WS 2016-17 Race 6: Leaside & Series Results

Bitterly cold weather did not stop 114 paddlers for turning out for the final race of the Winter Series.

Numbers were swelled by some new recruits to Leaside CC keen to give racing a try in wavehopper and river-racer boats. Together with Leaside's regular paddlers, this brought the home club a massive victory in Dick Grieve points (awarded for the performance of novice juniors). As usual, the overall winners were Chelmsford CC. The results of the day's racing can be found on the WS results page.

Race Organiser Alan and an enthusiastic team of volunteers made a splendid job of staging the event, which as usual culminated in the presentation of the series trophies, and also the engraved glasses for those achieving a 1st, 2nd or 3rd class position.

This year's trophy winners were:
Sen K2 - James Russell & Emma Russell (CLM)
Mixed K2 - James Russell & Emma Russell (CLM)
u16 K2 - Romeo Balla & Danielle Clifford (BAD)
Sen M K1 - Keith Moule (CLM)
Vet M K1 - Dave Hallam (BSF)
u18 M K1 - Alex McIntyre (CLM)
u16 M K1 - Finn O'Brien (LEA)
Sen F K1 - Melissa Johnson (CLM)
Vet F K1 - Octavia Abbott (BSF)
u18 F K1 - Lexie White (BSF)
u16 K1 - Isabelle Crawford (BSF)
u14 M K1  - Jonathan Pirmuhamedov (CLM)
u14 F K1 - Emilia Boylan (BSF)
u12 M K1  - Philip Levkivskyy (EAL)
u12 F K1 - Eilidh White (BSF)
MC2 - Nigel Dixon & Paul Stenning (LBZ)
TC2 - John Green & Ron Dains (BAD)
Novice C1 - David Shipway (LBZ)
M GP - Tim Chamberlin (CLM)
F GP - Trish True (BAD)
See also the full class & club results for 2016-17 Winter Series.

Chelmsford CC were the overall series club winners, while Bishops Stortford CC took the Dick Grieve Trophy, and Leaside CC won the Bob Porter Trophy for the most participation by under 12s across the series.

Across the series, 284 different paddlers have taken part (after allowing for changes of class or crew) and at least 33 of these have entered every one of the six races! Thirteen different clubs have been represented, plus a number of independents.

The Winter Series will return in the autumn (dates still being finalised). Please add yourself to the FRA mailing list if you would like to be kept informed. In the meantime there is the Summer Sprint Series to look forward to (dates and poster now published).

All the profits from the series go to the constituent FRA clubs to support racing at the grass roots. If you have any comments about the series or suggestions for the future, please do pass them to your club's FRA committee member (if you are a member of the one of the six clubs comprising the FRA). Other clubs/paddlers can send their comments direct to the FRA Secretary.

Some photos of the event can be seen on Flickr.