Category: Racing

Cambridge Winter Series Marathon (1 Dec 2024)

5/12/2024

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).

Well done also to Jack L, who successfully completed his first away race!

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)

BSCC was 3rd with Leighton Buzzard CC, behind Chelmsford CC, and the home team Cambridge CC. The same pattern repeated for the Dick Grieve points.

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Maidstone Winter Series Marathon (17 Nov 2024)

17/11/2024

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A somewhat depleted team of 10 made their way down to Maidstone for the second race of the 2024-25 Winter Series. Nevertheless, six of these went home with medals.

David G and Eddie earned bronzes as in the Mens K2, after gaining a good position in the mass start of 17 doubles boats.

8 miles (1 portage):
K2 16+ Mens - David Gurney & Eddie Kirtland 3rd (1:07:08)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:32:39)

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.

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B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (3 Nov 2024)

3/11/2024

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The opening race of this year's Winter Series attracted 120 competitors representing 13 different clubs, including a few from Tonbridge CC and Royal CC.

Despite all the heavy rain last month, the field dried out and was available for parking, and the weather on the day was perfect. Thankfully there were no fallen trees this year, so everyone was back on the usual course. The day went like clockwork, thanks to the hard work by all the club's volunteers - including some helping out for the first time.

Kerstin was partnered by Catherine from Ealing CC to a second place in the Ladies K2, and Jacque & Dave won the First Ultravet medals in the mixed K2.

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.

Although the Stortford team was somewhat reduced compared to last year, it was still enough to bring the club second place overall (126 points), behind Chelmsford CC (398) and ahead of Cambridge CC (105).

As there were only two novice juniors scoring points for the club (Rupert and Shehan), BSCC came third in the Dick Grieve league, behind Chelmsford and Leighton Buzzard.

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Chelmer Hasler (13 Oct 2024)

13/10/2024

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BSCC had a cracking start to the 2025 Hasler season with a second place at the Chelmer Hasler.

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)

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
2 miles
Div A: Rupert Kirtland 4th (15:48)

Most of the club's trophies came from the doubles boats, with second places for Eilidh & Libby, Kerstin & Catherine, Mark & Steve, and Jacque & Dave. Eilidh has been promoted to Div 6 and Kerstin to Div 5.

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).

B. Stortford Sprint Regatta (15 Sep 2024)

15/9/2024

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Fifteen Stortford paddlers were joined at our home regatta by competitors from Chelmsford, Cambridge, Lee Valley, Hemel Hempstead and the LYR Boat Club, bringing the total number of participants to 46.

We were blessed with perfect weather. The club's volunteers and social committee laid on a good a good spread of cakes and tasty BBQ, so must take much of the credit for the success of the day.

Other volunteers timed the repeated runs of 500m, 200m and 100m that were made in groups of 3 in singles boats.

It was particularly pleasing to see several of our newest recruits taking part.

As well as the times for the different distances in K1 and C1, there was an opportunity after the lunch break to have a go in some K4s - many thanks to Chelmsford CC for bringing two of theirs along.

Results for Stortford paddlers:
u10 Boys - Alfie Azuga (bronze)
u12 Girls - Tilly Sell (gold)
u12 Boys - Rupert Kirkland (bronze), George Griffiths (6th), Toby Judge (7th)
u14 Girls - Libby Gaulton (gold)
u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland (silver), Jamie Winstanley (5th)
u16 Boys - Eddie Kirtland (gold)
Senior Men - Jamie Bond (silver), Alex Scott (bronze)
Veteran Ladies - Kerry Hoar (silver)
Veteran Men - Robert Gough (gold)
SuperVet Ladies - Christine Meula (gold)
SuperVet Men - Petr Luksan (4th)
C1 - Petr Luksan (silver)
PaddleAbility - Alex Scott (gold)

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Sprint Regatta, Nottingham (7-8 Sept 2024)

8/9/2024

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A team of eight from BSCC went up to Nottingham for the final National Sprint Regatta of 2024 over a very damp September weekend. Paddle UK had provided a big screen so that those spending their weekend at the event did not miss the paralympics canoe sprint which was taking place in Paris, which added an extra bit of excitement to proceedings!

Jasper Kirtland was racing in the Boys D class for the first time, and had a very successful meet, winning his 200m heat, and coming 3rd in Final 3 (49.62), and finishing 4th in his 500m heat, again coming 3rd in Final 3 (2:24.29).

The Boys D class was incredibly competitive, with 7 or 8 heats and 3 finals in each race. Jasper joined forces with older brother Eddie Kirtland, racing up in the Boy’s C class K2 200m. They came 3rd in their heat to qualify for the final, but the effort took its toll, and they finished in 9th place in the final race (47.26).

Eddie also competed in the Boys C class, coming 5th in his K1 200m heat (46.70), and 7th in his K1 500m heat (2:13.45). He teamed up with Jasmine Seargent from Norwich Canoe Club to race in the Mixed Boys and Girls K2 class, coming 5th in their K2 500m heat (2:07.17), and narrowly missing out on qualification for the final. He also joined a scratch team of paddlers from other clubs to compete in the Boys B/C K4 500m race, where they came a very respectable 4th (1:48.38).

The club had three competitors in the Men D/Masters C combined class K1 200m race – Tom Barton finished 6th in his heat (52.42), Tom Holloway 5th in his heat (48.92), and Joao Spinola won his heat in a fantastic 44.71. Tom H qualified for Final 2, coming a brilliant 3rd (48.49), whilst Joao qualified for Final 1, coming 7th in 46.37.

Tom B and Joao also teamed up for the Men D/Masters C/D K2 1000, finishing in a creditable 5th place in their heat (4:47.38), and only just missing out on the final.

Also competing for the club were Jamie Winstanley in the Intermediate Boys class 500m K1 race, where he finished in 7th place (2:46.38), and Rupert Kirtland in the Mini Sprint B class (for under 12s), where he finished 7th in his 500m K1 heat (3:17.88). Both were in very competitive classes!

In the Paddle-Ability class, Oliver Klumpler finished 2nd in both K1 200m races, the first male and first junior paddler to finish in both races. He also achieved a PB of 58.96 in his first race, and promotion to a higher Paddleability time band.

Following the weekend’s racing, Joao has been promoted to Masters B, whilst Rupert has been promoted to Mini Sprint A.

Photos & reporting: Flora Klumpler

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National Marathon Championships (13-14 Jul 2024)

14/7/2024

The National Marathon Championships were held on the Thames at Reading. Well done to the 8 Stortford paddlers who participated, and especially Kerstin Queeney (now over-54 Ladies K2 champion with Catherine Ayling) and Kat Wilson (over 34 Ladies K1 champion).

SINGLES -
12.6 k & 2 portages
O34 VL: Kat Wilson 1st (1:04:25)
8 k
O54 VL: Kerstin Queeney 4th (45:12)
U14 JM: Jasper Kirtland 13th (43:02)
U14 JL: Libby Gaulton 13th (47:38)

Photo credit: Kerstin Queeney

Photo credit: Chris Sze

Photo credit: Kerstin Queeney

DOUBLES -
12.6 k & 2 portages
O34 VL: Kat Wilson & Victoria Knee [BOA] 1st (1:13:11)
O44 VM: Ben Tubby & Chris Sze 9th (1:3:52)
Mixed: Kat Wilson & Juan Caruncho [BAD?] 18th (58:19), Joe Fitzpatrick & Libby Gaulton 45th (1:03:55), Kerry Tubby & Chris Sze 63rd (1:09:17)
8 k
O54 VL: Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling [EAL] 1st (40:36)
U14 JM: Jasper Kirtland & Libby Gaulton 6th (40:50)

Chris captured a very surprised duck on his GoPro.

Photo credit: Chris Sze

Full results are on the MRC results website.

Rich sets off to face Yukon 1000

6/7/2024

On 12th July our very own Rich Winstanley, committee member of BSCC and Sprint Team Leader, will be setting off in one of the most extreme competitions the world of sport has to offer – the Yukon 1000.

The canoe race begins at Whitehorse in Yukon Territory, Canada, and follows the route taken by the prospectors who canoed down the Yukon river in the 1896 Klondike goldrush to Dawson City (roughly half way through the race), then crosses into the Arctic Circle to finish at the Dalton Highway Bridge in central Alaska.

Thousands of crews apply to participate in this annual event, but no more than 30 will be selected. Each must convince the organiser that they have the necessary bush-craft and survival skills necessary, as well as the fitness and paddling skills, to be able to complete the distance within the maximum 10 day period allowed.

Whitehorse, where the race begins

At 1000 miles, the event is the longest canoe race in the world. However, it is far more than just an extremely long marathon, but also a test of physical and mental endurance in wilderness conditions. The organisers claim that "more people have been up Everest than have been beyond Dawson City." Participants may face forest fires, bears, moose, rapids, whirlpools, rain of "biblical" proportions, or high water.

The race is completely unsupported, and much of the route is so remote as to make external rescue difficult if not impossible, being out of the range of helicopters. Although crews carry mobile phones for emergency use, any other contact with the outside world means an automatic DQ. All the camping gear and food needed for the expedition must of course be carried in the boat.

Each team’s progress will be monitored with a tracker. There is a compulsory minimum of 6 hours’ rest each “night” - though they will be so far north that the sun will not set.

Some crews have already pulled out leaving 23 at the time of writing. All entries are doubles crews – organisers deem the race too dangerous to be attempted alone. Rich and his friend John Astbury (who were paddling partners from their teens) have entered under the team name “Winging It”.

As well as the personal satisfaction of completing this extreme challenge, Rich and John are also hoping to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Rich’s son underwent multiple brain surgeries – if you would like to donate you can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/yukon1000

During the race, Rich & John's progress (boat 21) can be live-tracked here:
https://teammap.net/yukon1000/2024/race.html
All paddlers must stop by 23:00 each night for a min 6 hour rest. Assuming this refers to Mountain Standard Time, this would be 7:00 BST, which is 8 hours ahead.

B. Stortford Hasler (2 Jun 2024)

2/6/2024

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Although fielding a larger team than usual (24 paddlers), Stortford was still outnumbered by the teams from Chelmsford CC and Norwich CC, so it was particularly pleasing to score our second outright win of the season.

In singles, Daniel has been awarded a promotion to Division 7 (bronze Div 8). There were also particularly good performances from Kat (silver, Div 3 & fastest lady) and Jaroslav (bronze, Div 6).

SINGLES -
19km, 8 portages
Div 2: David Gurney 5th (1:39:16)
Div 3: Kat Wilson 2nd (1:37:16)
11.5km, 6 portages
Div 5: Tom Holloway 11th (1:19:34)
Div 6: Jaroslav Klumpler 3rd (1:15:42)
6.5km 2 portages
Div 7: Eilidh White 6th (37:22)
Div 8: Daniel Baines 3rd (37:43), Jamie Bond 7th (39:35), Finlay Sandall 10th (42:13)
Div 9: Alex Scott 20th (48:31)

Many of the club's medals and points came from the doubles entries. Joao & Ben formed a very successful partnership in Div 4, and Mark and Kerry T paddled to victory with partners from other clubs in Divs 5 and 6 respectively. Equally important in securing the club's overall win was the 1st place in Div 9 by Oliver and Kerry H - albeit uncontested.

Chris & Karen are proving to be a solid points-scoring pair with their third successive podium place (silver Div 7). On only her second race for the club, Claudia has again been promoted, and joins Kerstin in Div 5 (silver, Div 5).

DOUBLES -
11.5km, 6 portages
Div 4: Joao Spinola & Ben Tubby 1st (1:04:54)
Div 5: Mark Adams & Steve Tingay [LBZ] 1st (1:10:22), Kerstin Queeney & Claudia Redeker 2nd (1:10:27), Alasdair Bruce & Mike Panrucker 4th (1:11:13), Libby Gaulton & Jasper Kirtland 8th (1:13:54)
Div 6: Kerry Tubby & Paul Lane [MAI] 1st (1:14:09)
6.5km, 2 portages
Div 7: Christine Meula & Karen Bradley 2nd (35:39), Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 3rd (36:01)
Div 9: Oliver Klumpler & Kerry Hoar 1st (49:20)

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
2.5km
Div B: Rupert Kirtland 1st (20:07)

Huge thanks are also due to all the volunteers without whom the race could not happen - the club members, their families and friends, who organised parking, marshalled portages, starts and finishes, who sorted boards and entries, or who provided the refreshments for the day!

Many thanks also to Cllr Murray White, Deputy Mayor of Bishops Stortford, for coming along to present the medals.

The club is now standing in third position within the Eastern Region, but with Leighton Buzzard's home race to come, this could still change.

Norwich Hasler (19 May 2024)

19/5/2024

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One hundred and thirty five paddlers from six clubs contended the Norwich Hasler. Although Stortford sent only a small team (14 paddlers), the quality of the performances was excellent, and the team achieved a third place.

Gold medals were won by Joao & Jasper, and Karen & Christine. Jasper has been promoted two divisions to Div 4, and Karen & Christine have been promoted to Div 7.

Silver medals were awarded to Joe, Eddie & David G, and to Kerry T & Claudia. Eddie has been promoted to Div 3, and Kerry and Claudia to Div 6.

Jamie did well to come 4th in his first Div 8 race, and new member Kerry Hoar also did well in her first ever race.

SINGLES -
19.5km, 4 portages
Div 2: Joe Fitzpatrick 2nd (1:38:18)
6.5km
Div 8: Jamie Bond 4th (38:48)
Div 9: Kerry Hoar 7th (50:03)

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
3.5km
Div A: Rupert Kirtland 5th (23:42)

DOUBLES -
19.5km, 4 portages
Div 3: David Gurney & Eddie Kirtland 2nd (1:30:42)
13km, 2 portages
Div 5: Joao Spinola & Jasper Kirtland 1st (1:04:02), Kerstin Queeney & Libby Gaulton 8th (1:11:40)
6.5km
Div 7: Kerry Tubby & Claudia Redeker 2nd (32:30)
Div 8: Karen Bradley & Christine Meula 1st (34:24)

The race was of course won by Norwich CC with a perfect score of 600. Chelmsford were second (586) and Stortford third (538).

Cambridge Winter Series Marathon (1 Dec 2024)

Maidstone Winter Series Marathon (17 Nov 2024)

B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (3 Nov 2024)

Chelmer Hasler (13 Oct 2024)

B. Stortford Sprint Regatta (15 Sep 2024)

Sprint Regatta, Nottingham (7-8 Sept 2024)

National Marathon Championships (13-14 Jul 2024)

Rich sets off to face Yukon 1000

B. Stortford Hasler (2 Jun 2024)

Norwich Hasler (19 May 2024)

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