WS 2023-24 Race 4: L. Buzzard Results

The Leighton Buzzard race was able to go ahead on the first attempt this year, with no ice on the canal and the recent floods subsided. As a result there was an excellent turnout of paddlers, well up on the last couple of years.

Special mention should be made of Tim Gannicott-Porter from Chelmsford for stopping to rescue of one of Leighton Buzzard's youngsters. Although it is rare for this to be rewarded with a time allowance, the circumstances of this incident were felt to be exceptional, and a small allowance was agreed which restored Tim to 1st place in the Senior Men's race.

Knowing that paddlers can be relied upon to assist others in distress, whatever the impact on their own race, is part of the core ethos of marathon racing and especially so in the winter. We encourage paddlers to let us know about these incidents so that the rescuers can be publicly commended, even though it is not practical to give a time allowance in most cases.

Class winners were:
Class 1 (K2 16+ M) - Scott Leblanche & Domas Malinauskas (BAD)
Class 2 (K2 16+ Mixed) - Matthew Johnson & Leah Falltrick (CLM)
Class 3 (K2 16+ F) - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling (BSF/EAL)
Class 4 (Marathon C2) - Mike Thornton & Shrine Voller (LBZ)
Class 5 (K1 Sen M) - Tim Gannicott-Porter (CLM)
Class 6 (K1 Sen F) - Leanne Jordan (MAI)
Class 7 (K1 Vet M) - Stuart Dunn (BAD)
Class 8 (K1 Vet F) - Karen Bradley (BSF)
Class 9 (K1 u18 M) - Ali Kabeer (WOK)
Class 10 (K1 u18 F) - Sienna Payne (CLM)
Class 20 (K1 SuperVet M) - Matthew Villaruel (EAL)
Class 21 (K1 SuperVet F) - Karen Wiemer (CAM)
Class 22 (K2 u16) - Rebecca Perrin & James Johnson (CLM)
Class 23 (K1 u16 M) -  Cassian Payne (CLM)
Class 24 (K1 u16 F) -  Olivia Cooke (CLM)
Class 25 (C1 Advanced) -  Ross Pearton (HEM)
Class 30 (Touring C2) - Adrian Pyke & Chris Howe (CAM)
Class 31 (K1 u14 M) - Matteo Bose (CLM)
Class 32 (K1 u14 F) - Libby Gaulton (BSF)
Class 34 (GP 16+ M) - Tim Chamberlin (CLM)
Class 35 (GP 16+ F) - Helen Green (CLM)
Class 38 (K1 u12 M) - Nathaniel Slade (CLM)
Class 39 (K1 u12 F) - Lucy Myers (LBZ)

See

• full results (including series results so far) on the WS results page
  
• a few other photos on Google Photos
  

The next race (28 Jan at Chelmsford) will be the series finals, when all the trophies for each of the classes  are given out, as well as the club trophies.

The strong showing by the home club's own team brought them second place to Chelmsford CC, with Bishops Stortford CC in third place.

Leighton Buzzard also scored a clear victory on Dick Grieve points (based on unranked juniors), bringing them into equal first place with Bishops Stortford on 35 points, while Cambridge CC has 34. There is very much everything to play for in the final race, as any of these three clubs could be taking the Dick Grieve trophy home.