Jacque & Dave added more silver medals to their collection, while Rich and David G both took third places on the long course.

In Geoff Sanders, both Benjamin and Sophie took gold medals in GSA and GSC respectively. Sophie especially deserves a big Well Done, having put in a massive effort to finish 3 sec ahead of a challenger from Norwich - both she and her rival have been promoted to Class B.

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
3.5 km
Div A: Benjamin Middleton 1st (22:27)
Div B: Summer Norford 6th (23:22)
Div C:  Sophie Middleton 1st (23:57)

Overall, Norwich CC won the event with a near-perfect 599 points, and Chelmsford CC were second (587).  Crucially for BSCC, our total of 580 points was not quite enough to beat Buzzard's 584, putting us 4th.

Norwich's win has moved them up into the second in the Eastern Region league behind Chelmsford.

We are therefore now tied with Leighton Buzzard CC for third place - and only three Eastern clubs will be going to the finals this year.

Surprisingly warm weather for the Bedford Hasler, and a surprisingly good result for BSCC - our best of the season so far.

Karen & Christine won gold medals after battling hard throughout the Div 7 doubles race against a Cambridge crew. Karen & Christine have both been promoted to Div 6!

David G also had to fight for his Div 3 gold in a photo finish.

There was a good crop of silver medals. Joe & Eddie were second in Div 3 doubles; as was Joao in Div 4, despite having to stop and fix a malfunctioning rudder. Oleh came second with apparent ease in Div 5, in his first ever marathon, and has been promoted to Div 4.

Shehan paired up with Oliver to deliver some valuable points in Div 9 doubles, and yet more silver medals.

Bronzes were won by Rich (Div 2), Robert (Div 7), Kerry & Jamie (Div 6), and Jacque & Dave (Div 7)

Especially well done to our two competitors in Div 9. Zoe (6th) and James (8th) both had their points boosted by the first four finishers getting double promotions, and thus not scoring. Zoe has been promoted to Div 8, and James can be very proud of his performance in his first competition for the club.

The event was won by Leighton Buzzard CC (600), with BSCC and Norwich CC tied for second place (589), ahead of Chelmsford CC (572).

We are now at the half-way point in the Hasler season, and this result has taken us to second position in the Eastern Region league.

See also

• Results on the Marathon website
  
• Eastern Region Hasler League to date 
• Race photos in Angela's Google album

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!

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)

The courses on the Grand Union Canal are slightly longer than at most venues in the Winter Series, as the 16 Stortford paddlers taking part must have been acutely aware as they battled against the wind and the driving rain.

Jasper collected his fifth gold of the season, and has also received a promotion to Div 4. Ben T won his fourth gold, and there were also golds for Summer and Petr.

Silver medals went to Libby and Kerry T; there were fastest SuperVet medals for Karen & Chris, fastest UltraVet medals for Jacque & Dave, and a fastest Lady medal for Zoe.

8 miles:
K2 Men - David Gurney & Eddie Kirtland 6th (1:11:16)
K2 Mixed - Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 5th (1:24:35)
K2 Ladies - Karen Bradley & Christine Meula 2nd (1:18:24)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:24:40)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:24:30)

6 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (58:23)
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 2nd (1:07:02)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:09:20)

4 miles:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (40:20)
C1 Novice - Petr Luksan 1st (51:16)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (53:57)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (1:25:51)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 5th (53:00)

BSCC were third overall in the series, a single league point behind Cambridge CC. Chelmsford CC were the inevitable overall winners.

The Dick Grieve Trophy is based on a separate league table calculated exclusively on the the points won by unranked juniors (i.e. Div 9 and below). Stortford were trailing a long way behind Chelmsford CC, but a long-standing rule that the trophy cannot go to the club which wins the overall cup meant that it passed to Stortford, with Leighton Buzzard CC not far behind.

The other club cup in the WS - the Bob Porter Trophy  - goes to the club with the greatest participation in the under 12s classes across the series. This was easily won by Chelmsford CC. Leighton Buzzard were second and Stortford a close third.

On the longest course, Kerstin & Catherine were second in Ladies K2, and received the fastest SuperVet medals - their time would also have brought them a silver medal in the Mens K2!  David G executed a great performance in the Senior Men's class against a large and very strong field to finish 5th. Both Eilidh and Eddie fell foul of the rule which limits medals according to the size of the entry, so did not get medals for their 2nd and 3rd places.

8 miles:
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:05:06)
K1 Sen Men - David Gurney 5th (1:03:08)
K1 Sen Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:17:31)
K1 u18 Men - Edward Kirtland 3rd (1:07:41)

Ben secured his third win in the SuperVet Men's class to take gold - the club's only entry on the middle distance.

5 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (43:34)

On the shortest course, Petr won gold in C1, and Rupert a bronze against a surprising number of u12s given the state of the weather.

The largest class of the day was the K1 Open - with 11 paddlers competing even after a couple of entries had cancelled - Jack put in a very creditable performance to finish 8th.

3 miles:
C1 novice - Petr Luksan 1st (29:36)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (29:15)
K1 Open - Jack Law 8th (30:46)

12 km:
K2 16+ Mens - Eddie Kirtland & George Hampton [CLM] DNF
K2 16+ Mixed - David Gurney & Eilidh White 2nd (1:11:43); Jacque & Dave Cayford 6th (1:31:47)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:13:05)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:27:24)

8 km:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 2nd (50:34)

4 km:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (24:40)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (31:38)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (45:50)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 3rd (33:40)

The Cambridge race was attended by 14 Stortford paddlers. Though not cold there was rain throughout most of the event, though this did not seem to dampen anyone's spirits.

Gold medals went to Ben T, Jasper and Summer, each of whom are now leading the series points in their respective classes.

Joe won silver in Mens K2 with Scott from Barking. Kerstin and Ealing partner Catherine, who also finished second in the Ladies K2 won the medal for First Supervets.

Robert is now getting back into the stride of racing, winning silver in the Open K1 class, having come within a second of taking the gold.

There were well-deserved bronze medals for Libby and Rupert - in Rupert's case he was facing the largest group of under-12 boys seen for some time in a Winter Series race.

Jamie W, the only junior amongst the 12 competitors in Open K1, achieved an impressive 4th place, and also making a big contribution to the club's Dick Grieve points (for unranked juniors).

7 miles (4 portages):
K2 16+ Mens - Joe Fitzpatrick & Scott Leblanche [BAD] 2nd (1:01:58)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:11:38)
K1 Senior Men - David Gurney 5th (1:06:33)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 3rd (1:28:45)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:24:45)

5 miles (4 portages):
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (53:05)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 3rd (1:03:24)

3 miles (2 portages):
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (27:15)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (34:15)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (51:20)
K1 Open - Robert Gough 2nd (29:38), Jamie Winstanley 4th (32:35), Zoe Norford 8th (36:02), Jack Law 10th (36:25)

Claudia just pipped Kerstin to a silver medal in the SuperVet Ladies K1.

5 miles (1 portage):
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 2nd (51:55), Kerstin Queeney 3rd (51:57)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 4th (58:47)

On the shortest course, Jasper was the victor in u14 Boys race and won a well-deserved gold. Rupert put up a determined fight and to secure bronze in u12 Boys.

Each taking part in their first race were Summer and mum Zoe. Summer was rewarded with the Gold medal for u12 Girls. Zoe reported that they had both enjoyed it and will do more!

3 miles:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (27:21)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (36:46)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (45:18)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 9th (38:35)

BSCC was joint 4th with Leighton Buzzard CC, behind Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC and Barking & Dagenham CC. Although disappointing it was fairly inevitable, given the small size of the team.

The largest class at the event was the SuperVet Men's K1 on the 5-mile course, which was won by Ben T, with Claudia taking the gold medal in the equivalent Ladies class.

Jasper and Rupert were both gold medal winners in their respective classes on the 3-mile course

The total number of Canadian canoes of all types participating was up slightly, and this race also saw two entries by SUP paddlers - a first for Stortford and for the Winter Series.

Petr took the opportunity to try out his new canoe with outrigger, which presented an interesting challenge when it came to the portage!

Two of our newest recruits, Shehan and Jack, had their first taste of racing, taking advantage of the new K1 Open Class on the 3 mile course. Robert, who is just getting back into the sport after many years away from the club, also opted for this class and won bronze.

Peter W went straight into the SuperVets class on the 5 mile course for his first race. Kerry H took on the 7-mile course - her longest distance yet - as a Vet Lady. Both clocked up very respectable times against some very high-calibre competition.

7 miles (6 portages):
K2 16+ Mixed - Jacque & Dave Cayford 6th (1:21:06)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL]
K1 Senior Men - David Gurney 6th (1:04:06)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 1st (1:24:13)
K1 Veteran Ladies - Kerry Tubby 3rd (1:21:32), Kerry Hoar 4th (1:46:36)

5 miles (3 portages):
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (46:47), Peter Winfield 10th (1:09:33)
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 1st (53:09)
K1 u16 Boys - Jamie Winstanley (DNF)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 6th (58:54)

3 miles (1 portage):
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (27:40)
C1 Novice - Petr Luksan 1st (39:24)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 1st (37:52)
K1 Open - Robert Gough 3rd (31:48), Shehan Sheikh 7th (40:41), Jack Law 8th (41:43), Alex Scott 9th (41:51)

The Mayor of Bishop's Stortford, Richard Townsend, kindly came along to give out the medals.

There was a good turnout of 22 Stortford paddlers amongst the 155 competitors at this race. Building works caused the start to be moved from its usual position to under the A138 bridge.

David G and Joao each won third place trophies in their respective singles races.

There were particularly large numbers of singles paddlers in Divisions 7 and 9, resulting in split starts and the initial prospect of an unusually high number of automatic promotions and double promotions (though these have been subsequently moderated in the final results). Jamie has been promoted from Div 7 to Div 6, and Daniel who was also paddling in Div 7 must have  come very close.

Petr's decision to paddle up into Div 8 in his C1 paid off for him as it gave him a less overcrowded start line, and he finished with time to score points.

SINGLES -
12 miles, 10 portages
Div 3: David Gurney 3rd (1:31:52), Kat Wilson 6th (1:36:02), Eddie Kirtland 8th (1:39:11), Ben Tubby 10th (1:41:04)
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 4: Joao Spinola 3rd (1:17:14)
3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Jamie Bond 7th (30:30), Daniel Baines 14th (32:26), Karen Bradley 17th (33:20)
Div 8: Petr Luksan 6th (39:06), Finlay Sandall 8th (39:22)
Div 9: Kerry Hoar 20th (42:26)

Jasper, currently Div 5, demonstrated how far he has come over the last year by partnering Joe in Div 3 K2 and completing the 12 miles and 10 portages with ease.

DOUBLES -
12 miles, 10 portages
Div 3: Jasper Kirtland & Joe Fitzpatrick 1st (1:37:03)
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 4: Mark Adams & Steve Tingay [LBZ] 2nd (1:17:51)
Div 5: Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd (1:17:22), Claudia Redeker & Kerry Tubby 5th (1:20:25)
Div 6: Eilidh White & Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:22:46)
​3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 2nd (31:15)

The overall winners were Chelmsford CC  (600 pts), 2nd BSCC (582) and 3rd L. Buzzard CC (579).

See also

• Results on the Marathon website
  
• Eastern Region Hasler League to date 
• Race photos in Angela's Google album