The team of 26 who went to Cambridge this year was the largest BSCC had put out for any away event in over a year, and you would have to go back to 2018 to find a larger one.
Although the total attendance of 158 was lower than last year's 175, there were more paddlers competing from Eastern Region clubs than last year - the 2024 race included 30 out of region paddlers who are ignored for point-scoring purposes, whereas this year there were only a handful. The main Eastern Region clubs were all out in force, determined to ensure places at the national finals - perhaps spurred on by the shock of missing out on last year's finals (due to river conditions).
David G and Jasper successfully fought off a determined challenge by a mixed crew from Norwich/Falcon to win the Div 3 doubles race. Ben T & Rich must have been making good time when they were in the boat, as they were little more than seven minutes slower despite four capsizes.
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Oliver & Jamie W proved to be a good pairing and secured another doubles win for BSCC.
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Petr and Mark took the venerable C2 "Victoria" for a spin, and the grand old lady proved she has still got what it takes by carrying them to a 3rd place in Div 9.
There was a well-earned third place also for Karen & Christine in Div 7 K2.
 | DOUBLES - 21 km, 4 portages Div 2: Ben Tubby & Richard Winstanley 2nd (1:58:55) Div 3: David Gurney & Jasper Kirtland 1st (1:51:30) 14 km, 4 portages Div 5: Libby Gaulton & Claudia Redeker 8th (1:30:58) Div 6: Kerry Tubby & Jamie Bond 4th (1:33:50) 7 km Div 7: Karen Bradley & Christine Meula 3rd (38:15), Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 5th (40:26) Div 9: Oliver Klumpler & Jamie Winstanley 1st (43:10), Petr Luksan & Mark Adams 3rd (44:52)  |
Joao was the only singles paddler to win an award in the divisional race, after beating a Norwich paddler to third place in a photo finish.
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| 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! SINGLES - 21 km, 4 portages Div 3: Eddie Kirtland 10th (2:16:03) 14 km, 4 portages Div 4: Joao Spinola 3rd (1:25:53) Div 6: Eilidh White 6th (1:41:07) 7 km Div 7: Robert Gough 6th (40:42) Div 8: Finlay Sandall 4th (43:48), Robin Dromard 6th (48:19) Div 9: Jack Law 12th (1:00:13) |  |
| 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) |
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The final scores for the top three clubs at this race (Cambridge CC 596 points, Chelmsford CC 590, and Norwich CC 588) were all very similar to last year, so although BSCC's club score of 586 meant a 4th place at Cambridge, it represents a huge improvement over 2024, when Stortford was 5th with 467.
After two races we are now sitting in third place in the Eastern Region behind Chelmsford CC and Cambridge CC.
