The club was delighted to welcome paddlers from Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC, Leighton Buzzard CC, Hemel Hempstead CC and Le Valley Paddlesports to our Regatta - not only because it was the first local regatta since 2019, but also because we were using the occasion to celebrate the club's 50th anniversary.

The 49 paddlers spent the morning taking part in a series of races across 500m, 1000m and 200m, in sets of four. After a lunch break, the organiser Rich made up teams for fun relays.

After the prizegiving, everyone was invited to share a glass of bubbly and a a slice of celebration cake.

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

On his return to paddling he started to drive the minibus and trailer to international events and later became Team Manager for the GB Marathon Team.  He became secretary of the Marathon Racing Committee and has had a big influence on what happens in the sport today.  Although not necessarily a regular attendee at the Club, he proudly raced in his Stortford vest and volunteered at many of the Club’s races.

In late 2019 James first discovered he had cancer.  In April 2020 he had an operation to remove his kidney and other areas with tumours in his abdomen and had a further operation in December 2020 to remove a lump behind his lung.  Probably his most impressive achievement was to come back from this to win the Veteran 45-54 K2 at the National Marathon Championships in 2021.

As well as marathon racing James very much enjoyed surfski paddling and spent lots of time paddling out of Southend and other places in recent years and raced surfski a few times too.

In December 2021 James found out some lumps were detected on his routine scan and in February he was told these were inoperable.  James leaves behind his wife Catherine and son Ollie.

It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of one the clubs most experienced coaches. Roger Davey, or Dodge as most of the club knew him was one of the best and most dedicated coaches the club has ever had. Dodge spent countless hours down the canoe club putting so much of his time and talent into making the clubs youngsters become some of the most successful the club has ever seen. Bishop's Stortford Canoe Clubs paddlers were not the only people to be lucky enough to experience Dodge's coaching. Hundreds of paddlers across the country have been coached by him including that of the GB team in which he was once a coach.

In 2014, Dodge was recognised for his continuous volunteering at the club and was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award at the clubs awards evening. He was also later awarded the clubs first ever lifetime achievement award, but sadly due to health complications, Dodge's appearances at the club became very limited. However he continued to coach from home, setting sessions and speaking to his paddlers about races, training and general life.

In my early paddling career myself, Izzy and Emily were coached by Dodge. Sim joined the group a few years later and I feel I can safely say we wouldn't be the paddlers we are today without his early coaching. To be taken under his wing in the summer of 2012 for the second time to train alongside Josh was a great privilege. Josh later went on to complete the DW with Dodge helping him every step of the way. Dodge is also one of the main reasons, like for so many, that I continued the sport through my teenage years. Around the same time period, Team Pink was formed, with new paddlers joining Dodge's group including Ella, Heidi, Emily, Laura, Megan and later on Catherine and David. As a member of Team Pink, although I used to hate admitting it, I think I can speak on behalf of the group in saying that the sessions coached by Dodge were some of the funniest yet most productive sessions we have ever had in our kayaking careers.

​I'd like to say thank you to Dodge for all his dedication to Bishop's Stortford Canoe Club. It was a honour to have Dodge as my coach, mentor and also friend. I hope to make him proud come Easter 2017 when I embark on The Devizes to Westminster 125 mile canoe race. 
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​Rest in peace x

In the course of time I moved to London and raced out of the Royal Canoe Club, where I was Paddling Mate for a period. I ended up in the Essex area, when my racing stopped. Shortly after that, I took up coaching and became a Junior Olympic Racing Squad Coach from 1982 to 1995, when I joined the White Water Racing National Junior Squad. I also continued with the Junior Racing Squad as Boatman/Driver, and at the same time was coaching paddlers all over the country.

​The host club had a beautiful new clubhouse about 100m downstream from the original club which had been built by its members over last two years and largely funded by a grant from the local parish council.  The new club included a camping area with electrical hook up points for those with caravans or camper vans and more than adequate space for the rest of us in tents.  There was also a large patio area with plenty of seating for people to eat at of have a drink.

​We were welcomed on arrival by the president of the club and after taking a short walk down the road to get some dinner we joined him in the Kastelse Kayak Klub bar.  We shared a few stories about races he had done in the UK and some of us had done abroad in the past and then he proudly showed us the DW K1 team trophy that his club had won in 1998.  A trophy that will hopefully have Bishops Stortford’s name on it in 2017.

We then put half of our boats on the Kastelse Kayak Klub trailer and just took Dave’s car to the start which was an easy 11km drive.  The race started at 2:00pm on a wide dead straight canal with all classes starting on one mass start. ​