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.

For the second time this Winter Series, the Stortford team numbered only a dozen competitors, but some good individual performances secured a third place for the club.

Euan took Stortford's only gold medal of the day - his second win in u18 boys this series, placing him third overall in the class to date, but a strong contender for the class trophy.

Adam & David continue at the top of the class table in Senior K2, having won bronze at this race, and Dave H is joint first in Vet Men's K1.

The club was third in the  Dick Grieve league  - this is based solely on the performance of novice juniors - all of Stortford's points DG points being won by the Gaulton family!

Full race results on the FRA website, including class standings to date. See photos of the Stortford race in Angela's Flickr album

We had excellent weather for the start of the new Winter Series, hosted at our own club as usual. The 127 competitors included a large field of senior K2s on the long course (19 boats) and a good turn out of u12 K1s on the short course (16 entries).

On the long course, Euan won gold in the u18 Mens K1. Adam B & David G were narrowly beaten into second place in senior K2 by less than a minute, despite an excellent performance. Dave H won silver in the Mens Vet race.

On the middle distance, Octavia took gold in the Ladies K1, and Kerstin was the first SuperVet. On the short course Jamie G won the silver medal in u14 Boys and brother Jack did well in u12s, coming 7th.

​7 miles (6 portages):
Senior K2 - Adam Beaumont & David Gurney 2nd (57:22), Tim Beaver & Neil Boast 7th (1:10:02), Ian Abrams & Gordon Bullock BAD 9th (1:10:20), Jacque & Dave Cayford 17th (1:22:20)
Vet Mens K1 - Dave Hallam 2nd (1:05:25), Mike Toomey 7th (1:11:46)
u18 Boys K1 - Euan Caton 1st (1:02:44), Murdo White 6th (1:33:58), James Daly 7th (1:33:59)

​5 miles (3 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Connor Higgins 5th (54:05)
Ladies K1 - Octavia Abbott 1st (53:39), Kerstin Queeney 4th (56:08)
u16 K2 - Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson 3rd (1:12:35)

​3 miles (1 portage):
u14 Boys K1 - Jamie Gaulton 2nd (33:02)
GP - Mick Hussey 3rd (42:29)
u12 K1 - Jack Gaulton 7th (38:16),  Gemma Beazley 9th (41:41), Edward Kirtland 12th (45:35), Killian O'Dwyer 14th (45:41), Libby Gaulton (retired)

Ten clubs were represented. Stortford came second overall, behind Chelmsford and ahead of Leighton Buzzard. We were also second on Dick Grieve points (based on performance by novice juniors only).

Full race results on the FRA website. See photos of the Stortford race in Angela's Flickr album

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.

Nine paddlers from Bishops Stortford competed in this annual prestige event. This year the Nationals were held at Reading, extending over two days, with the singles races on Saturday and the doubles on Sunday. Three members came home with the coveted Nationals members - bronzes for Danny, James S and Jamie W.

Competing in age/sex classes can bring together paddlers of very different rankings in the same race. Although they may not have won medals, Euan and Richard W can be especially proud of the fact that they were the fastest Div 4 paddler and UK Div 3 paddlers in their respective K1 races. David G also achieved an excellent time.

Kerstin (Div 9), in particular, put in a fantastic performance to finish hot on the heels of a number of Div 6 paddlers. Well done to everyone who took part.

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.

The presentation of the medals for the day was followed by the end-of-season prize giving.