The rain held off and there was even a fair bit of autumn sunshine for the opening race of Winter Series 2025-26. We welcomed teams from 11 other clubs, making a total 118 competitors.

On the 7 mile course, Rich & Hannah were gold medalists in the mixed K2. Kerstin and Ealing's Catherine were silver in Ladies K2, and faster still were Jasper & Harry from Wey who took silver in Mens K2.

7 miles (6 portages):
K2 16+ Men - Jasper Kirtland & Harry Luck [WEY] 2nd (1:00:37), David Gurney & Robert Gough 4th (1:03:47), Ben Tubby & Tom Kelly [TON] 5th (1:04:57)
K2 16+ Mixed - Richard Winstanley & Hannah Crofts 1st (1:10:52), Claudia Redeker & Paul Lane [MAI] 3rd (1:23:45)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd (1:09:23), Christine Meula & Karen Bradley 5th (1:16:58)
K1 Senior Men - Jamie Bond 4th (1:19:24)
K1 Veteran Men - Joao Spinola 1st (1:07:51), Jack Law 8th (1:28:09)

On the 5 mile course, gold medals were won by Zoe in SuperVet Ladies, Libby in u16 Girls and Petr in C1.

5 miles (3 portages):
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Zoe Norford 1st (1:23:13)
K1 u16 Boys - Jamie Winstanley  5th (57:03), Shehan Sheikh 6th (1:10:42)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 1st (57:02), Stella Thompson 4th (1:12:14)
C1 Advanced - Petr Luksan 1st (1:05:47)

Big thanks are due to the club's volunteers who turned out to marshal the starts/finishes, turns and road crossings, as well as to the catering team who kept everyone fed and watered throughout the day.

It was good to see so many members taking part - 27 in total. This included a large number of novice juniors. This was reflected in the club scoring the most "Dick Grieve" points by a long way.

Especially well done to all those who were taking part in their first marathon race: Joshua, Sebastian, Connie and Georgia.

See

• Full race results (FRA website)
• League table 
• Photos (Angela's Google album)
  

The courses on the Grand Union Canal are slightly longer than at most venues in the Winter Series, as the 16 Stortford paddlers taking part must have been acutely aware as they battled against the wind and the driving rain.

Jasper collected his fifth gold of the season, and has also received a promotion to Div 4. Ben T won his fourth gold, and there were also golds for Summer and Petr.

Silver medals went to Libby and Kerry T; there were fastest SuperVet medals for Karen & Chris, fastest UltraVet medals for Jacque & Dave, and a fastest Lady medal for Zoe.

8 miles:
K2 Men - David Gurney & Eddie Kirtland 6th (1:11:16)
K2 Mixed - Dave Cayford & Jacque Cayford 5th (1:24:35)
K2 Ladies - Karen Bradley & Christine Meula 2nd (1:18:24)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:24:40)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:24:30)

6 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (58:23)
K1 SuperVet Ladies - Claudia Redeker 2nd (1:07:02)
K1 u16 Girls - Libby Gaulton 2nd (1:09:20)

4 miles:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (40:20)
C1 Novice - Petr Luksan 1st (51:16)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (53:57)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (1:25:51)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 5th (53:00)

BSCC were third overall in the series, a single league point behind Cambridge CC. Chelmsford CC were the inevitable overall winners.

The Dick Grieve Trophy is based on a separate league table calculated exclusively on the the points won by unranked juniors (i.e. Div 9 and below). Stortford were trailing a long way behind Chelmsford CC, but a long-standing rule that the trophy cannot go to the club which wins the overall cup meant that it passed to Stortford, with Leighton Buzzard CC not far behind.

The other club cup in the WS - the Bob Porter Trophy  - goes to the club with the greatest participation in the under 12s classes across the series. This was easily won by Chelmsford CC. Leighton Buzzard were second and Stortford a close third.

On the longest course, Kerstin & Catherine were second in Ladies K2, and received the fastest SuperVet medals - their time would also have brought them a silver medal in the Mens K2!  David G executed a great performance in the Senior Men's class against a large and very strong field to finish 5th. Both Eilidh and Eddie fell foul of the rule which limits medals according to the size of the entry, so did not get medals for their 2nd and 3rd places.

8 miles:
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:05:06)
K1 Sen Men - David Gurney 5th (1:03:08)
K1 Sen Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:17:31)
K1 u18 Men - Edward Kirtland 3rd (1:07:41)

Ben secured his third win in the SuperVet Men's class to take gold - the club's only entry on the middle distance.

5 miles:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 1st (43:34)

On the shortest course, Petr won gold in C1, and Rupert a bronze against a surprising number of u12s given the state of the weather.

The largest class of the day was the K1 Open - with 11 paddlers competing even after a couple of entries had cancelled - Jack put in a very creditable performance to finish 8th.

3 miles:
C1 novice - Petr Luksan 1st (29:36)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (29:15)
K1 Open - Jack Law 8th (30:46)

12 km:
K2 16+ Mens - Eddie Kirtland & George Hampton [CLM] DNF
K2 16+ Mixed - David Gurney & Eilidh White 2nd (1:11:43); Jacque & Dave Cayford 6th (1:31:47)
K2 16+ Ladies - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Shirley [EAL] 2nd  (1:13:05)
K1 Vet Ladies - Kerry Tubby 2nd (1:27:24)

8 km:
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 2nd (50:34)

4 km:
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 1st (24:40)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (31:38)
K1 u12 Girls - Summer Norford 1st (45:50)
K1 Open - Zoe Norford 3rd (33:40)

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).

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)

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.

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] 2nd (1:09:47)
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.

Other paddlers at this distance were Joao who thoroughly enjoyed the Senior Men’s K1 race, and Eilidh who had a leisurely paddle to take 2nd place in the Under-18 girls race.

On the 5-mile course it was Eddie who shone, winning silver in the u16 Boys for the 4th time this season. Ben competed in the Supervet Men’s race again, coming 2nd despite two unscheduled dunkings in the chilly water. Robin also raced in this class, coming in 7th, and considering this to be very good value for his money after an hour on the water!

Jasper worked hard in the u14 boy’s race, sadly succumbing to the lure of a swim at the half way point. However, he bravely got back in and paddled the second half of the race with great determination, finishing in 4th place. 

Petr had a fantastic race in the C1 Novice category, winning with style after navigating the rough waters in his high-kneeler canoe.

Seventeen BSCC paddlers made it to the earlier-than-usual Leighton Buzzard Winter Series race. A bright but chilly day made for a more pleasant paddling experience than the weather forecasts had predicted!

On the 8-mile course, the best results for the club came from Kerstin and her K2 partner Catherine Ayling (Ealing CC) who took gold in the K2 Women’s race, and from Karen who paddled this distance for the first time to win the gold medal in the Vet Women’s race.

Jack continued his silver streak with a fantastic performance in u18 Men. Kerry & Chris made for a successful pairing in the K2 16+ mixed doubles race, coming in 4th place, which earned them the First SuperVets medal – Jacque & Dave also battled through this race, finishing with a smile to win First UltraVets.

6 miles (2 portages):
K1 SuperVet Men - Ben Tubby 4th (1:01:35)
K2 u16 - Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandall 2nd (1:31:41)
K1 u16 Boys - Eddie Kirtland 2nd (57:53)

Libby took gold in the u14 Girls again, despite a run in with a narrowboat which resulted in her taking an unscheduled swim. She bravely got back in and paddled the second half of the race with great determination. 

On the 6-mile course it was Eddie who shone, winning silver in the u16 Boys.

Finlay and Oliver struggled to a very hard-earned silver in the u16 K2s race, at one point having to take evasive action when threatened by a swan!

Ben competed in the Supervet Men’s race again, coming 4th despite no less than three swims in the chilly water.

Rupert won the bronze in the u12s Boys race after a sprint finish with Conor Bates of Leighton Buzzard CC – Rupert also brought home significant Dick Grieve points, as the only unranked junior competing for the club.

4 miles:
K1 u14 Girls - Libby Gaulton 1st (48:03)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 3rd (52:59)

Chelmsford CC were the winning club at this event, with Leighton Buzzard CC second, and Stortford third.

Stortford now stand second in the series overall, and joint first with Leighton Buzzard for the Dick Grieve trophy.

See

• Full race results (FRA website)
• League table 
• Photos (Angela's Google album)
  

5 miles (4 portages):
K2 u16 - Oliver Klumpler & Finlay Sandall 2nd (1:23:36)
K1 u16 Boys - Eddie Kirtland 2nd (54:53)

Rupert was the standout performer on the short course, taking gold in the Under 12s boys race with a very well executed portage – he and Daniel also brought home significant points in the Dick Grieve category, as the only two unranked juniors competing for the club. 

3 miles (2 portages):
K1 u14 Boys - Jasper Kirtland 4th (31:17)
K1 u14 Girls - Libby Gaulton 1st (31:18)
C1 novice - Petr Luksan 2nd (36:02)
K1 u12 Boys - Rupert Kirtland 1st (34:17)

Libby and Jasper worked brilliantly together, taking gold in the U14 girls and 4th in the U14 boys respectively. Petr was one of the very few high kneeler C1s on the course, taking 2nd place in the C1 Novice class. 

As usual, Chelmsford were the overall winners of the event, with Cambridge second, and Stortford third. 

See

• Full race results (FRA website)
• League table 
• Photos (Angela's Google album)