A team of six from BSCC went up to Nottingham for the first National Sprint Regatta of 2025 over an unexpectedly glorious sunny April weekend.  They took part in K1, K2 and K4 races over 200m/500m/1000m on the 2km long, purpose-built regatta lake at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. The weekend also served as a selection event for national canoe and paracanoe teams, so the paddlers were sharing the water with Olympians and Paralympians past, present, and future.

Jasper Kirtland was particularly successful at this event. His class (Boys D) was incredibly competitive, with multiple heats and 2 finals in each race. Jasper qualified in 2nd place in his heat for the K1 200m final, where he finished in 5th place (53.02), and again in 2nd place in his heat for the K1 500m final, where he placed 8th (2:22.08). Teaming up with Knoah Ayran from Falcon canoe club for the Boys D K2 200m race, they qualified in 3rd place in their heat, and managed to remain in 3rd place in the final, finishing in 51.94. Jasper also teamed up with paddlers from Leighton Buzzard, Falcon, and Cardiff canoe clubs to finish in 2nd place in the Boys D K4 200m final (49.83). Following the weekend’s racing, Jasper has been promoted to Boys C class.

Jamie Winstanley also raced in Boys D, unfortunately capsizing in two of his heats – however, he joined forces with paddlers from Glasgow and Worcester canoe clubs to take a stunning second place in the Mixed Boys/Girls D K4 200m final in 51.01.

The club had two competitors in the Men C class – Joao Spinola and Rich Winstanley. Joao competed in the K1 1000m, coming 7th in his heat in 4:41.34. He also took part in the K1 500m, finishing 5th in his heat, in 2:24.37. Rich won his heat, and finished in 4th place in the final of the K1 1000m, in 4:18.10. He also finished in 5th place in his heat for the K1 500m, but with a time that qualified him for the final – where he finished 7th, with a time of 2:14.65. Rich also competed in the K1 5000m race, which was for all Men in class A-C – he finished in 17th place, with a time of 21:46.81.

Joao and Rich teamed up to take part in the Men A-D class 1000m K2, where they finished in an excellent 4th place (4:22.18), and again in the Men C/D class K2 500m, where they finished once more in 4th place (2:00.14), showing a true aversion to the podium.

See also the full results on the Sprint Racing Committee website.

Photos & reporting: Flora Klumpler

The team of 26 who went to Cambridge this year was the largest BSCC had put out for any away event in over a year, and you would have to go back to 2018 to find a larger one.

Although the total attendance of 158 was lower than last year's 175, there were more paddlers competing from Eastern Region clubs than last year - the 2024 race included 30 out of region paddlers who are ignored for point-scoring purposes, whereas this year there were only a handful. The main Eastern Region clubs were all out in force, determined to ensure places at the national finals - perhaps spurred on by the shock of missing out on last year's finals (due to river conditions).

David G and Jasper successfully fought off a determined challenge by a mixed crew from Norwich/Falcon to win the Div 3 doubles race. Ben T & Rich must have been making good time when they were in the boat, as they were little more than seven minutes slower despite four capsizes.

Oliver & Jamie W proved to be a good pairing and secured another doubles win for BSCC.

Petr and Mark took the venerable C2 "Victoria" for a spin, and the grand old lady proved she has still got what it takes by carrying them to a 3rd place in Div 9.

There was a well-earned third place also for Karen & Christine in Div 7 K2.

Joao was the only singles paddler to win an award in the divisional race, after beating a Norwich paddler to third place in a photo finish.

The final scores for the top three clubs at this race (Cambridge CC 596 points, Chelmsford CC 590, and Norwich CC 588) were all very similar to last year, so although BSCC's club score of 586 meant a 4th place at Cambridge, it represents a huge improvement over 2024, when Stortford was 5th with 467.

After two races we are now sitting in third place in the Eastern Region behind Chelmsford CC and Cambridge CC.

See also

• Results on the Marathon website
• Eastern Region Hasler League to date 
• Race photos in Angela's Google album

See

• Full race results and series results (FRA website)
• Basic results (positions, times and promotions only) on the MRC website
  
• WS League table 
• Photos (Angela's Google album)

Over the course of the series, 25 BSCC members took part in at least one race - but only Rupert, Eilidh and David G made it to every event. In addition to those who won series awards, special mention should be made of novice paddlers Zoe and Jack L who raced four and three times respectively in the new K1 Open class.

Only a few Stortford paddlers braved the extremely cold conditions to take part in the Chelmsford Winter Series race, which comprised one, two or three laps of the River Can through the town centre.

Chelmsford were the overall winners, with Cambridge 2nd. Due to the small size of the team, BSCC were a long way behind, just managing to stay ahead of Leighton Buzzard to take 3rd.

Chelmsford were also first for points towards the Dick Grieve trophy. Here, Leighton Buzzard were 2nd and Stortford 3rd.

See

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

Very few of the dozen Stortford paddlers who made the journey to the Winter Series race hosted by Barking & Dagenham club would have done this race before, as this was the first time it has taken place since 2017.

Almost all the Stortford paddlers won medals. There were golds for Jasper and Summer to add to their growing collections. Silver medals went to the new pairing of David G & Eilidh, and also to Ben T (who was also awarded one of Barking's "swimmer" stickers). Rupert won a bronze, Kerstin was  a 1st Supervet (in Ladies K2 with Catherine), and Jacque & Dave were 1st Ultravets in Mixed K2. Zoe won her first Winter Series medal as First Lady in K1 Open.

The only finisher not to get a medal was Kerry T, despite an excellent effort and a second place. Current WS rules restrict silver and bronze medals for the adults and older juniors on the basis of the number of entries.

BSCC came 2nd behind Chelmsford CC's inevitable 1st. Crucially, however, Stortford came ahead of Cambridge CC (3rd), so are now only one league point behind them.

See

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

Well done also to Jack L, who successfully completed his first away race!

BSCC was 3rd with Leighton Buzzard CC, behind Chelmsford CC, and the home team Cambridge CC. The same pattern repeated for the Dick Grieve points.

See

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

A somewhat depleted team of 10 made their way down to Maidstone for the second race of the 2024-25 Winter Series. Nevertheless, six of these went home with medals.

David G and Eddie earned bronzes as in the Mens K2, after gaining a good position in the mass start of 17 doubles boats.

8 miles (1 portage):
K2 16+ Mens - David Gurney & Eddie Kirtland 3rd (1:07:08)
K1 Senior Ladies - Eilidh White 2nd (1:32:39)

See

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

The opening race of this year's Winter Series attracted 120 competitors representing 13 different clubs, including a few from Tonbridge CC and Royal CC.

Despite all the heavy rain last month, the field dried out and was available for parking, and the weather on the day was perfect. Thankfully there were no fallen trees this year, so everyone was back on the usual course. The day went like clockwork, thanks to the hard work by all the club's volunteers - including some helping out for the first time.

Kerstin was partnered by Catherine from Ealing CC to a second place in the Ladies K2, and Jacque & Dave won the First Ultravet  medals in the mixed K2.

Although the Stortford team was somewhat reduced compared to last year, it was still enough to bring the club second place overall (126 points), behind Chelmsford CC (398) and ahead of Cambridge CC (105).

As there were only two novice juniors scoring points for the club (Rupert and Shehan), BSCC came third in the Dick Grieve league, behind Chelmsford and Leighton Buzzard.

See

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

BSCC had a cracking start to the 2025 Hasler season with a second place at the Chelmer Hasler.

Under 14s (Geoff Sanders)
2 miles
Div A: Rupert Kirtland 4th (15:48)

Most of the club's trophies came from the doubles boats, with second places for Eilidh & Libby, Kerstin & Catherine, Mark & Steve, and Jacque & Dave. Eilidh has been promoted to Div 6 and Kerstin to Div 5.

Fifteen Stortford paddlers were joined at our home regatta by competitors from Chelmsford, Cambridge, Lee Valley, Hemel Hempstead and the LYR Boat Club, bringing the total number of participants to 46. 

It was particularly pleasing to see several of our newest recruits taking part.

As well as the times for the different distances in K1 and C1, there was an opportunity after the lunch break to have a go in some K4s - many thanks to Chelmsford CC for bringing two of theirs along.