The 2020 Hasler season got off to a good start at Chelmsford. Although the Stortford team (21 in number) was small by the standards of a couple of years ago, it was the largest team we have put out to an away race in the past year - and over half of those who went came home with a trophy!

Connor and Kerstin paired up to win Div 6 doubles with a time which also beat most of the Div 5 doubles crews as well.

Overall we scored 221 points and came a very respectable 4th. Chelmsford CC were the winning club (234 points) with Leighton Buzzard CC 2nd (232) and Norwich CC 3rd (228).

See

• final race results (updated)
  
• regional league table
• photos by Angela on Flickr

STOP PRESS: Jamie G has been promoted to Div 7!

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

Having secured the club's place in the National Hasler Finals with a rather spectacular joint first place in the region, it was disappointing that a number of those who had qualified to participate (by finishing in at least three races during the year) were not in the end able to turn out for the final itself, due to injury, illness or prior commitments.

The team of 23 who did go included a good balance of singles and doubles, and together they achieved a total score of 164 points, making the club 9th overall out of 31 clubs participating. The winners were Chelmsford CC (227 points) and Norwich CC were runners-up (222).  Cambridge CC were 10th with 160 points. With all four of the Eastern Region clubs who had qualified for the event finishing in the top 10, there can be no doubt that the standard of racing in our Region is as high as anywhere in the country.

The star performers in the race included Adam Beaumont, who brought home a gold medal as winner of Div 3, and was also promoted to Div 2. Eugene Kokorin also had an excellent race, finishing 5 in Div 6 and being promoted to Div 5.

There were other notable singles results in Div 3 from David G. (who narrowly missed out on a promotion) and Euan, while Matt P. recovered well to finish 11th in Div 2 after a swim at the start. In doubles, Chris and Matt M.'s 5th place in Div 4 was particularly impressive against a field of 26 crews.

Doubles:
Div 2 - Danny Beazley & James Smythe 4th (1:35:12)
Div 4 - Chris Sze & Matt Mills 5th (1:13:41), Octavia Abbott & Mike Panrucker 21st (1:21:38)
Div 6 - Ant Wright & Ian Abrams 8th (1:25:17)
Div 7 - Jennifer Burtwell & Kerstin Queeney 14th (41:28)
Div 8 - Jacque & Dave Cayford 11th (44:25)
Div 9 - Catherine Robinson & Eilidh White 11th (52:32)

Singles:
Div 2 - Matt Parkes 11th (1:37:37)
Div 3 - Adam Beaumont 1st (1:35:47), David Gurney 6th (1:38:31), Euan Caton 14th (1:42:21)
Div 5 - Mike Toomey 26th (1:27:38)
Div 6 - Eugene Kokorin 5th (1:27:28), Lexie White 17th (1:33:00)
Div 7 - Melanie Bennett 32nd (45:31), Malcolm Duckworth 36th (46:30)

Full results from the event can be found online.

Fantastic results for the Stortford team at our own Hasler race - despite everyone needing to double up as marshals etc when not actually racing.

The event attracted the biggest field of Lightnings this season, including quite a number from Stortford, several racing for the first time. In total there were 183 kayakers competing - unusually no canadians at all, though few leisure C2s passing through were a bit bemused to find themselves on the start line!

The combinations of doubles pairings worked well, and everything came together to deliver a home win. To cap it all off, it has now been announced that Neil and Connor are promoted to Division 5.

The National Marathon Championships are coming up, and then the National Hasler Finals. It really does feel, as Danny said, that "anything is achievable".

Big thanks are due to the army all the members, family, club members and paddlers from other clubs who turned out to help with all the preparations, and all the work on the day, including starts/finishes, on-water safety, towpath sweepers, turn marshals, catering, entries/results, car park, and a plethora of other jobs.

Euan and Connor teamed up for this race and proved to be a most successful pairing. They finished a good 4 minutes ahead in the Div 6 doubles race, and as well as their trophies, Connor was also able to take home a promotion to Div 6.

Jacq & Dave took a well deserved third place in Div 8 doubles.

Jack and Jamie G had their first taste of Hasler racing. Eilidh moved up into Division 9, and Leo completed his first ever race.

At just 24 paddlers, this was much the smallest team the club has put out for a regional Hasler for a while, and many of the regular faces were missing. The club countered this by making sure that there were plenty of doubles pairs and that those entering for the first time were in suitable divisions. 

A strong wind - the tail end of storm Brian - made the return leg of the race more of a battle than usual.

All the doubles pairs were rewarded with a podium position, and promotions to Div 7 have now come through for new members Luke & Will Jones. In singles there were further well-deserved promotions for Mitch and Will P, both taking part in their first Hasler races. Kerstin too was only 5s off the promotion time.

A total of 189 competitors took part in the second Hasler marathon to be staged at the club. Medalists from Stortford were Siobhan & Brian (gold, div 9 doubles), Ant and Ian A (silver, Div 6 doubles), David G (bronze, div 4), and Ella & Chris S (bronze div 4 doubles). Ian A also received a promotion.

The club's Lightnings were out in force and in particular dominated the u10s and Girls u12s races to make them the winning Lightning team.

Stortford finished in 5th place at this event, which was won by Cambridge CC.  This was the last race of the 2017 season in the Eastern Region, and Stortford also ended the season 5th in the Eastern Region league.

See

• the final results
• regional league table (unconfirmed)
• photos by Chris Worrall on Flickr and by Angela on Flickr

Despite a good turnout and lots of good performances, we were only 4th at Leighton Buzzard.

Well done to Octavia Abbott who was promoted to division 4, and to Neil Boast, James Daly, James Sellstrom and Kaitie Owen who were all promoted to division 7.

See

• the full results
  
• photos by Angela on Flickr
  
• photos by Chris Worrall on Flickr