The opening race of this year's Winter Series attracted 120 competitors representing 13 different clubs, including a few from Tonbridge CC and Royal CC.
Despite all the heavy rain last month, the field dried out and was available for parking, and the weather on the day was perfect. Thankfully there were no fallen trees this year, so everyone was back on the usual course. The day went like clockwork, thanks to the hard work by all the club's volunteers - including some helping out for the first time.
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Kerstin was partnered by Catherine from Ealing CC to a second place in the Ladies K2, and Jacque & Dave won the First Ultravet medals in the mixed K2.
| 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.
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Although the Stortford team was somewhat reduced compared to last year, it was still enough to bring the club second place overall (126 points), behind Chelmsford CC (398) and ahead of Cambridge CC (105).
As there were only two novice juniors scoring points for the club (Rupert and Shehan), BSCC came third in the Dick Grieve league, behind Chelmsford and Leighton Buzzard.
