The race comprised one, two or three loops of the River Cam through Chelmsford.

Kerstin and Catherine made a spectacular recovery to finish 6th in the K2 class after they were completely spun around shortly after the start of the race. They won the medal for the fastest all-female crew.

8 miles:
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 6th (1:09:01)
Vet M K1 - Petr Luksan 4th (1:18:54)

5 miles:
Ladies K1 - Eilidh White 2nd (55:42)

3 miles:
GP - Oliver Klumpler 4th (43:41)
u12 K1 - Emilie Klumpler 7th (41:55)

Club points were another matter though, and with such a small team, a disappointing 5th place on the day was inevitable. The poor team result here has brought down our overall position in the Winter Series to 5th, as well as 3rd in the Dick Grieve league (novice juniors) and 3rd for the Bob Porter (participation in u12 K1). There is one more race to go - can the situation be retrieved?

See

• Full race results (FRA website)
• League table 
• Photos (Angela's Google album)
  

7 miles (4 portages):
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 8th (1:12:35)
u18 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 6th (1:22:00)

5 miles (4 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 4th (1:00:57), Daniel Baines 5th 1:15:26
u16 K2 - Eddie Kirtland & Libby Gaulton 1st (59:38)

3 miles (2 portage):
u14 Girls & Novice C1 - Petr Luksan 5th (48:45)
GP - Oliver Klumpler 5th (50:36)
u12 K1 - Jasper Kirtland 2nd (34:13), Rupert Kirtland 9th (44:57), Emilie Klumpler 10th (49:56)

With so few paddlers, Stortford's club position was always going to be disappointing, and we ended in 5th place, behind Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC, Norwich CC and Leighton Buzzard CC. This has led to the interesting situation in which we are now tied in second place with Cambridge, Buzzard and Norwich.

However, enough points were scored by our unranked juniors (Daniel, Oliver, Jasper, Rupert and Emilie) to take joint second place with Leighton Buzzard CC in the competition for the Dick Greave Trophy. In terms of the  series, we are now on an equal footing with Chelmsford, and Leighton Buzzard close behind - both of whom still have their home races to come.

See

• Full race results (FRA website)
• League table 
• A few photos (Angela's Google album)
  

3 miles (1 portage):
u14 Boys K1 - Finlay Sandall 8th (37:47)
u14 Girls & Novice C1 - Ananya Bhusari 6th (45:03), Petr Luksan 7th (55:10)
GP - Oliver Klumpler 9th (53:14)
u12 K1 - Jasper Kirtland 3rd (35:30), Emilie Klumpler 12th (51:24), Rupert Kirtland 13th (51:25)

Stortford Mayor Dave Anderson braved the rain to come along and present the medals.

Attendance at the opening race of the Hasler season at Chelmsford was back up to pre-pandemic levels, with a notably strong showing from Norwich CC.

Stortford sent a strong team of 22, who brought back nine trophies (2x firsts, 4x seconds, & 3x thirds).

On the longest course, Joe F was fastest of the BSCC paddlers, winning Div 3 with a time quicker than several of the paddlers in Div 2. This even included David G, who was 3rd in Div 2, and makes a welcome return to the Stortford team.

Also returning to the team and getting back into his stride on the 8-mile course was Euan C, but with rising star Eddie K close on his heels.

Tom B put in an excellent performance to come third in Div 6, only seconds short of a promotion.

On the 3-mile course the awards went to Jacque & Dave C (2nd in Div 8 doubles), Jaroslav and Jack G (2nd and 3rd respectively in Div 7).

There were awards too in the Geoff Sanders races with Finlay coming 2nd in GSA, and an extremely well deserved 1st to Jasper in GSB who was also the fastest of all the Geoff Sanders competitors on the 2km course. As a result, Jasper has been promoted to GSA.

SINGLES -
12 miles, 10 portages
Div 2: David Gurney 3rd (1:29:50)
Div 3: Joe Fitzpatrick 1st (1:29:46), Rich Winstanley 8th (1:35:22)
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 5: Euan Caton 5th (1:23:34), Eddie Kirkland 6th (1:24:52)
Div 6: Tom Barton 3rd (1:26:21)
3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Jaroslav Klumpler 2nd (32:42), Jack Gaulton 3rd (33:13)
Div 8: Petr Luksan 10th (36:26)
Div 9: Eilidh White 7th (36:43), Daniel Baines 13th (38:53), Kayleigh Gaulton 15th (39:08), Libby Gaulton 16th (39:16)

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
2km
Div A: Finlay Sandal 2nd (17:24)
Div B: Jasper Kirtland 1st (16:44), Nadim Shawky 12th (20:41), Rupert Kirtland 14th (22:05)

The club achieved a respectable 570 points and fourth position overall, behind Norwich CC (596), Chelmsford CC (592) and Cambridge CC (583).

See also

• Official results
• Race photos in Angela's Flickr album
  

Results for Stortford paddlers:
u10 Girls - Emile Klumpler (silver)
u10 Boys - Rupert Kirkland (silver)
u12 Girls - Libby Gaulton (silver)
u12 Boys - Jasper Kirtland (4th), Nadim Shawky (7th)
u14 Girls - Zuzanna Madeja (bronze)
u14 Boys - Eddie Kirtland (gold),  Oliver Klumpler (5th)
u16 Girls - Eilidh White (gold),
u16 Boys - Jack Gaulton (gold), Ewan Gowing (silver), Arthur Catmur (bronze)
u18 Boys - Tom Holloway (bronze)
u23 Ladies - Kayleigh Gaulton (gold)
u23 Men - Euan Caton (silver)
Senior Ladies - Catherine Robinson (gold)
Veteran Ladies - Christine Meula (gold), Tamzin Catmur (bronze)
C1 - Petr Luksan (bronze)

Many thanks are due to all the Stortford volunteers who helped with the event and/or contributed cakes: Rich, Harry & Jamie Winstanley, Kevin Short, Sue Commercial, Katherine Ahara, Guy & Sharon Barton, Adam Beaumont, Alasdair Bruce, Olive Carter, Dene Caton, Tamzin & John Catmur, Dave Cayford, Ken Duncan, Joe Fitzpatrick, Simon Forey, Lee & Kayleigh Gaulton, Andrew & Charlotte Gurney, Ruth Kirtland, Flora & Jay Klumpler, Christine Meula, Kerstin Queeney, Ben & Hannah Tubby, Ann & Andy White, and Angela Aldam. Apologies to anyone missed out!

Photos can be found on Angela's Flickr album and on the BSCC FaceBook page.

Earlier this year, our very own Chris Sze teamed up with Gordon Bullock (of Barking & Dagenham Canoe Club and former BSCC member) and impressed us all when they set a new Guinness World Record for kayaking the 125-miles of the Thames (link). What was not apparent at the time was that this was just the warm-up for their real goal – a 1,500 mile journey down the length of the Danube, from Germany to the Black Sea.

Before they left, they checked in with a personal trainer who made sure they were fit for the journey and who would see what effect the experience had on them physically.

Mostly the pair stayed at riverside campsites overnight, frequently associated with Canoe Clubs, but where these were not available they had to find a nearby hotel.

Once they passed into Austria they mainly found themselves “Glamping”, and this accommodation was particularly welcome as the weather became stormy.

In the early stages of their trip, the biggest frustration was the many locks they had to operate, as they all seemed to work differently and the pair could not read the instructions written (unsurprisingly) in German.

Throughout the German/Austrian stretch there were many dams. In some cases there was a water chute for canoeists which was great fun! Most however involved a walk around. Simply finding the correct place to get off the water and in again proved to be an ongoing headache. They even encountered several dams which were not shown on the maps at all.

Both before and throughout their journey the paddlers were in constant communication with a network of well-wishers across the world who followed on GPS tracking and gave them tips about where to find the most convenient camping, hotels, restaurants and shops – a network which grew throughout the weeks as those they met along the way joined the ranks of their followers. Chris’s photos and blog on their FaceBook page were accompanied by a daily chat to camera from Gordon which made compelling viewing.

As the river passed along the Slovakia/Hungary border the pair had to deal with a strong head-wind and high temperatures by day.

Places beside the river to eat and sleep were fewer so they were more dependent on wild camping, and the mosquitos became a real problem.

Whenever they did find a restaurant, though, the pair always took full advantage of it.

Crossing borders by river also created issues when it came to getting passports stamped out of each country and into the next. Going from Hungary to Serbia, they simply could not find a Serbian border post to stamp them in within the permitted time interval. When they did finally reach one, Gordon somehow managed to convey their apologies with signs and gestures and they were allowed to continue on their way.

The next challenge was to get through the two sets of massive locks which allow ships to traverse the hydroelectric dams. The water was so choppy in the approach to the Iron Gate I lock that they were nearly capsized, but eventually they followed a barge into the lock and exited to land in Romania.

Here, Gordon was again called upon to use his body language skills to explain to the border officers how the strong wind had prevented them from landing in Serbia to get stamped out.

Proceeding to Iron Gate lock II, the roaring wind was now so intense that it was not safe to continue, so for two days they camped in a rather unpleasant spot while they waited for it to die down.

When it was a little calmer they decided to paddle up to the dam and portage around it rather than waiting out on the open water in the hope of going into the lock with the next ship.

Finally they had made it past the Iron Gates, but exhaustion was setting in and morale was low. Continued headwinds made it difficult to make any forward progress.

However they found some comfortable hotels to stay in so at least they were well rested at night, and little by little they approached their final hurdle – the Cernavoda Canal which leads to the Black Sea.