This was held on the Basingstoke Canal on 25th September 2016, and 43 people took part. They canoed over a course of 3, 6 or 8 miles in an endeavour to achieve a personal best time; to win and to be part of the team winning the Group trophy.

The Group trophy was retained by the Hamble Sea Scouts beating their nearest rivals by 20 minutes.

‘Paul’s Paddle’, for the fastest Warranted Scouter, was won outright by Henry Taunton of Hamble Sea Scouts with a time of 51 minutes for the 6 mile course.

On Sunday about £400 was raised for our nominated charity ‘Accessible Boating’. This means that since 1998 we have raised over £11,500.

Every year the sponsorship money has been donated to the Boats for the Handicapped Association (now Accessible Boating). It was initially given to help with the building of the ‘MADAM BUTTERFLY’, a specially designed and fitted boat to help disabled people and their families holiday together. Then came the ‘DAWN’, a day boat with the same aims. Maintaining boats is a constant drain on their resources as they try to keep them comfortable, and of course safe at all times.

Thank you all who took part, and we look forward to seeing you all (and more) at the 26th Basingstoke Canal Challenge in 2017 – provisionally arranged for Sunday 24h September 2017.

Full 2016 results details (PDF download).