Sunshine and light cloud were the ideal paddling conditions for Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club’s members who took to the water in Bedford over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Fielding their biggest team of the year so far, the Leighton paddlers were competing in Bedford’s Viking CC annual Hasler race, achieving some excellent results on the river Great Ouse.
Although good and wide, the river becomes notoriously difficult to race as the built up solid banks through the town makes the course very washy and challenging.
That didn’t stop Leighton’s youngsters though and it was trophies all round for the two junior under 12 Lightning competitors Bethany Morris and Max Pickering.
Bethany stormed through her field to take first place, as Max met stiffer competition but still achieved a satisfying 3rd place.
And together the young pair thundered through the U12 Lightning K2’s and took a dazzling 1st place finish.
After some gutsy paddling it was well deserved promotions for Eloise Hall in Division Seven to Six and Gina Guscott from Division Nine to Eight.
In Division Nine K2, it was a pleasing 3rd and invaluable experience gained for newcomers Amanda Morris and Isobelle Pickering.
After fighting off stiff competition it was the father and son pairing of John and Christian Harding who took 2nd place in their C2 in Division Eight.
Meanwhile coming back to form was Derek Campbell and Steve Barrell who raced hard and saw off experienced paddlers to take a pleasing 2nd place in K2 Division Five.
The club entered two boats into the combined Division One and Two K2 race. Mike Martin partnered for the first time with Bob Poole, and Charlie Smith raced up to paddle for the first time with Ben Haynes.
Competing over the 12 mile course it became a highly tactical race with first prize still up for grabs in the closing seconds.
In the end 1st place was narrowly lost for Ben and Charlie after a hard fought sprint finish, with Mike and Bob coming just behind in 3rd.
Top honours of the day went to Dale Crocker who battled a group of very skilful Division Three paddlers over the longer distance.
The majority of the race saw Dale jostle with a small group for the lead. But on the last lap Dale and one other broke away and went head-to-head.
It was all down to the last turn and a thumping 100m when Dale pulled it out of the bag to make clear water between him and 2nd place.
Well done to all for a brilliant day of racing.