The Easter weekend saw the Chelmsford Canoe Club competing at two marathon events and one sprint regatta.

These were the annual Devizes to Westminster 125 mile non-stop canoe race, the Elmbridge Junior Half Marathon and the Richmond Sprint Regatta.

For the first time in the club's history two crews from Chelmsford entered the senior doubles class in the Devizes to Westminster race.

Entering the event for their first attempt were veteran paddlers Mick Barry and Mike Head who completed the race in 23 hours 14 minutes despite having a difficult last three miles on the Thames tideway after suffering damage to their rudder.

This put them in a creditable 32nd position overall, out of 145 starters.

The other veteran Chelmsford crew of Roger Edwards/Ian White managed to reach the Westminster finish line in 20 hours 2 minutes, thus placing them in sixth position overall.

Despite relatively slow water conditions the weather was nearly perfect for the race although the bright moonlight was soon replaced by thick mist on the River Thames.

The Elmbridge Junior Half Marathon saw a disappointing turn-out by Chelmsford paddlers.

Christopher Howe was the only entrant from Chelmsford who finished in an excellent second place in the under 12 year class in 2 hours 18 minutes 55 seconds gaining the gold half marathon award.

This result proved he was a worthy recipient of this year's Rob Yorke Trophy awarded to the Chelmsford paddler showing the greatest improvement throughout the year.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.