A dozen Stortford paddlers faced fiercely hot weather to compete at the Leighton Buzzard Hasler, and came back with seven gold medals and two silvers.

On the 12 mile course, Joe won Div 2 in a time which was less than a minute under the promotion time to Div 1.

Mike & Chris won their doubles race on the 8 mile course, and Jacque & Dave repeated their success at Norwich to do the same on the 4 mile course.

Tom B and Edward took the top two positions in Div 9, despite Tom stopping to help Edward recover from a capsize, in a perfect demonstration of the sportmanship which runs through kayak racing. Edward's finishing time confirmed his transition into Div 9, despite being under 14.

Three members of the Klumpler family were competing for the first time, with particular success for Oliver who won the remaining gold medal of the day for the club in Div C, one of the new u14s divisions. As a consequence he has now been promoted to Div B.

Others taking part in their first race to great credit were Karen (Div 9) and Jasper (Div C). Oliver and Jasper also raced a second time to take bronze in the mini-K2 race.

There were 89 competitors at the event, drawn from 7 Eastern Region clubs and 5 clubs from further afield, including a strong showing from Banbury.

The full race results have now been published.

Seven members of the club went to the National Marathon Championships at Reading, most taking part in both K1 and K2 classes across two days of racing.

Everyone did well at this prestigious annual event, but none more so that James Smythe who came 5th out of a field of 26 in his singles race and partnered Stuart Dunn to a Gold Medal in doubles.

See full results here.

The first Eastern Region Hasler to go ahead since the autumn of 2019 was held by Norwich on 23 May, and was attended by a small team from BSCC. You can tell how chuffed these three are to be back racing from their expressions!

There are no club points being awarded this year due to the pandemic.

Eighteen Stortford paddlers made the long trip to Leighton Buzzard for the penultimate race of the Winter Series.

Edward and Libby each won silver medals in boys and girls u12K1 respectively, and there were bronze medals for Chris (Vet M K1), Kerstin (Ladies K1), Jamie & Jamie (Jr K2) and Josepha & Malcolm (TC2).

6 miles (2 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 5th (1:11:56)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 3rd (1:03:52)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 3rd (1:02:58), Catherine Robinson & Kayleigh Gaulton 5th (1:17:34)

4 miles:
TC2 - Josepha Wallbank & Malcolm Duckworth 3rd (50:51)
u14 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 4th (49:16)
u14 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 4th (51:35)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 3rd (54:52), Libby Gaulton 5th (57:12)

Hosts Leighton Buzzard put out a strong team and were very close to being the overall winners on the day, but the winning spot went to Chelmsford CC by a single race point. Stortford were third on the day, which means that BSCC now stands third in the WS league table behind Leighton Buzzard.

BSCC were again the team winning most points from unranked juniors so have consolidated our lead for winning the Dick Grieve trophy.

Full race results and individual series positions can be found on the FRA website.

A few photos are can be seen in Angela's Flickr album and Chris has added a video of his race to You-Tube

Chris & Richard put in another good performance at Chelmsford and were the fastest Vet team in the senior K2 race.

Jamie & Jamie were delayed by stopping to rescue a capsized paddler, but still took silver in the junior K2 class, in which they seem set to win the series trophy.

Edward took the bronze medal for u12 boys and Libby the silver for u12 girls.

Malcolm & Josepha are now locked in a tussle with a Barking crew in TC2 to see which of them is going to get one of the coveted series glasses.

8 miles:
Senior K2 - Chris Sze & Richard Winstanley 4th (1:00:47), Jacque & Dave Cayford 14th (1:19:06)
Vet Mens K1 - Mike Toomey 9th (1:17:35)

5 miles:
u16 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 8th (59:02), Tom Holloway 9th (1:01:26)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 4th (53:06)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 2nd (1:03:09), Catherine Robinson & Kayleigh Gaulton 3rd (1:05:06)

3 miles:
TC2 - Josepha Wallbank & Malcolm Duckworth 3rd (28:35)
u14 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 5th (26:38)
u14 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 4th (26:37)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 4th (30:38), Libby Gaulton 5th (31:27), Hudson Loveday 10th (36:14)

The winning club were Chelmsford CC, with Leighton Buzzard second and BSCC third. This leaves BSCC and Leighton Buzzard neck-and-neck for overall second place in the series. There are two races to go - one of which is the Leighton Buzzard home event, so we shall have to put out a good team for the next two races if we don't want this to slip through our fingers.

Full race results and individual series positions can be found on the FRA website.

The Cambridge race saw a record number of Class 9 entries (long distance K2/MC2), necessitating a split start. Amongst the 30 boats participating were Stortford's Mike P & Chris, who were the first SuperVet crew to finish and Ian & Gordon, who were the first UltraVets.

Jamie M & Jamie G were the only Stortford paddlers to bring home gold medals, winning the junior K2 race for the second time in succession.

7 miles (4 portages):
Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze 8th (1:10:41), Ian Abrams & Gordon Bullock [BAD] 11th (1:11:54)

5 miles (4 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Alex Mulvey 5th (1:10:46)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 5th (1:01:24)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 1st (57:45), Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson 4th (1:25:27)

3 miles (2 portages):
TC2 - Malcolm Duckworth & Josepha Wallbank 3rd (34:30)
Boys u14 K1 - Jack Gaulton 7th (32:27)
Girls u14 K1 - Eilidh White 4th (33:03)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 5th (37:09), Libby Gaulton 7th (39:17), Hudson Loveday 12th (43:17)

Twenty-two paddlers turned out for the club's home race - including a welcome return for Joe Surrage. All the more welcome for securing a gold medal in the Vet Mens K1 race! Mike Toomey won the new fastest UltraVet medal in the same class.

Also on the long course, Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze put in a good performance to come 8th in a strong field of 17 boats, and were also the fastest SuperVet crew.

On the middle distance course, Jamie M & Jamie G again proved a strong pairing as they rocketed to victory in the u16 K2 class. Kerstin won bronze in the ladies race but was also the fastest lady vet.

There was also a silver for Libby in the u12s as the 2nd fastest girl, and a bronze for Edward K as the 3rd fastest boy.

Brand new club member Thomas B acquitted himself well in his first race, in which he found himself pitted against an unusually large field of very experienced competitors.

7 miles (6 portages):
Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Chris Sze 8th (1:07:13), Jacque & Dave Cayford 14th (1:22:45)
Vet Mens K1 - Joe Surrage 1st (1:02:53), Mike Toomey 7th (1:13:19), Kevin Warbrick 9th (1:17:18)
u18 Boys K1 - Connor Higgins 5th (1:13:57)

5 miles (3 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Thomas Barton 11th (1:12:04), Alex Mulvey (ret)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 3rd (55:45)
u16 K2 - Jamie McAdam & Jamie Gaulton 1st (55:11), Maddison Loveday & Catherine Robinson 3rd (1:13:20)

3 miles (1 portage):
TC2 - Josepha Wallbank & Jo Brewer 6th (46:36)
u14 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 5th (33:14)
u14 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 4th (35:07)
u12 K1 - Edward Kirtland 3rd M (37:33), Libby Gaulton 2nd F (38:14), Hudson Loveday (ret)

Ten clubs entered teams. Stortford came second overall, behind Chelmsford and ahead of Leighton Buzzard. We were joint first with Chelmsford for Dick Grieve points (based on performance by novice juniors only).

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

Other awards went to Jacque & Dave (1st in Div 8 doubles), a 2nd for  Jamie G & Jamie M  (2nd in  Div 7 doubles), and Catherine & Maddison (3rd Div 9 doubles).

Well done to our four Lightnings who all won trophies in their respective classes!

Although no Stortford paddlers made the podium in Div 9 singles, the race saw some exceptional results. Jack (technically still a Lightning himself) came 6th out of the 24 competitors, and new team members Alex and Tom H gave sparkling debut performances.

Connor's mum Jo also raced for the first time, partnering Josepha to a 4th place in Division 9 doubles.

SINGLES -
8 miles, 8 portages
Div 5: Mike Toomey 10th (1:26:35)
3 miles, 2 portages
Div 7: Malcolm Duckworth 11th (34:49)
Div 9:  Jack Gaulton 6th (38:20), Alex Mulvey 9th (39:46), Eilidh White 11th (40:57), Thomas Holloway 12th (41:06); Kayleigh Gaulton 18th (44:50)

LIGHTNINGS
2km
u12 Boys: Edward Kirtland 2nd (24:05)
u10 Boys: Hudson Loveday 3rd (20:33)
u10 Girls: Libby Gaulton 1st (20:08), Genevieve Wilson 2nd (20:44)

There were 181 paddlers at this event drawn from 9 clubs in the Eastern Region plus some independents from further afield.

The Stortford regatta was also the final event of the Summer Series and attracted the largest number of competitors of the four regattas this season - 51 in total.

Stortford's own team numbered 16.

Results from the Stortford Regatta for Stortford paddlers:
u10 Girls - Libby Gaulton (gold)
u10 Boys - Hudson Loveday (silver)
u12 Girls - Maddison Loveday (silver)
u12 Boys - Edward Kirtland (silver)
u14 Girls - Eilidh White (silver)
u14 Boys - Jamie McAdam (gold),  Jamie Gaulton (silver), Leo Ranade (7th)
u16 Girls - Kayleigh Gaulton (5th), Fifi Dunphy (6th),
u16 Boys - Connor Higgins (bronze), Thomas Holloway (6th), Alex Mulvey (7th)
u18 Girls - Josie Pretious-White (gold)
u18 Boys - Euan Caton (bronze)
Senior Ladies - Catherine Robinson (gold)

New club member Hudson did especially well, winning his silver medal against an unusually large field of under-10 boys.

Many thanks are due to all the Stortford volunteers who helped with the event: Jacque & Dave Cayford, Mike Hussey, Sue Commercial, Kerstin Queeney, Anne White, Steve & Nickie Loveday, Mike Toomey, Malcolm Duckworth, Helena Pretious-White, Sjoeld Rijpkema, Kevin Short, Connor Higgins, Ant Wright, Angela Aldam and Josepha Wallbank - apologies to anyone missed out!

As this was the final regatta of the season, the series awards were also presented:

Series Medals for Stortford paddlers:
u10 Girls - Libby Gaulton (gold)
u12 Girls - Maddison Loveday (silver)
u12 Boys - Jack Gaulton (silver), Edward Kirtland (bronze)
u14 Girls - Eilidh White (gold)
u14 Boys - Jamie McAdam (gold)
u18 Girls - Josie Pretious-White (gold)
Senior Ladies - Catherine Robinson (gold)

The full results of the Stortford Regatta can be found on the Sprint Results page of the FRA website, together with the series results.

Results from Stortford paddlers:
u10 Girls - Libby Gaulton (gold)
u10 Boys - Hudson Loveday (silver)
u12 Girls - Maddison Loveday (silver)
u12 Boys - Jack Gaulton (gold), Edward Kirtland (silver)
u14 Girls - Eilidh White (gold)
u14 Boys - Jamie Gaulton (gold)
u16 Boys - Connor Higgins (4th)
u18 Girls - Josie Pretious-White (gold)
u18 Boys - Euan Caton (silver)
Sen Ladies - Catherine Robinson (gold)

The full results can be found on the Summer Series results page.
Photos of the event can be found in this Flickr album.

We will be hosting the finals of this series at Stortford on 8th September.