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After ice had prevented the Leighton Buzzard Winter Series race from going ahead only two weeks before, the 92 competitors for this event were able to enjoy perfect paddling conditions. Twelve clubs were represented.
 The presentations for the day were immediately followed by the series awards. This year, since there had only been five races in the series, the competitors' best four results only were considered. Paddlers must have competed in three events to be eligible for an award. Engraved glasses were presented for 1st, 2nd and 3rd-placed competitors/crews in each class. A large number of perpetual trophies were also awarded - in many case more than one in each class.
Across the series, 243 different paddlers have taken part (after allowing for changes of class or crew) and 42 of these have entered every race! Fifteen different clubs have been represented, plus a number of independents.
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There were 133 competitors at the Chelmsford Winter Series race. The races on the short (3 mile) course went off at 11am and the long/middle distance races (8/5 miles) at 12. Again, there was a large field for the senior doubles - 24 boats.
Full results can be found on the results page. Chelmsford CC were the overall winners, Leighton Buzzard CC were second and Cambridge CC third. For the Dick Grieve Trophy, the team from Royal Hospital School gained the highest total of points from novice juniors, followed by Chelmsford and HYM-COPS third. The next race will be on 3 February 2019, at Leighton Buzzard - see race details here.  One hundred and twelve competitors took part in the race on the Lea at Cheshunt, on a day that was relatively warm with bright sunshine. 
 The next race will be on 13 January 2019, at Chelmsford. Race details will be online soon. Sign up to the mailing list if you would like to be alerted when they are released.
It was good to bring the Winter Series back to Cambridge after a year's break. The race was particularly well-supported, with a total of 146 competitors drawn from 13 different clubs, as well as several independents.  The size of the senior K2 class, which has been increasing steadily over the last ten years, reached a record 25 boats at this race. Numbers of Canadian canoe entries were particularly good thanks to the welcome return of the Paddlesport Racers Association and Hemel CC.
Full results can be found on the results page, where you can also see your series points total for the race so far, for paddlers/crews and by club. The race was won overall by Chelmsford CC, with hosts Cambridge CC second and Leighton Buzzard CC third. In the Dick Grieve league table (based on performance by novice juniors only), Chelmsford CC were again first, but with Cambridge CC second and Leighton Buzzard third.  The next race in the series will be on 9th December at Herts Young Mariner's Base, Cheshunt.
Emma Russell and James Walkington's (CLM) time of 56:26 in the 7 mile K2 race was not after all (as reported earlier in error) a course record for mixed K2 (that was set at 53:08 by Mark Wilkes and Kat Wilson in 2016), but was nevertheless an excellent time.
 Ten clubs were represented. Chelmsford were the winning team with Stortford 2nd and Leighton Buzzard 3rd. In the Dick Grieve table (based on performance by novice juniors only) the result also Chelmsford 1st and Stortford 2nd, but Leaside CC in third place. The full race results can be seen on the Winter Series results page. The next race will be at Cambridge on 25th November - see Cambridge race details.
The full results for the Chelmsford Regatta and the series can be found on the Summer Series results page.
Six clubs attended the penultimate event of the Summer Regatta series. There were 500m and 200m K1 races and after the lunch break there were K2 races for those who still had the energy. 
The full results can be found on the Summer Series results page.
Herts Young Mariners Base hosted the second of the Summer Series Regattas on 10 June. Forty-three paddlers from seven different clubs took part.
 
The full results can be found on the Summer Series results page. Photos of the event can be found in this Flickr album. The next event in the series will be the Stortford Regatta on 9th September. The re-scheduled Chelmsford Regatta is now planned for the 23rd September and will include the presentation of the series awards.
 The first race of the Summer Series opened at Leaside in a minor heatwave - somewhat bizarrely, after the Chelmsford Regatta (which should have been the first event) was called off due to snow and freezing cold conditions only 5 weeks ago.
There were 33 competitors for the main part of the competition which involved several heats over 500m and 200m.
The next regatta in this series is schedule to be at Herts Young Mariners Base, Cheshunt, on Sunday 10th June. Sign up for the FRA mailing list if you would like to be alerted when the details for this and other future Summer and Winter Series events are announced.
The 2017-18 Winter Series drew to an early close at the end of January, with the finals as usual hosted by Leaside CC. Councillor Soraya Adajare came along in her ceremonial robes as Speaker of Hackney to add dignity to the occasion by presiding over the race starts as well as presenting the awards.  There were 123 paddlers taking part and in particular there was another big turnout in the K2 race (22 boats), with good numbers of mixed and all-female crews. 
There were some close finishes, notably just a 5 second gap between Leaside's Finn O'Brien Chelmsford rival Oscar Griffiths in the Mens u18 K1 race. Barking CC came second overall to Chelmsford CC at this event, with host club Leaside CC just one point behind them. The full results of the day's racing are on the Winter Series Results page. 
The prize-giving for the race was followed with the presentation of the series awards.
The team from Ealing CC, who have become regular attendees at Winter Series did particularly well, winning three of the series trophies.
While the senior K2 races have seen large numbers across the series, entries in the Junior K2 event have been sparse - a missed opportunity for somebody there! Because the Winter Series has been running for so long, many of the trophies are little pieces of history in themselves, with familiar names gradually progressing from trophy to trophy: you can check out the full list of past Winter Series class trophy winners on the Results page.
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