their respective classes!

Although no Stortford paddlers made the podium in Div 9 singles, the race saw some exceptional results. Jack (technically still a Lightning himself) came 6th out of the 24 competitors, and new team members Alex and Tom H gave sparkling debut performances.

Connor's mum Jo also raced for the first time, partnering Josepha to a 4th place in Division 9 doubles.

DOUBLES -
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 6: Kerstin Queeney & Connor Higgins 1st (1:20:36)
3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Jamie Gaulton & Jamie McAdam 2nd (31:53)
Div 8: Jacque Cayford & Dave Cayford 1st (34:38)
Div 9: Catherine Robinson & Maddison Loveday 3rd (42:29), Joanna Brewer & Josepha Wallbank 4th (52:24)

SINGLES -
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 5: Mike Toomey 10th (1:26:35)
3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Malcolm Duckworth 11th (34:49)
Div 9: Jack Gaulton 6th (38:20), Alex Mulvey 9th (39:46), Eilidh White 11th (40:57), Thomas Holloway 12th (41:06); Kayleigh Gaulton 18th (44:50)

LIGHTNINGS
2km
u12 Boys: Edward Kirtland 2nd (24:05)
u10 Boys: Hudson Loveday 3rd (20:33)
u10 Girls: Libby Gaulton 1st (20:08), Genevieve Wilson 2nd (20:44)

There were 181 paddlers at this event drawn from 9 clubs in the Eastern Region plus some independents from further afield.

Overall we scored 221 points and came a very respectable 4th. Chelmsford CC were the winning club (234 points) with Leighton Buzzard CC 2nd (232) and Norwich CC 3rd (228).

See

STOP PRESS: Jamie G has been promoted to Div 7!

Club revitalised by £14K grant funding

4/10/2019

We are delighted to announce that we have recently been awarded two major grants to help the club introduce more people to the exciting sport of kayak racing. The first grant of £9600 of National Lottery funding comes from Sport England and this has already funded the purchase of five beginner racing kayaks and is supporting three volunteers in taking coaching qualifications.

A further £4400 is to follow from an East Herts Council Community Grant towards the purchase of five more kayaks suitable as follow-on racing boats. Together, these will enable the club to run a programme of beginner training with the aim of tempting people into joining the club and taking up the sport regularly.

BSCC is strongly focussed on kayak racing on rivers and canals ("flatwater racing"). This often appeals to those who have not settled into the more mainstream sports, delivering a unique blend of serious competitive challenge with the perennial fun of "messing about in boats". It is equally accessible to both sexes and a very wide age range, making it ideally suited to family groups. Personal fitness need not be high at the outset, but canoeing delivers a great deal of exercise to those who participate regularly.

A new group of juniors begin training at the club

Racing requires a particular type of kayak.The grant has enabled us to purchase four extra boats of the most stable kind, suitable for new paddlers. From here, the beginners can gradually progress to lighter and sleeker craft which are harder to balance but can go faster. But the equipment alone is not enough - the magic ingredient is hours of teaching by racing coaches who can pass on the skills and techniques needed to master the sport.

Unfortunately, both have been in limited supply at the club of late. A shortage of coaches brought recruitment into the club to an almost complete stop in 2018. A record number of people were keen to come along, but the club simply did not have enough coaches to teach new paddlers as well as training existing ones. Like most racing canoe clubs, BSCC is 100% volunteer-powered, and it typically costs in excess of £700 for a coach to became qualified - often at their own expense.

Club chairman Andy White said: "We are delighted to have secured this investment to enable us to support our volunteer coaches - qualified coaches are the heart of the club, and without them we cannot thrive. Having the new beginner equipment will allow us to teach brand new paddlers in groups of similar ability which will be more efficient for the coaches and more fun for the participants".

Thanks to the smart new boats provided by the Sport England National Lottery grant, and with the new trainees already acting as assistants to established coaches, the club is now offering weekend beginner courses for adults and older teens new to the sport, and a programme of four taster sessions on Sundays for youngsters (usually age 10-15).

A two-day Starter course took place in September and there will be another in October - a third may take place in November depending on demand and the weather. More will follow in the spring. See our Join Us page for scheduled dates.

Participants on a weekend Starter course in September

The club is hugely grateful to Sport England and East Herts Council for their support - and of course to everyone who plays the National Lottery.

Anybody interested in giving kayaking a go should contact the secretary so that we can get you along to the club as soon as possible.