Twenty-three paddlers from Stortford took part in the Leighton Buzzard race with largely excellent results. The warm weather had brought out all the recreational paddlers and narrowboats on the Grand Union Canal, causing a significant extra challenge, especially at the second turn, where there were a particularly large number of narrrowboats.
Joe and Eddie won Division 4 doubles race with ease.
| Most of our team were racing on the 4.5 mile course. Libby and Kayleigh paddled together in the Division 9 doubles race and won silver. A good start kept them in the lead to the first turn and although a minor mishap here saw them finish in second, they were very happy with their performance as they had never crewed a boat together before! Ewan & Arthur entered the Division 8 doubles race (paddling up) where they came in hard on the heels of Jacque & Dave, who won bronze. The best singles result of the day came from Tom B, who won the Div 7 race in a close finish. |  |
 | The new members of the team - John, Tamzin and Miller, all successfully finished the race. John did especially well, sprinting across the line in a dramatic photo finish with a Chelmsford paddler to take joint 5th place. DOUBLES - 8 miles, 2 portages Div 4: Joe Fitzpatrick & Eddie Kirtland 1st (1:05:22), Mark Adams & Kerstin Queeney 5th (1:08:58) 4.5 miles Div 8: David Cayford & Jacqueline Cayford 3rd (42:18), Ewan Gowing & Arthur Catmur 4th (42:27) Div 9: Kayleigh Gaulton & Libby Gaulton 2nd (42:59), Jasper Kirtland & Finlay Sandall 4th (48:57) |
| SINGLES - 4.5 miles Div 7: Tom Barton 1st (40:32), Jack Gaulton 6th (42:44), Jaroslav Klumpler 7th (42:51) Div 8: Petr Luksan 11th (45:53) Div 9: John Catmur 5th (46:55), Karen Bradley 7th (47:53), Miller Kitchener 13th (53:28), Tamzin Catmur 14th (54:20) Under 14s (Geoff Sanders) 2 miles Div B: Rupert Kirtland 6th (22:52), Oliver Klumpler 7th (24:41) Div C: Emilie Klumpler 6th (28:13) |  |
Bishops Stortford CC were fourth overall at this race, behind Leighton Buzzard CC (1st) and Norwich CC and Chelmsford CC who tied for second place. This left Leighton Buzzard and Norwich in equal top position in the Eastern Region league - the winner of the Eastern Region trophy will be resolved at the final race of the season at Bishops Stortford. The final positions after the Stortford race will also determine which four clubs from the region will qualify to go to the National Finals in September.
See also
