Category: Racing - BSCC

Norwich Hasler (21 May 2023)

21/5/2023

Great results at Norwich have put a place in the National Hasler Finals within reach again.

Three of the team were paddling with members of other clubs. Kerstin and Catherine from Maidstone are a regular pairing but this race also saw Joe paddle with Ollie Rix of Norwich, and we were joined for the first time by Kat Wilson paddling with Chelmsford's Leah Falltrick.

Ten members of the 18-strong Stortford team came home with medals. Golds were won by Finlay & Oliver in Div 9, David in Div 1, Eddie in Div 5 and Jasper in GSA. Silvers went to Chris & Ben in Div 4, Tony in Div 5, Joe in Div 2 doubles, and Kat in Div 3 doubles.

DOUBLES -
19.5km, 5 portages
Div 2: Joe Fitzpatrick & Ollie Rix [NOR] 2nd (1:27:10)
Div 3: Kat Wilson & Leah Falltrick [CLM] 2nd (1:38:54)
13km, 3 portages
Div 4: Chris Sze & Ben Tubby 2nd (1:04:38)
Div 5: Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling [MAI] 5th (1:10:48)
6.5km
Div 9: Finlay Sandall & Oliver Klumpler 1st (41:07)

Two further paddlers put in performances which were close to winning them a promotion yet didn't get to stand on the podium. Jaroslav (Jay) came very close to making it into Div 6, and Eilidh's time almost saw her break out of Div 9.

New club member Isabel looked as if she had been paddling all her life, and achieved a very impressive time for her first Div 9 race.

SINGLES -
19.5km, 5 portages
Div 2: David Gurney 1st (1:39:02)
13km, 3 portages
Div 4: Mark Adams (rtd)
Div 5: Eddie Kirtland 1st (1:11:05), Tony Brett 2nd (1:11:27)
6.5km
Div 7: Jaroslav Klumpler 4th (35:27)
Div 9: Eilidh White 9th (39:41), Isabel Knight 11th (42:07), Karen Bradley 12th (43:39), Kerry Tubby 15th (45:38)

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
3.5km
Div A: Jasper Kirtland 1st (20:50)
Div B: Rupert Kirtland 4th (22:38)

The overall winners were the home club, with Chelmsford CC second. A third place for Stortford has moved us from 5th to equal 3rd position in the Eastern Region, and this with a real chance of finishing the season in the top four and winning a place at the finals, which this year will be held at Worcester.

See also

Bedford Hasler (30 Apr 2023)

30/4/2023

Eight gold medals, a silver and two bronzes, a third place overall, and two double promotions - not a bad day's work for the Stortford team!

Twenty-two Stortford paddlers were among the 134 competing at Bedford.

River conditions at the first turn caused a few capsizes in what was otherwise a particularly successful day.

Most of the club's medals came from the four doubles boats. Chris & Ben T were spurred on by a friendly rivalry with Gordon Bullock and his new Barking CC partner to win Div 5 doubles. Kerstin & Jack also paddled particularly well together in Div 6. It has been announced that as a result of these crew performances, Ben is being promoted to Div 4 and Jack to Div 5.

David G, our only competitor on the longest course, fought a close contest for Div 2, with all four boats crossing the finish line within 8 seconds of eachother. David was 1 sec behind Ali Kabeer but 6 sec ahead of Matt Parkes.

Other high-scorers in the singles races were Eddie K, Jaroslav (Jay), and John.

A special well-done to Kerry who was competing in her first ever race.

DOUBLES -
12.9km, 2 portages
Div 5: Chris Sze & Ben Tubby 1st (1:10:08)
Div 6: Kerstin Queeney & Jack Gaulton 3rd (1:14:40)
6.8km
Div 8: Jacque Cayford & Dave Cayford 1st (43:31)
Div 9: Finlay Sandall & Oliver Klumpler 1st (47:48)

SINGLES -
19.7km, 4 portages
Div 2: David Gurney 2nd (1:41:24)
12.9km, 2 portages
Div 5: Eddie Kirtland 1st (1:15:38)
6.8km
Div 7: Jaroslav Klumpler 5th (42:04), Libby Gaulton 9th (57:48)
Div 9: John Catmur 10th (49:34), Karen Bradley 14th (51:57), Arthur Catmur 18th (54:45), Eilidh White 19th (55:09), Kerry Tubby 21st (55:53), Tamzin Catmur 24th (1:00:32), Petr Luksan 25th (1:15:18)

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
2.5km
Div A: Jasper Kirtland 1st (18:29)
Div B: Rupert Kirtland 5th (21:41)
Div C: Emilie Klumpler 5th (24:50)

BSCC achieved a comfortable third position in this race, which has to some extent offset the disappointing club result at the previous race. Although we are now fifth in the region we are only one league point behind Cambridge CC and L. Buzzard CC (tied for 3rd place). With three more races to go, the possibility of being in the top four by the end of the season - and therefore going to the national final - is still very much on the table.

See also

Nottingham Sprints (15-16 Apr 2023)

16/4/2023

This April, Bishops Stortford Canoe Club took a team of six paddlers to the national sprint regatta for a weekend of camping and competition.

The races take place on a 2km long, purpose-built regatta lake at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. There are three race distances to choose from: 200m, 500m and 1000m, and there are races for singles (K1), doubles (K2), and fours (K4).

Saturday started off cold, windy, and fairly miserable, which didn't stop the racing! By the middle of the day on Saturday, the sun was shining, and there were smiles all round as the team enjoyed cheering each other on and watching some truly world class racing on the lake, including the Paracanoe selection races. Sunday was a fine day, with some more exciting races to watch, and more racing opportunities for our team.

Rich Winstanley competed in the Masters B class (combined with Men's C). He qualified for the final in the K1 1000m, coming second in that race. He also qualified for the finals in the 500m and 200m on the Sunday, finishing 3rd and 9th respectively in those finals.

Tom Holloway competed in the Men's D 500m and 200m events. In both cases he made the finals, finishing 8th in the 500m and 9th in the 200m.

Eddie Kirtland competed in the Boy's D class. He qualified for the A final in the K1 500m, finishing in 8th place, and partnered with Conrad Packer from Reading for the K2 500m race, coming in 3rd. Eddie also took the front seat in a K4 with Conrad and two paddlers from Linlithgow in Scotland. It was a very close race, taken right to the line, which Eddie's crew won by 0.1s!

Jasper and Rupert Kirtland were in the Lightning B K1 final, which Jasper won, with Rupert finishing in 7th place. Rupert and Jasper also teamed up in the K2 Lightning A/B combined event, finishing a very respectable 3rd. They also competed in the K4 event along with a Norwich and a Nottingham paddler, again coming 3rd.

Oliver Klumpler competed in two races in the Paddle-ability class, coming 4th in both the K1 200m and 500m races, but as one of only two juniors in the race, he finished in 2nd place in both races in his age group.

Oliver is pictured here with the Junior competitors' prizes of "Tiddly-winks", which are small coloured buttons that can be stuck to a wooden stand. These can only be won by under-18s, and are highly sought after!

See the Sprint website for the full results for the April regatta.

Cambridge Hasler (12 Feb 2023)

12/2/2023

There was an early start to the Hasler series, but 123 competitors turned out for the event, including 12 from Stortford.

Eilidh came second in a large field of division 9s to take second place, and Petr did especially well to negotiate the tight turn on the 7km course in his C1 without taking a swim.

Libby put in an especially notable performance with Kerstin in Div 7 doubles to finish fourth, as a result of which Libby has been promoted from Div 9 to 7!

DOUBLES -
21km, 4 portages
Div 2: Joe Fitzpatrick & David Gurney 1st (1:44:38)
7km
Div 7: Kerstin Queeney & Libby Gaulton 4th (37:18)

SINGLES -
14km, 4 portages
Div 4: Chris Sze 8th (1:27:55)
Div 5: Eddie Kirtland 4th (1:30:23)
7km
Div 7: Jaroslav Klumpler 4th (43:31), Jack Gaulton 8th (44:17)
Div 9: Eilidh White 2nd (47:45), Petr Luksan 10th (1:14:06)*
*Petr was competing in Division 9 and not Division 7 as shown on the official results

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
3km
Div A: Jasper Kirtland 1st (22:38)
Div B: Rupert Kirtland 5th (25:16)

BSCC came 5th overall with a total score of 384 points.

See also

L. Buzzard Winter Series Marathon (5 Feb 2023)

5/2/2023

The Grand Union Canal had thawed, and the postponed Leighton Buzzard race was able to go ahead in bright sunshine. The small group of Stortford paddlers who have been coming to the Winter Races through the season were joined on the water for the first time this series by Joe Fitzpatrick.

Joe was paddling in Senior K1, which shared a start with the u18 M K1 class. This led to an exciting finish, which was won by Joe in 1:06:01, closely followed by Ali Kabeer (WOK, 1:06:03, 1st u18), and David Gurney (CLM, 1:06:04, 2nd Sen K1).

Stortford's Chris Sze also came to the race, having returned from his travels, paddling with Gordon Bullock for BAD. The pair put in an excellent performance to finish in second place in the Senior K2 race, just ahead of the BSF boat crewed by Kerstin and Maidstone's Catherine Ayling. However, bronze position was still enough for Kerstin and Catherine to retain the Ladies K2 series trophy for the second successive season.

The day also brought silver medals for Eddie & Libby in the junior K2 race, Oliver in GP, and Emilie Klumpler (for Girls u12), and bronze medals for Jack (u16 M K1) and Eilidh (Ladies K1). Rupert won the medal for first u12.

8 miles (2 portages):
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 3rd (1:16:10)
Open K1 - Joe Fitzpatrick 1st (1:06:01)

6 miles (2 portages):
u16 M - Jack Gaulton 3rd (1:07:04)
Ladies K1 - Eilidh White 3rd (1:10:27)
u16 K2 - Eddie Kirtland & Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:03:57)

4 miles:
u14 Girls K1 & Novice C1 - Petr Luksan 4th (1:09:48)
GP - Oliver Klumpler 2nd (1:19:29)
u12 K1 - Rupert Kirtland 5th (1:03:53), Emilie Klumpler 8th (1:16:35)

Full race & series results are on the FRA website.

See Angela's Google album for some photos of the Leighton Buzzard race & awards.

BSCC SERIES RESULTS:
Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling - Ladies K2 Trophy
Eddie Kirtland & Libby Gaulton - Junior K2 Trophy
David Gurney (for CLM) - Senior K1 Trophy
Eilidh White - Ladies u18/Sen/Vet 2nd place
Oliver Klumpler - u15 M GP Trophy
Emilie Klumpler - u12 F K1 2nd place

BSCC were second overall in both the series (which was won by Chelmsford CC), and the Bob Porter Trophy (for the greatest participation by u12s). We were third in the Dick Grieve Trophy (based on points scored by unranked juniors).

A special "well done" should also go to Oliver and Emilie who have attended all the races this winter despite Oliver's health issues and Emilie being one of the youngest paddlers in the club. Petr too has not missed a race and deserves a special round of applause for taking up the challenge of racing a high kneeler C1 in winter time.

Chelmsford Winter Series Marathon (22 Jan 2023)

22/1/2023

A sadly depleted team represented Stortford at the Chelmsford marathon on Sunday - it was left to just six paddlers to try to sustain the reputation of the club.

The race comprised one, two or three loops of the River Cam through Chelmsford.

Kerstin and Catherine made a spectacular recovery to finish 6th in the K2 class after they were completely spun around shortly after the start of the race. They won the medal for the fastest all-female crew.

Petr opted to enter the Vets race mistakenly thinking the course would not be suitable for high-kneel C1s, but nevertheless achieved an excellent 4th position.

Eilidh took silver in her class, and together with Oliver (1st Paddleabiity in GP) and Emilie (Gold as the 1st girl in u12 K1) the three scored enough points to bring Stortford a respectable 3rd place amongst the novice juniors.

8 miles:
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 6th (1:09:01)
Vet M K1 - Petr Luksan 4th (1:18:54)

5 miles:
Ladies K1 - Eilidh White 2nd (55:42)

3 miles:
GP - Oliver Klumpler 4th (43:41)
u12 K1 - Emilie Klumpler 7th (41:55)

Club points were another matter though, and with such a small team, a disappointing 5th place on the day was inevitable. The poor team result here has brought down our overall position in the Winter Series to 5th, as well as 3rd in the Dick Grieve league (novice juniors) and 3rd for the Bob Porter (participation in u12 K1). There is one more race to go - can the situation be retrieved?

See

Thanks to Flora K for providing some of the photos

Cambridge Winter Series Marathon (4 Dec 2022)

4/12/2022

Only a dozen competitors represented Stortford in the Cambridge Winter Series race.

Kerstin and Catherine achieved a very good time in the senior doubles race, coming 8th out of 24 boats. Jasper won a very well-deserved silver in the u12's race, and there were two further medals in that class for Emilie (girls' silver) and Rupert (first u10). Oliver continues to persevere in racing the essentially non-racing boats of the GP class, and also won a first Paddleability medal.

A special mention should also go to Petr who for the first time competed in high-kneeler C1 at an away race.

7 miles (4 portages):
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 8th (1:12:35)
u18 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 6th (1:22:00)

5 miles (4 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 4th (1:00:57), Daniel Baines 5th 1:15:26
u16 K2 - Eddie Kirtland & Libby Gaulton 1st (59:38)

3 miles (2 portage):
u14 Girls & Novice C1 - Petr Luksan 5th (48:45)
GP - Oliver Klumpler 5th (50:36)
u12 K1 - Jasper Kirtland 2nd (34:13), Rupert Kirtland 9th (44:57), Emilie Klumpler 10th (49:56)

With so few paddlers, Stortford's club position was always going to be disappointing, and we ended in 5th place, behind Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC, Norwich CC and Leighton Buzzard CC. This has led to the interesting situation in which we are now tied in second place with Cambridge, Buzzard and Norwich.

However, enough points were scored by our unranked juniors (Daniel, Oliver, Jasper, Rupert and Emilie) to take joint second place with Leighton Buzzard CC in the competition for the Dick Greave Trophy. In terms of the series, we are now on an equal footing with Chelmsford, and Leighton Buzzard close behind - both of whom still have their home races to come.

See

B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (6 Nov 2022)

6/11/2022

Heavy rain in the days leading up to the race forced a complete re-think of the parking arrangements, and as the rain continued on the day itself, created challenging conditions for everyone, especially the marshals and the volunteers manning the BBQ - but canoeists are not ones to be put off by a little water. Despite the downpour, race attendance was back up to pre-covid numbers. As well as 24 members of BSCC, the 130 competitors included teams from seven other clubs and independent paddlers drawn from at least three others.

Stortford's best results came from the Veteran Men's K1, in which Rich won gold for his impressive time of 1:02:42 and Chris took the medal for first "ultra-vet" (over 60).

Eilidh won bronze in the combined ladies class and was the club's fastest girl on the 5 miles course. In the u12s race, Jasper and Emilie each won bronze as third boy and third girl, and Rupert won the medal for first boy under 10. Oliver was awarded a first paddleability medal in the GP race.

Special mention should be made of Petr for successfully completing his first marathon race in C1.

7 miles (6 portages):
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 13th (1:15:18), Jacque & Dave Cayford 17th (1:20:49)
Vet Mens K1 - Rich Winstanley 1st (1:02:42), Chris Sze 5th (1:10:22), Ben Tubby 10th (1:20:06)
u18 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 4th (1:22:03)

5 miles (3 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 4th (56:36), Arthur Catmur 7th (1:01:27), Ewan Gowing 8th (1:05:02), Daniel Baines 9th 1:08:14
Ladies K1 - Eilidh White 3rd (1:05:54), Kayleigh Gaulton 4th (1:06:14), Karen Bradley 5th (1:06:38), Tamzin Catmur 6th (1:22:39)
u16 K2 - Eddie Kirtland & Libby Gaulton 1st (54:23)

3 miles (1 portage):
u14 Boys K1 - Finlay Sandall 8th (37:47)
u14 Girls & Novice C1 - Ananya Bhusari 6th (45:03), Petr Luksan 7th (55:10)
GP - Oliver Klumpler 9th (53:14)
u12 K1 - Jasper Kirtland 3rd (35:30), Emilie Klumpler 12th (51:24), Rupert Kirtland 13th (51:25)

Stortford Mayor Dave Anderson braved the rain to come along and present the medals.

The club was second overall with 114 points, behind Chelmsford CC (271) but comfortably ahead of Leighton Buzzard CC (73).

The club is also off to a good start in the Dick Grieve league, based on point scored by novice juniors, with Eilidh, Oliver, Arthur, Ewan, Daniel, Finlay, Ananya and Jasper all making significant contributions towards this.

See

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

Hasler Finals 2022

25/9/2022

It was a very small group who travelled to Runnymede to take part in what has traditionally been the most important race in the club calendar.

Inevitably, in a race which is scored on the basis of the results from the club's top 6 singles boats and top three doubles, the results from the club were never going to great (23rd out of 32 clubs present), but there were some individual highlights.

Jacque and Dave did so well in their race that they only narrowly missed being promoted. There was an excellent performance from Tom B who came 11th out of a huge field of 33 competitors. Also good to see Joe resuming his rightful place in Div 2.

Singles:
Div 2 - Joe Fitzpatrick 16th (1:38:23)
Div 4 - Eddie Kirtland 25th (1:04:57)
Div 6 - Tom Barton 11th (1:07:01)
Div 7 - Jaroslav Klumpler (ret)

Doubles:
Div 8 - Jacque & Dave Cayford 11th (44:25)

The complete results can be found on the marathon website here:
https://entries.gbcanoemarathon.co.uk/results/races/2022/hasler-final-2022
(click on the "Points" tab to see the club results)

Stortford did not have any Geoff Senders (u14s league) paddlers taking part in this event, but the national results for the Geoff Sanders Trophy are cumulated over the whole season, and it has been reported that we came 9th overall! (Not yet online to be confirmed?) If this is right, it is a real achievement for the club and enormously encouraging for the future.