| Recent heavy rain threatened to prevent us using the field for parking, but the day itself was dry and mild with a stiff breeze that helped to dry the ground. If anyone had been wondering why the clubhouse had been gradually coming to resemble a carpet remnant warehouse over the last few weeks, the answer was revealed. The car park marshals carefully laid down a large area of matting (provided by Wayne) to protect the most vulnerable area and we were open for business. It was just as well, as the turn-out was a good one, with 154 paddlers eventually booked in. |  |
| Many members donated cakes for sale including one from Kirsten featuring the club logo. Big thanks go to Herts Boat Rescue for coming along and providing on-water safety cover for the event, allowing club members to concentrate on marshalling the turns and other key points. |  |
 |  |  |
| Both first and second place went to Stortford in MC2, with Gary & Malcolm just pipping Paul & Richard to the post. There was another close finish between Murdo and Toby in u14 Boys to take gold and silver. On the long course there was a gold medal for Danny, silver for Big Joe & Matt, and bronze for Josh, in their respective races. Ella paired up with Maia from Leaside CC to set a new course record for an all-girl crew in the long K2 race. 7 miles: Senior K2 - Joe Surrage & Matt Parkes 2nd (58:53), Mike Panrucker & Alasdair Bruce 6th (1:07:19), Ella Beatty & Maia Wallace-Loizou 8th (1:09:20), Jacque Cayford & Dave Cayford 14th (1:22:59) Sen Mens K1 - Josh Young 3rd (1:03:56) Vet Mens K1 - Danny Beazley 1st (58:03), Kevin Warbrick 7th (1:12:16), Mike Toomey 10th (1:14:17), Ricky White 11th (1:16:13), Keith Goldthorpe 21st (1:56:02) u18 Boys K1 - David Dawkins 5th (1:27:58), Alex Turley-Pound 8th (1:34:18) 5 miles: u16 Boys K1 - Ben Goldthorpe 6th (1:20:44) Ladies K1 - Isabelle Gurney 4th (52:20), Emily Scott 5th (56:30), Octavia Chambers 6th (59:03), Kerstin Queeney 11th (1:04:10), Catherine Robinson 13th (1:18:58) u16 Girls K1 - Lexie White 4th (1:03:25), Jess Gaynor (retired) Marathon C2 - Gary Aldam & Malcolm Duckworth 1st (56:28), Paul Surrage & Richard Baker 2nd (56:40) |    |
| 3 miles: u14 Boys K1 - Murdo White 1st (30:57), Toby Booth 2nd (31:03), David Gurney 5th (34:10), Euan Caton 12th (41:50), Charlie Brunt 13th (47:37), Ollie Brunt 14th (1:06:36) u14 Girls K1 - Yazmin Layzell 3rd (37:39) Ladies GP - Deborah Cayford 2nd (44:33) u12 K1 - Rosie Whittington 6th (45:41), Jack Ward 7th (48:17), Eilidh White 8th (52:43), Ryewin Bridger 9th (55:13) |  |
Full race results are on the FRA website. The Mayor of Bishops Stortford, Daniel Abbott, came along to present the prizes. See photos of the Stortford race on Flickr and more from the Herts Boat Rescue team.
