Category: Winter Series

L. Buzzard Winter Series marathon (30 Jan 2022)

30/1/2022

Although the race had been rescheduled at short notice (the original date being cancelled due to ice on the canal) most of Stortford's original team were able to get to the final race of the Winter Series, held at Leighton Buzzard.

Kerstin paired up with Catherine Ayling again for the K2 race on the long course and this time were able to secure silver medals. On the middle-distance course, Oliver & Finlay took silver in the junior K2 event, Karen won bronze in the Ladies K1 race, and Eilidh bronze in u16 girls.

All three of Stortford's gold medals came on the short course, where Dave won the GP race, and Libby and Jasper came first and second respectively in the u12 race to win first girl and first boy. Also in u12s, Nadim and Emilie took silver as second boy and second girl. Meanwhile, Eddie came in a close second to Chelmsford's Cassian Payne in u14 Boys, but had to settle for the silver medal, while Ewan took bronze.

8 miles (2 portages):
Senior K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 2nd (1:15:57)
Vet Mens K1 - Petr Luksan 7th (1:28:50), Jaroslav Klumpler 9th (1:30:35)

6 miles (2 portages):
u16 M - Jack Gaulton 5th (1:08:36)
Ladies K1 - Karen Bradley 3rd (1:13:16)
u16 K2 - Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandall 2nd (1:36:00)
u16 F - Eilidh White 3rd (1:13:12)

4 miles:
u14 Boys K1 - Edward Kirtland 2nd (40:16), Ewan Gowing 3rd (45:54)
GP - Dave Cayford 1st (53:22), Jacque Cayford 5th (1:05:57)
u12 K1 - Libby Gaulton 1st (49:25), Jasper Kirtland 2nd (57:59), Nadim Shawky 3rd (1:15:10), Emilie Klumpler 4th (1:18:30)

Full race & series results are on the FRA website.

BSCC SERIES RESULTS:
Senior K2: 3rd overall & 1st Ladies Trophy Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling
Ladies u18/Sen/Vet K1: 3rd overall & Veteran Trophy Karen Bradley
Junior K2: 2nd Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandall
u16 F K1: 2nd Eilidh White
u14 M K1: 2nd Edward Kirtland, joint 3rd Ewan Gowing
u12 M K1: 1st Jasper Kirtland, 2nd Nadim Shawky
u12 F K1: 1st Libby Gaulton, 2nd Emilie Klumpler

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

Many thanks to everyone who took part in this series - including the parents who have given up their Sundays to bring their children to the events and those who have driven the trailer.

See Angela's Flickr page for some photos of the Leighton Buzzard race and awards.

Chelmsford Winter Series Marathon (9 Jan 2022)

9/1/2022

The race at Chelmsford was held in the channels that run through the town, where the water can get very choppy. On the positive side, there were no portages to contend with.

There was the biggest field of paddlers in the Men's Vets race seen at the series so far. Rich W got off to an excellent start and narrowly missed out on a bronze position.

Kerstin & Catherine yet again won the Ladies medal in the K2 race and also came 4th overall.

Well done to Karen on winning her first Winter Series medal in the Ladies K1 race.

On the 3-mile course, Eddie was narrowly outpaced in the Boys u14 K1 race by the winning Chelmsford boat and brought back a silver, and the same thing happened to Dave in the GPs by an even tighter margin.

Despite a capsize at the start of the mixed u12s race, Libby was able to make up much of the lost time to take 4th overall and 1st Girl.

Photo: Flora K

8 miles:
16+ K2 - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 4th (1:07:48)
Vet Mens K1 - Richard Winstanley 4th (1:08:03), Petr Luksan 16th (1:22:21), Jaroslav Klumpler 18th (1:24:36)
u18 Boys K1 - Tom Barton 4th (1:18:59)

5 miles:
u16 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 6th (54:44)
Ladies K1 - Karen Bradley 3rd (1:00:35)
u16 K2 - Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandall 2nd (1:11:23)
u16 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 2nd (1:00:09)

3 miles:
u14 Boys K1 - Edward Kirtland 2nd (22:22)
u14 Girls K1 - Zuzanna Madeja 5th (34:56)
GP - Dave Cayford 2nd (30:50), Jacque Cayford 5th (36:30)
u12 K1 - Libby Gaulton 4th (30:23), Nadim Shawky 7th (39:00), Emilie Klumpler 8th (42:18)

Full race results are on the FRA website, and photos in Angela's Flickr album.

Please note that due to late notice of the eligibility of some participating paddlers, the Dick Grieve points for this race have had to be recalculated. The club has had good support from our novice juniors throughout the series to date, and although the home team put out a number of their own novice juniors and overtook us on this occasion, the points scored for Stortford by Oliver, Finlay, Eilidh, Zuzanna, Libby and Emilie have ensured that we are still in the lead and remain favourites to win the Dick Grieve Trophy.

In total points, the club came second at this race, behind the winners Chelmsford. Although still second in the Winter Series league at this point, this position could still slip away from us if Leighton Buzzard pull out all the stops for their home race on 23rd. See the league table here.

Many thanks to Jacque for the prizegiving photos

B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (7 Nov 2021)

7/11/2021

For the first time in two years, canoe racing came back to the Stort. Although the total number of competitors was somewhat reduced at 109, the presence of a loyal core of top-class paddlers ensured that the standard was as high as ever.

On the 7 mile course highlights included Kerstin partnered by Catherine Ayling taking the medals for first ladies crew in the K2 race in a time of 1:09:59 - tantalisingly close to the Ladies' course record of 1:09:20 set in 2015 by Ella Beatty & Maia Wallace-Loizou. The pair were 11th overall out of 21 boats. The Mens Vet race was also popular, with 16 competitors - Dave H. was the fastest UltraVet.

On the 5 mile course Catherine R won the first Paddleability medal in the ladies race, and Eilidh won gold in Girls u16. Jack G was Stortford's fastest paddler over this distance.

On the 3-mile course Eddie unfortunately capsized within a few paddlestrokes of the start line following a collision with another paddler and it took some time before he could climb back into his boat and continue the race. Nevertheless, he managed to regain enough time to win a bronze medal in u14M. Libby and Emilie won the girls gold and silver u12 medals, while Jasper and Rupert won the boys silver and bronze medals.

7 miles (6 portages):
Senior K2 - Chris Sze & Mark Adams 9th (1:06:26), Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling 11th (1:09:59), Jamie Gaulton & Jamie McAdam 15th (1:17:02)
Senior K1 - Adam Beaumont 5th (1:06:05 including 10m penalty)
Vet Mens K1 - Dave Hallam 5th (1:12:05), Mike Toomey 9th (1:16:58), Jaroslav Klumpler 15th (1:30:46), Ben Tubby 16th (1:33:34)

5 miles (3 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Jack Gaulton 5th (58:48)
Ladies K1 - Karen Bradley 4th (1:07:50), Christine Meula 6th (1:11:50), Catherine Robinson 7th (1:24:51)
u16 Girls K1 - Eilidh White 1st (1:05:40)

3 miles (1 portage):
u14 Boys K1 - Edward Kirtland 3rd (33:16), Ewan Gowing 5th (35:09), Finlay Sandall 6th (38:22), Oliver Klumpler 8th (40:59)
u14 Girls K1 - Madeja Zuzanna 5th (46:39)
u12 K1 - Libby Gaulton 2nd (35:53), Jasper Kirtland 3rd (36:58), Rupert Kirtland 4th (48:03), Nadim Shawky 5th (49:31), Emilie Klumpler 6th (50:30)

A good turnout of ten novice juniors in the u12s, u14s and u16s together accrued 74 points, putting BSCC in pole position in the Dick Grieve league. Two of these - Zuzanna and Nadeem - were racing for the first time.

Competitors were drawn from eleven clubs. Stortford came second overall (119 points), behind Chelmsford (210) and ahead of Leighton Buzzard (83).

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

Big thanks are due to members, past members, family and friends who turned out to help with the race - as marshals, safety boats, car park marshals, and to work on the BBQ and refreshments, as well as the racers who helped with the setting up and tidying up - and not forgetting all those who made cakes for sale.

Leighton Buzzard Winter Series marathon (26 Jan 2020)

27/1/2020

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).

8 miles (2 portages):
Senior K2 - Mike Panrucker & Ian Abrams 9th (1:19:08), Jacque & Dave Cayford 11th (1:25:38)
Vet Mens K1 - Chris Sze 3rd (1:16:17), Mike Toomey 7th (1:20:14)

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

Chelmsford Winter Series marathon (12 Jan 2020)

15/1/2020

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)

Stortford were first on points won by unranked juniors (Tom Barton, Tom Holloway and Jack Gaulton being our high-scorers here), so we remain at the top of the Dick Grieve league.

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.

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

Cambridge Winter Series marathon (1 Dec 2019)

2/12/2019

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.

Alex found himself the only novice paddler amongst some much more experienced competitors in Boys u16 but, nothing daunted, he achieved a very respectable time. Kerstin was again the fastest lady SuperVet.

Malcolm seemed to be particularly delighted to be back in a Canadian, as he showed Josepha just what trusty old "Victoria" can do in the right hands. The TC2 class seems to be regaining its old popularity, and the bronze medals won by the pair came after some very close-fought competition.

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)

B. Stortford were fourth overall, behind Chelmsford CC, Cambridge CC and Leighton Buzzard CC. We were third on Dick Grieve points (scored by novice juniors) behind The Royal Hospital School and Cambridge CC. See a league table and a link to the full results are on the results page.

Some photos are on Angela's Flickr album. Chris has also put up a video of the race on You-Tube, which you can see on the Videos page.

B. Stortford Winter Series Marathon (3 Nov 2019)

6/11/2019

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

Leaside Winter Series marathon (17 Feb 2019)

19/2/2019

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.

7 miles:
Senior K1 - Adam Beaumont 2nd (59:04)
Vet Mens K1 - Ricky White 5th (1:11:46), Steve Whipp 9th (1:16:29)
u18 Mens K1 - David Gurney 1st (1:02:21)

5 miles:
Ladies K1 - Octavia Abbott 1st (54:22)
u16 K2 - Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson 3rd (1:07:18)

3 miles:
u14 Boys K1 - Jamie Gaulton 3rd (36:27)
u12 K1 - Jack Gaulton 7th (44:47)

Full race & series results are on the FRA website.

BSCC SERIES RESULTS:
K1 F 16+, 1st overall & 1st Vet - Octavia Abbott
K2 u16 & MC2, 2nd - Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson
K1 M u14, 3rd - Jamie Gaulton

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.

Chelmsford Winter Series marathon (13 Jan 2019)

15/1/2019

Octavia won her 2nd gold medal of the season at the Chelmsford Winter Series marathon, coming 1st in Class 4 (Ladies K1). Stortford's other medal winners of the day were Catherine and Eilidh as the first female crew in Class 3 (u16 K2 & MC2).

There were just 11 paddlers from Stortford at this race. The size of the team was reflected in the club's overall position of 4th, behind Chelmsford CC, Leighton Buzzard CC and Cambridge CC.

8 miles:
Senior K2 - Jacque & Dave Cayford 17th (1:21:51)
Senior Mens K1 - Adam Beaumont 5th (59:42)
Vet Mens K1 - Mike Toomey 5th (1:12:40), Kevin Warbrick 6th (1:14:45)

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.

Cheshunt HYMB Winter Series marathon (9 Dec 2018)

10/12/2018

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.

A capsize just after the start caused Octavia to retire, but her success at the earlier races means that she is still third overall in Ladies K1 and well ahead of the field for the Vet Ladies trophy, whilst Kirsten (4th overall so far in this class) is leading the SuperVets.

7 miles (4 portages):
Senior K2 - Adam Beaumont & David Gurney 3rd (51:15), Mike Panrucker & Ian Abrams 9th (1:00:15), Jacque & Dave Cayford 17th (1:00:42)
Vet Mens K1 - Dave Hallam 5th (57:30)
u18 Boys K1 - Euan Caton 1st (55:53)

5 miles (4 portages):
u16 Boys K1 - Connor Higgins 6th (44:26)
Ladies K1 - Kerstin Queeney 5th (47:46), Octavia Abbott (DNF)
u16 K2 - Eilidh White & Catherine Robinson 3rd (59:52)

3 miles (2 portages):
u14 Boys K1 - Jamie Gaulton 4th (30:47)
u12 - Jack Gaulton 8th (37:10), Libby Gaulton 10th (38:14)

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

<<Previous