Robert, who has been easing himself back into marathons after many years absence from racing by taking part in the 3-mile WS class over the winter, paddled in Div 7, where he slotted in very nicely.

Well done to Jack, who successfully completed his first Hasler race!

All three of our Geoff Sanders paddlers won awards, with a first place (in A) for Rupert and second places (in B and C respectively) for Benjamin M and Sophie who were both taking part  in their first race. Benjamin did especially well against a large group and has been promoted from B to A already!

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
3km
Div A: Rupert Kirtland 1st (22:31)
Div B: Benjamin Middleton 2nd (22:46)
Div C: Sophie Middleton 2nd (28:27)

The courses on the Grand Union Canal are slightly longer than at most venues in the Winter Series, as the 16 Stortford paddlers taking part must have been acutely aware as they battled against the wind and the driving rain.

Jasper collected his fifth gold of the season, and has also received a promotion to Div 4. Ben T won his fourth gold, and there were also golds for Summer and Petr.

Silver medals went to Libby and Kerry T; there were fastest SuperVet medals for Karen & Chris, fastest UltraVet medals for Jacque & Dave, and a fastest Lady medal for Zoe.

8 miles:
K2 Men - David Gurney & Eddie Kirtland 6th (1:11:16)
K2 Mixed - Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 5th (1:24:35)
K2 Ladies - Karen Bradley & Christine Meula 2nd (1:18:24)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:24:40)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:24:30)

6 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (58:23)
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 2nd (1:07:02)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:09:20)

4 miles:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (40:20)
C1 Novice - Petr Luksan 1st (51:16)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (53:57)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (1:25:51)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 5th (53:00)

BSCC were third overall in the series, a single league point behind Cambridge CC. Chelmsford CC were the inevitable overall winners.

The Dick Grieve Trophy is based on a separate league table calculated exclusively on the the points won by unranked juniors (i.e. Div 9 and below). Stortford were trailing a long way behind Chelmsford CC, but a long-standing rule that the trophy cannot go to the club which wins the overall cup meant that it passed to Stortford, with Leighton Buzzard CC not far behind.

The other club cup in the WS - the Bob Porter Trophy  - goes to the club with the greatest participation in the under 12s classes across the series. This was easily won by Chelmsford CC. Leighton Buzzard were second and Stortford a close third.

On the longest course, Kerstin & Catherine were second in Ladies K2, and received the fastest SuperVet medals - their time would also have brought them a silver medal in the Mens K2!  David G executed a great performance in the Senior Men's class against a large and very strong field to finish 5th. Both Eilidh and Eddie fell foul of the rule which limits medals according to the size of the entry, so did not get medals for their 2nd and 3rd places.

8 miles:
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:05:06)
K1 Sen Men - David Gurney 5th (1:03:08)
K1 Sen Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:17:31)
K1 u18 Men - Edward Kirtland 3rd (1:07:41)

Ben secured his third win in the SuperVet Men's class to take gold - the club's only entry on the middle distance.

5 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (43:34)

On the shortest course, Petr won gold in C1, and Rupert a bronze against a surprising number of u12s given the state of the weather.

The largest class of the day was the K1 Open - with 11 paddlers competing even after a couple of entries had cancelled - Jack put in a very creditable performance to finish 8th.

3 miles:
C1 novice - Petr Luksan 1st (29:36)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (29:15)
K1 Open - Jack Law 8th (30:46)

12 km:
K2 16+ Mens - Eddie Kirtland & George Hampton [CLM] DNF
K2 16+ Mixed - David Gurney & Eilidh White 2nd (1:11:43); Jacque & Dave Cayford 6th (1:31:47)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:13:05)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:27:24)

8 km:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 2nd (50:34)

4 km:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (24:40)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (31:38)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (45:50)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 3rd (33:40)

The Cambridge race was attended by 14 Stortford paddlers. Though not cold there was rain throughout most of the event, though this did not seem to dampen anyone's spirits.

Gold medals went to Ben T, Jasper and Summer, each of whom are now leading the series points in their respective classes.

Joe won silver in Mens K2 with Scott from Barking. Kerstin and Ealing partner Catherine, who also finished second in the Ladies K2 won the medal for First Supervets.

Robert is now getting back into the stride of racing, winning silver in the Open K1 class, having come within a second of taking the gold.

There were well-deserved bronze medals for Libby and Rupert - in Rupert's case he was facing the largest group of under-12 boys seen for some time in a Winter Series race.

Jamie W, the only junior amongst the 12 competitors in Open K1, achieved an impressive 4th place, and also making a big contribution to the club's Dick Grieve points (for unranked juniors).

7 miles (4 portages):
K2 16+ Mens - Joe Fitzpatrick & Scott Leblanche [BAD] 2nd (1:01:58)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:11:38)
K1 Senior Men - David Gurney 5th (1:06:33)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 3rd (1:28:45)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:24:45)

5 miles (4 portages):
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (53:05)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 3rd (1:03:24)

3 miles (2 portages):
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (27:15)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (34:15)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (51:20)
K1 Open - Robert Gough 2nd (29:38), Jamie Winstanley 4th (32:35), Zoe Norford 8th (36:02), Jack Law 10th (36:25)

Claudia just pipped Kerstin to a silver medal in the SuperVet Ladies K1.

5 miles (1 portage):
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 2nd (51:55), Kerstin Queeney 3rd (51:57)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 4th (58:47)

On the shortest course, Jasper was the victor in u14 Boys race and won a well-deserved gold. Rupert put up a determined fight and to secure bronze in u12 Boys.

Each taking part in their first race were Summer and mum Zoe. Summer was rewarded with the Gold medal for u12 Girls. Zoe reported that they had both enjoyed it and will do more!

3 miles:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (27:21)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (36:46)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (45:18)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 9th (38:35)

BSCC was joint 4th with Leighton Buzzard CC, behind Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC and Barking & Dagenham CC. Although disappointing it was fairly inevitable, given the small size of the team.

The largest class at the event was the SuperVet Men's K1 on the 5-mile course, which was won by Ben T, with Claudia taking the gold medal in the equivalent Ladies class.

Jasper and Rupert were both gold medal winners in their respective classes on the 3-mile course

The total number of Canadian canoes of all types participating was up slightly, and this race also saw two entries by SUP paddlers - a first for Stortford and for the Winter Series.

Petr took the opportunity to try out his new canoe with outrigger, which presented an interesting challenge when it came to the portage!

Two of our newest recruits, Shehan and Jack, had their first taste of racing, taking advantage of the new K1 Open Class on the 3 mile course. Robert, who is just getting back into the sport after many years away from the club, also opted for this class and won bronze.

Peter W went straight into the SuperVets class on the 5 mile course for his first race. Kerry H took on the 7-mile course - her longest distance yet - as a Vet Lady. Both clocked up very respectable times against some very high-calibre competition.

7 miles (6 portages):
K2 16+ Mixed - Jacque & Dave Cayford 6th (1:21:06)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL]
K1 Senior Men - David Gurney 6th (1:04:06)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 1st (1:24:13)
K1 Veteran Ladies - Kerry Tubby 3rd (1:21:32), Kerry Hoar 4th (1:46:36)

5 miles (3 portages):
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (46:47), Peter Winfield 10th (1:09:33)
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 1st (53:09)
K1 u16 Boys - Jamie Winstanley (DNF)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 6th (58:54)

3 miles (1 portage):
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (27:40)
C1 Novice - Petr Luksan 1st (39:24)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 1st (37:52)
K1 Open - Robert Gough 3rd (31:48), Shehan Sheikh 7th (40:41), Jack Law 8th (41:43), Alex Scott 9th (41:51)

The Mayor of Bishop's Stortford, Richard Townsend, kindly came along to give out the medals.

There was a good turnout of 22 Stortford paddlers amongst the 155 competitors at this race. Building works caused the start to be moved from its usual position to under the A138 bridge.

David G and Joao each won third place trophies in their respective singles races.

There were particularly large numbers of singles paddlers in Divisions 7 and 9, resulting in split starts and the initial prospect of an unusually high number of automatic promotions and double promotions (though these have been subsequently moderated in the final results). Jamie has been promoted from Div 7 to Div 6, and Daniel who was also paddling in Div 7 must have  come very close.

Petr's decision to paddle up into Div 8 in his C1 paid off for him as it gave him a less overcrowded start line, and he finished with time to score points.

SINGLES -
12 miles, 10 portages
Div 3: David Gurney 3rd (1:31:52), Kat Wilson 6th (1:36:02), Eddie Kirtland 8th (1:39:11), Ben Tubby 10th (1:41:04)
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 4: Joao Spinola 3rd (1:17:14)
3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Jamie Bond 7th (30:30), Daniel Baines 14th (32:26), Karen Bradley 17th (33:20)
Div 8: Petr Luksan 6th (39:06), Finlay Sandall 8th (39:22)
Div 9: Kerry Hoar 20th (42:26)

Jasper, currently Div 5, demonstrated how far he has come over the last year by partnering Joe in Div 3 K2 and completing the 12 miles and 10 portages with ease.

DOUBLES -
12 miles, 10 portages
Div 3: Jasper Kirtland & Joe Fitzpatrick 1st (1:37:03)
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 4: Mark Adams & Steve Tingay [LBZ] 2nd (1:17:51)
Div 5: Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd (1:17:22), Claudia Redeker & Kerry Tubby 5th (1:20:25)
Div 6: Eilidh White & Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:22:46)
​3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 2nd (31:15)

The overall winners were Chelmsford CC  (600 pts), 2nd BSCC (582) and 3rd L. Buzzard CC (579).

See also

• Results on the Marathon website
  
• Eastern Region Hasler League to date 
• Race photos in Angela's Google album

We were blessed with perfect weather. The club's volunteers and social committee laid on a good a good spread of cakes and tasty BBQ, so must take much of the credit for the success of the day.

Other volunteers timed the repeated runs of 500m, 200m and 100m that were made in groups of 3 in singles boats.

Results for Stortford paddlers:
u10 Boys - Alfie Azuga (bronze)
u12 Girls - Tilly Sell (gold)
u12 Boys - Rupert Kirkland (bronze), George Griffiths (6th), Toby Judge (7th)
u14 Girls - Libby Gaulton (gold)
u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland (silver), Jamie Winstanley (5th)
u16 Boys - Eddie Kirtland (gold)
Senior Men - Jamie Bond (silver), Alex Scott (bronze)
Veteran Ladies - Kerry Hoar (silver)
Veteran Men - Robert Gough (gold)
SuperVet Ladies - Christine Meula (gold)
SuperVet Men - Petr Luksan (4th)
C1 - Petr Luksan (silver)
PaddleAbility - Alex Scott (gold)

See

• The full results (FRA website)
  
• Photos (Angela's Google photo album)

Jasper Kirtland was racing in the Boys D class for the first time, and had a very successful meet, winning his 200m heat, and coming 3rd in Final 3 (49.62), and finishing 4th in his 500m heat, again coming 3rd in Final 3 (2:24.29). 

The Boys D class was incredibly competitive, with 7 or 8 heats and 3 finals in each race. Jasper joined forces with older brother Eddie Kirtland, racing up in the Boy’s C class K2 200m. They came 3rd in their heat to qualify for the final, but the effort took its toll, and they finished in 9th place in the final race (47.26).

Also competing for the club were Jamie Winstanley in the Intermediate Boys class 500m K1 race, where he finished in 7th place (2:46.38), and Rupert Kirtland in the Mini Sprint B class (for under 12s), where he finished 7th in his 500m K1 heat (3:17.88). Both were in very competitive classes!

In the Paddle-Ability class, Oliver Klumpler finished 2nd in both K1 200m races, the first  male and first junior paddler to finish in both races. He also achieved a PB of 58.96 in his first race, and promotion to a higher Paddleability time band.