WS 2023-24 Race 5: Chelmsford Results

After all the recent floods and storms it was wonderful to have a calm, sunny and warm day for the fifth and final race of the Winter Series. As usual, competitors paddled either one, two or three laps on the Can, but this year all the courses started and finished in front of the clubhouse.

104 competitors from 13 different clubs took part, despite the fact that the event clashed with the rescheduled Luzemore race.

There were a number of very closely-contested finishes. The fastest three K1 Vet Men (Rimantas Slanias, Doug Herbert and Mark  Hampton) crossed the line within 13s of each other. In u18 Men, Theo Sales was only 5s behind Ali Kabeer. The closest photo-finish of the day came in u14 Boys where Louis Auvary claimed gold fractionally ahead of Mason Hammett.

Class winners at this race were:
Class 1 (K2 16+ M) - Scott Leblanche & Domas Malinauskas (BAD)
Class 2 (K2 16+ Mixed) - Kayleigh Dixon & Matt Lodge (LBZ/NOR)
Class 3 (K2 16+ F) - Kerstin Queeney & Catherine Ayling (BSF/EAL)
Class 4 (Marathon C2) - Peter & Helen Kruszelicki (PRA)

Class 5 (K1 Sen M) - James Walkinton (CLM)
Class 6 (K1 Sen F) - Leanne Jordan (MAI)
Class 7 (K1 Vet M) - Rimantas Slanias (BAD)
Class 8 (K1 Vet F) - Gayle McKeand (CLM)
Class 9 (K1 u18 M) - Ali Kabeer (WOK)
Class 10 (K1 u18 F) - Sienna Payne (CLM)
Class 20 (K1 SuperVet M) - Graham McKeand (CLM)
Class 21 (K1 SuperVet F) - Karen Wiemer (CAM)
Class 22 (K2 u16) - Alessio & Matteo Bose (CLM)
Class 23 (K1 u16 M) -  Cassian Payne (CLM)
Class 24 (K1 u16 F) -  May Perrin (CLM)
Class 30 (Touring C2) - Barry Howe & Philip Hude (CLM)
Class 31 (K1 u14 M) - Louis Auvray (CLM)
Class 33 (C1 Novice) - Petr Luksan (BSF)
Class 34 (GP 16+ M) - Chris Sharp (NOR)
Class 35 (GP 16+ F) - Deborah Wilkes (CLM)
Class 35 (GP u16 M) - James Johnson (CLM)
Class 35 (GP u16 F) - Rebecca Perrin (CLM)
Class 38 (K1 u12 M) - Josh Cooke (CLM)
Class 39 (K1 u12 F) - Edith Smerdon (CLM)

As the last race of the series, the prizegiving for the day was followed by the presentation of series trophies. First, second and third place engraved glasses were given in all classes, subject to paddlers/crews having completed at least three races. There are also perpetual shields or cups for most classes.

This season's trophy winners:

Scott & Domas from Barking became the first winners of the new 16+ Mens K2 class, and the only paddler/crew in this series to complete a string of 5  wins.
The Dick Grieve K2 cup, formerly awarded to the fastest 16+ K2 crew overall has been re-purposed as trophy for the new Mixed K2 class - appropriate since it has been won by mixed crews every season since 2015. This went to Matt & Leah of Chelmsford - the fourth time they will put their names on it.

Mens K2 - Scott Leblanche & Domas Malinauskas (BAD)
Ladies K2 - Naomi Fuller & Tara Karthikeyan (CLM)
Mixed K2 - Matt Johnson & Leah Falltrick (CLM)
u16 K2 - Rebecca Perrin & James Johnson (CLM)

The new Mens K1 Super-Vet class on the middle-distance course has proved a popular introduction this year. Not knowing if it would catch on, the FRA had not committed to providing a perpetual trophy for it, but this is now in hand.
Doug Herbert (Chelmsford), who had held the K1 Vet Mens trophy for the last two years, and Rimantas Slanias (Barking) both took part in all five races this year. They ended the series tied on points for their best four. As Rimantas had the greater number of wins, he was therefore the class winner this year.
Tim, Ali, Cassian and Matteo each had an unbeaten run of four races in their respective age classes and are past winners of these or other WS trophies.

Super-Vet M K1 - Graham McKeand (CLM)
Vet M K1 - Rimantas Slanias (BAD)
Sen M K1 - Tim Gannicott Porter (CLM)
u18 M K1 - Ali Kabeer (WOK)
u16 M K1 - Cassian Payne (CLM)
u14 M K1  - Matteo Bose (CLM)
u12 M K1  - Conor Bates (LBZ)

Tammy from Norwich becomes the first winner of the new Super-Vet Women's class. All the other ladies are previous trophy winners in the WS - in particular Leanne Jordan (formerly Brown), wins the Senior Ladies class for the 9th time, and has her name on several of the other trophies as well.

Super-Vet F K1 - Tammy Edwards (NOR)
Sen F K1 - Leanne Jordan (MAI)
u18 F K1 - Sienna Payne (CLM)
u16 F K1 - May Perrin (CLM)
u14 F K1  - Libby Gaulton (BSF)
u12 F K1  - Lucy Myers (LBZ)

As well as age- and gender-specific classes, the series also features a number of classes exclusively for C2s, C1s or General Purpose kayaks. Deborah Wilkes won the Ladies GP class this year for the twelfth time in 20 seasons.

Marathon C2 - Peter & Helen Kruszelnicki (PRA)
Touring C2 - Adrian Pyke & Chris Howe (CAM)
Advanced C1 - Ross Pearton (HEM)
Novice C1 - Petr Luksan (BSF)
16+ M GP - Tim Chamberlin (CLM)
16+ F GP - Deborah Wilkes (CLM)

The winner of the main Winter Series Club trophy was never in doubt and of course went to Chelmsford.

There was a close contest for the Dick Grieve Trophy (based on the performance of unranked juniors), with Leighton Buzzard and Cambridge tied  on 43 points. The trophy went to Leighton Buzzard for having wins race wins against Cambridge's one. Leighton Buzzard also won the  Bob Porter Trophy (for the largest number of u12 entries).

See also the full class & club results for 2023-24 Winter Series.

Some photos here