BSCC is strongly focussed on kayak racing on rivers and canals ("flatwater racing"). This often appeals to those who have not settled into the more mainstream sports, delivering a unique blend of serious competitive challenge with the perennial fun of "messing about in boats". It is equally accessible to both sexes and a very wide age range, making it ideally suited to family groups. Personal fitness need not be high at the outset, but canoeing delivers a great deal of exercise to those who participate regularly.

Unfortunately, both have been in limited supply at the club of late. A shortage of coaches brought recruitment into the club to an almost complete stop in 2018. A record number of people were keen to come along, but the club simply did not have enough coaches to teach new paddlers as well as training existing ones. Like most racing canoe clubs, BSCC is 100% volunteer-powered, and it typically costs in excess of £700 for a coach to became qualified - often at their own expense.

Club chairman Andy White said: "We are delighted to have secured this investment to enable us to support our volunteer coaches - qualified coaches are the heart of the club, and without them we cannot thrive. Having the new beginner equipment will allow us to teach brand new paddlers in groups of similar ability which will be more efficient for the coaches and more fun for the participants".

The club is hugely grateful to Sport England and East Herts Council for their support - and of course to everyone who plays the National Lottery.

Anybody interested in giving kayaking a go should contact the secretary so that we can get you along to the club as soon as possible.

Members of the public took to the water in the club's stable one-person kayaks and in large open canoes operated by coaches and assistants. Many of the families coming along commented that they they had been to the event before in past years and were delighted to find it being repeated.

See also press report of the event.

Eleven Stortford paddlers went to Herts Young Mariners Base to take part in the third local regatta of 2019.

The 500m heats took place on the river and then it was over to the lake for the 200m heats.

After a break for a BBQ there were crew races in K2 and (always a special feature of this event) K4. Euan, Connor, Maddison and Josie put in a very creditable performance in K4 as if they had been paddling together for months. Hudson seemed to have endless energy, paddling with two different K2 partners as well as making up a mixed K4.

The fourth Bishops Stortford Hasler had the usual good turnout of competitors, with large teams of roughly equal size from Norwich, Chelmsford, Leighton Buzzard, Cambridge and ourselves, five smaller teams, and a smattering of out-of-region paddlers.

David G was our fastest paddler , winning div 3 by a comfortable margin and gaining a promotion to div 2. Jenny & Kirsten took silver in div 7 doubles, while Catherine & Talal teamed up to achieve the same in div 9 doubles. Also in div 9 doubles, Eilidh partnered Maddison to gain bronze - a particularly pleasing result as Maddison is extremely new to the sport. Meanwhile, Maddison's brother Hudson, another new recruit taking part in his first race, won u10 boys Lightnings.

Jamie G narrowly missed out on the medals in div 9 singles despite putting in a very good performance, but was able to go home with a promotion to div 8. Special mention should also be made of Josie, who gained a very creditable 8th place in div 9 in her first ever competition.

The event was won by Cambridge CC with an impressive 237 points, only 3 short of the maximum. Overall, Stortford finished 5th - the position we have occupied for all the previous races of the season bar one. It was therefore no surprise to find ourselves 5th in the Eastern Region League table and excluded from the national finals. A disappointing result for a team that twelve months before was joint winners of the regional cup. But a fresh season begins in October, and who knows what that will bring.

The full results of the race can be found on the marathon website.
You may also want to look at the final league table at the end of the season  (or, if you are from Stortford, possibly not ...)

The Stortford team who went to the second FRA regatta of the season were all awarded medals for their performances across the 300m and 100m heats.

After lunch there was a demonstration K4 race between some of Chelmsford's own paddlers. This was followed by a relay event between teams drawn up on the basis of the morning's results.

The results are on the MRC website. A few photos from the race can be seen on Flickr.

Nine Stortford paddlers competed at the fifth race of the Winter Series in mild and sunny conditions. As this was last race, there were also end of series trophies in addition to those won on the day.

This has very much been Octavia's season. She rounded off the series with another win, to make a total of three wins and one second place, making her the series class winner of the Ladies class, and she also remains the holder of the Ladies Vet trophy for the 3rd successive year.

On the 7-mile course, David G and Adam both put in excellent races against a high standard of competition to take gold and silver in their respective classes.

Eilidh and Catherine took on the junior K2 class this year and have not missed a race throughout the series - this paid off with a second place series award. Similarly, solid scoring across four races brought a third place series award for Jamie G in u14 Boys, in addition to the bronze medal won on the day.

The size of the Stortford teams have been much reduced this season, and as a result we finished in third position overall, behind Chelmsford CC (1st) and Leighton Buzzard CC. We finished 5th in the Dick Grieve league (points scored by novice juniors) and in 3rd place for the Bob Porter trophy (for participation by u12s).

See Angela's Flickr page for some photos of the Leaside race.

5 miles:
u16 Boys K1 - Connor Higgins 5th (51:51)
Ladies K1 - Octavia Abbott 1st (48:40)
u16 K2 - Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson 6th (1:02:33)

3 miles:
u14 Boys K1 - Jamie Gaulton 5th (26:43)
u12 - Jack Gaulton 7th (29:43)

With two races still to go, BSCC is standing 3rd in the Winter Series league table. Full race results and individual series positions can be found on the FRA website.