Canoeists hit the water to mark Remembrance

Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club marked Remembrance Day on Sunday with a memorial race.
Leighton Buzzard Canoe ClubLeighton Buzzard Canoe Club
Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club

This is a 15-mile race along the Grand Union Canal and this year saw the most widely attended event yet with well over 100 paddlers.

The singles boats A race was won by Max Pickering while the doubles boats A race was won by Leighton’s Charlie Smith partnering with Magnus Gregory from Longridge. Third in the A race doubles was Lydia Oxtoby and Jodie Barrell.

On the B start in the singles race William Minter came fifth while Josh Power came in 10th.

On the doubles B start Mike Martin and Beth Goodlad came third despite a swim before the start, Adam Kear and Charlie Toosey came 8th, Ben Stratford and Katy Dixon in ninth, Amanda Morris and Bryan Handsley in 10th and Charlotte Ellis partnering with Stacey Terry of Norwich in 11th.

In the C class there were a number of paddlers who had not raced this distance before therefore simply to finish was a huge achievement. In the singles race Sam Legg and Mandy Hussey came in joint fourth, Maggie Rae at just 12 years old came seventh and Paul Murphy came eighth. In the doubles race Fiona Barber partnered with Jenni Moore of Norwich to come sixth.

In the D class, Nigel Dixon and Paul Stenning came in fifth.

For the younger paddlers or those newer to paddling there was also a relay race where the first boat paddled 6.5 miles .

This race was won by Leighton’s mother and son team of Catherine Sanderson and Jack Rayment with Elie Mae Bennett and Ollie Power coming second.

There was also a novice race which was five miles and started from Stoke Hammond.

This was won by Kayleigh Dixon, with Will Perkins in second, Joseph Galliers in third, Dax Chappell in fourth and Daniel Murphy in fifth. Nicola Kear and Francesca Davis came first in the Novice doubles race.