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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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

• Full race results (FRA website)
• League table
• Photos by Amanda Roberts of P3T Photography
• A few more photos (Angela's Google album)
  

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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)

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.

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)

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.

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

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.

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.