Category: International

Masters World Championships 2022

27/9/2022

Stortford paddlers Chris Sze and Kerstin Queeney headed off to the 2022 ICF Masters World Championships held on 26-27 September in Ponte de Lima, Portugal. The K1 racing took place first - Chris came 24th in K1 mens 60-64 (1:52:56) and Kerstin was 10th in the ladies 55-59 race (1:42:47)

On the following day Chris paired up with Gordon Bullock to come 6th in the mens 60-64 K2 race and came 6th (1:54:11). Kerstin together with Catherine Ayling then secured a bronze medal in the ladies 55-59 K2 event (1:28:40). Well done!

Photo: Chris Sze

Full results can be found at
https://www.canoeicf.com/canoe-marathon-masters-world-championships/ponte-de-lima-2022

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Chris and Gordon's epic Danube trip

19/8/2022

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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.

They had no bank support crew – everything they needed would have to be carried with them in the boat – camping & cooking gear, basic rations and clothing. Also (no surprise this, to those who know Chris) a fair quantity of tech – phones, GPS watches, two GoPro cameras, and a solar panel for charging.

Travelling light

Loaded up and ready to go

They used a Kirton Inuk Duo kayak to which they fitted a pair of robust wheels for the inevitable portages en route. It was also adorned with a Union Jack and a photo of their friend and inspiration the late Steve Truglia.

The adventure began with the drive through France and into Germany, dealing along the way with baffling motorway toll systems, internet connection problems, card payment issues and all the other issues that can bedevil any international trip. More seriously, the boat came loose from the roof-rack on the motorway - but was saved in time from flying off, which would have brought a very early end to the expedition! At last they arrived at Ulm in Germany, where they were to launch.

Spectacular scenery in Germany, Day 3

Glamping in Austria

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.

Wild camping by the river

Inside a big lock

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.

Sap (Slovakia)

A group of Romanian cyclists encountered in Austria

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.

Passing through Budapest (Hungary)

Sunrise at Mohacs (Hungary)

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.

A bit of local culture - dropping into the archaeological museum in Vinca (Serbia)

Power nap

Chris and Gordon were received very warmly by everyone they met throughout their travels. They found the Croatians particularly hospitable – stopping at a place which they mistook for a restaurant Chris and Gordon were given food only to discover that they had inadvertently gate-crashed a private party! Their charming hosts not only fed them but helped them find a suitable camping spot.

When they reached Iron Gate Gorge, the pair found themselves battling crosswinds which made paddling exhausting, and the waves from the large number of tourist sightseeing boats caused their kayak to be thrown all over the place.

Inside Iron Gate Lock I

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.

Cafe in Ruse, Bulgaria

Chris and Gordon were not sure of the best way around the dam on this canal, so decided to walk down there from their hotel to have a look around and take some photos of the layout. As the area also includes Romania’s nuclear power plant, armed police soon arrived. Fortunately the officers spoke English, and as soon as Chris and Gordon had convinced them that they were not a security threat, the police very kindly drove them round to show them the best portage points before dropping them back at their hotel.

At long last, 40 days after they had set off from Ulm, the two intrepid paddlers reached the Black Sea. They had averaged 60km a day, paddled 12 times the length of the DW and probably made something like 500,000 paddle stokes. Despite all the difficulties they encountered, they only fell out with each-other once – but perhaps most importantly they made even more friends wherever they went.

Day 40 - Black Sea!

See the full story of their journey on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Danube-Trip-of-Gordon-Chris-2022-103137982407340

Gordon and Chris encouraged their supporters to give to the Big Paddle Challenge which is fundraising for Beyond Words. Beyond Words is a small charity which produces a range of life-skills storybooks based on pictures rather than words for the benefit of those with learning disabilities - find out more at https://bigpaddlechallenge.co.uk/ and https://www.gofundme.com/f/beyond-words-big-paddle-2022

Photos courtesy Chris & Gordon

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World Masters Championships 2021

28/9/2021

Two members of BSCC were amongst the four-strong GB team for the ICF Canoe Marathon World Masters Championships.

Chris Sze and Gordon Bullock travelled to Bascov in Romania to compete in the two-day event that precedes the main Canoe Marathon World Championships for Juniors and Seniors.

Over 120 Masters athletes representing 29 countries took part.

Chris achieved a silver medal paddling with Colin Simpkins of South Africa in the Mens 60-64 K2 race. They completed the 19km course with 4 portages in 1:34:38, just 28 seconds behind the winners.

Photo courtesy Sandey Yonley

Photo courtesy Sandy Yonley

Gordon Bullock paired up with GB teammate Bryn Price to race in the Mens 65-69 K2 over 15.4km, achieving a time of 1:26:07.

Both BSCC paddlers had competed in the singles events on the previous day over the 15.4km course, Chris finishing in 1:52:47 (10th, Mens K1 60-64) and Gordon in 1:29:52 (4th, Mens K1 65-69).

The fourth member of the GB team, Chris Tatam, brought back the country’s other Masters medal of the competition, winning Gold in Mens K1 70-74 with a time of 1:26:33 over the same distance.

See full results here: https://pitesti2021.spotfokus.com/

Kastelse, Belgium - Social Event and Race

1/8/2016

On Saturday 30th July a team of 7 set off from Bishops Stortford at 10:00am in two vehicles to take part in the Nete Marathon. The race is 13 miles long and hosted by Kastelse Kayak Klub based in the East of Belgium. After a short hop on the train under the English Channel it was around 150 mile drive to Kastelse and we arrived late afternoon.

The host club had a beautiful new clubhouse about 100m downstream from the original club which had been built by its members over last two years and largely funded by a grant from the local parish council. The new club included a camping area with electrical hook up points for those with caravans or camper vans and more than adequate space for the rest of us in tents. There was also a large patio area with plenty of seating for people to eat at of have a drink.

We were welcomed on arrival by the president of the club and after taking a short walk down the road to get some dinner we joined him in the Kastelse Kayak Klub bar. We shared a few stories about races he had done in the UK and some of us had done abroad in the past and then he proudly showed us the DW K1 team trophy that his club had won in 1998. A trophy that will hopefully have Bishops Stortford’s name on it in 2017.

Race day came with some early hours rain but by mid-morning the sun was out and the temperature was climbing nicely. Danny had to attend the team leaders meeting at 12:00 to confirm our entries, collect the numbers and drinks tokens (yes, our Euro 4.00 race entry came with a free drink at the bar after the race!) and to discuss a possible course change due to recent flooding washing away the sandy banks and draining the last 1.5km of the river and filling it with silt. It was decided to finish the race 1.5km downstream of the club and then everyone could paddle gently or walk the last section back.

We then put half of our boats on the Kastelse Kayak Klub trailer and just took Dave’s car to the start which was an easy 11km drive. The race started at 2:00pm on a wide dead straight canal with all classes starting on one mass start.

Joe F and Matt made the large front group to the first portage which was about 2.5km from the start with Danny in the second group just behind. Joe S was on his own between groups with Dave behind and Heidi and Chris together further back. After the portage the front group split with Matt in the second half and Joe F off the back and quickly caught by Danny’s group. There was 4km between the first and second portage and still the wide canal remained dead straight. Once back on the water after the second portage the large groups were reducing to 3’s and 4’s with Matt in group 2, Danny in group 3 and Joe F in group 4. The race continued on for another 3km to the next portage and still there was no sign of a bend in the canal. After portage 3 it was 3.5km to the most crucial point in the race, the 1.2km portage from the large navigation canal to the river Kastelse Kayak Klub is based on. Having said that, it could be argued the first bend in the canal 1.5km before this portage was the crucial point. Would people still remember how to use their rudders, would the rudder cable have seized through lack of use, would they get giddy negotiating a slight left hand bend. Despite all the excitement of this slight kink in the canal, we all made it safely around this bend.

The long portage was along a very smooth flat cycle path with many locals fitting skateboard wheels to the deck of their boats and dragging them along the path. This was a good opportunity for those that could run well to bridge the gap to the group in front. Danny closed the gap to Matt passing the K2 that had been in his group and getting in with the top junior K1 a few metres down on Matt and the other K1 from the 2nd group. The few metres gap was closed quickly and soon Matt and Danny were working together and dropped the other two Belgium K1’s on the shallow fast flowing upstream 5km section to the finish line ensuring the fight for 5th and 6th place would be an all Stortford affair.

Dave overtook Joe F and closed the gap to less than a minute on Joe S by the end of the run and Heidi also run well over this portage putting plenty of time between her and Chris (still recovering from a knee injury).

The last 5km was the section of river that had been damaged by flooding 2 weeks ago and had largely been drained and filled with the sandy soil from the banks. This section was also fairly fast flowing against us and seemed extra tough having spent the previous 15km on deep wide canal. This section did somehow seem to suit the Stortford paddlers with all of us gaining places. This could be due to the weed on our own canal creating a similar effect on water depth and drag.

Matt was first home coming a very respectable 5th with Danny on his wash in 6th but taking 1st veteran. Joe S was the next Stortford boat home 17th across the line and 9th in the senior men’s K1 followed a few minutes later by Dave 20th across the line but taking 2nd super veteran K1. Heidi was next to cross the line winning a very impressive silver medal in the senior ladies K1 and 28th overall with Joe F finishing 29th overall and 13th in the senior men’s K1. Chris was 31st across the line and 5th in the super veterans K1.

After a quick shower Danny and Dave retrieved the car left at the start whilst everyone else made the most of their free drinks tokens. Boats were loaded on the cars and tents etc packed in the boot and following prize giving we left the club at 6pm arriving home around 11:30pm. This was an extremely success club social trip with the added bonus of a great race. It was also extremely cheap and an event it would be great to see many more of you attend next year. We extend our gratitude to Kastelse Kayak Klub for the great hospitality and for looking after us so well.

Results:

Senior Men’s K1
Matt Parkes – 5th - 1:34:48
Joe Surrage – 9th – 1:41:42
Joe Fitzpatrick – 13th – 1:56:46

Senior Ladies K1
Heidi White – 2nd – 1:56:45

Veterans K1
Danny Beazley – 1st – 1:34:51

Super Veterans K1
Dave Hallam – 2nd – 1:45:22
Chris Sze – 5th – 2:03:25

Gent International Marathon (28 March 2015)

31/3/2015

Stortford's Ella Beatty achieved third place in the Junior Ladies race in the 2015 Gent International Marathon, with a time of 1:51:42.

The course for the 18km race begins on the Regatta Lake in Gent, followed by two 7km laps through the centre of the town along the canal system before returning to the lake. Ella's achievement is very impressive as the standard of competition at this event is always very high and the distance is somewhat longer than she would normally race.

Ella was one of 20 promising young canoeists invited to take part in the event as part of the GB Development Squad. Each year the Marathon Racing Committee review the participants they have seen at the regional training days and hand-pick a number of youngsters to compete in this prestigious and challenging event. The intention is to identify some of the youngsters who may eventually progress into the GB team and give them some early experience of international competition.

See

Ella sets off to Belgium

27/3/2015

The good wishes of all her Stortford team-mates are going with Ella Beatty as she sets off with the GB Development Squad to take part in the Gent Marathon in Belgium on 28th March.

Masters World Championships 2022

Chris and Gordon's epic Danube trip

World Masters Championships 2021

Kastelse, Belgium - Social Event and Race

Gent International Marathon (28 March 2015)

Ella sets off to Belgium

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Masters World Championships 2022

Chris and Gordon's epic Danube trip

World Masters Championships 2021

Kastelse, Belgium - Social Event and Race﻿

Gent International Marathon (28 March 2015)

Ella sets off to Belgium

Categories

Archives

Kastelse, Belgium - Social Event and Race