Kevin Connolly’s new Hadron H2 was the star exhibit on the Hadron H2 Class Association stand at the Dinghy Show last weekend. The stand was manned by evangelical H2 owners who were very persuasive in recommending their chosen dinghy to the show attendees.
The Hadron H2 Class Association will be exhibiting Kevin Connolly’s brand new H2 on their stand (B36, in the Great Hall, Alexandra Palace, on 2nd & 3rd March.)
H2 owners will be manning the stand – come over and ask them how much they love their boats!
H2 Inland Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club.
Report for Yachts and Yachting by Keith Callaghan
18 Nov 16:52 GMT 17-18 November 2018
The H2 Inland Championship were held at Draycote Water SC on Saturday, November 17th. The event was held in conjunction with day one of the Draycote Dash – the first of the Selden SailJuice Winter Series events for 2018/19.
The H2s were the largest class in the medium fleet. Four races were sailed in brilliant sunshine, tempered by a chilly easterly light to moderate breeze. The big question was whether South Cerney SC member and H2 Class Chairman Richard Leftley had enough breeze to propel his 95kg frame around the course quicker than the lighter helms. Richard had finished third at this year’s National Championships, showing unbeatable speed to windward and, sure enough, he was first at the windward mark in every race. Simon Hipkin, James Oxley, and particularly Dave Barker successfully closed the gap on him on the off-wind legs, only for Richard to squirt away again upwind.
Richard made a clean sweep of all four races, but competition was very close in the pursuing pack. Dave and Simon tied on points but the discard worked in Dave’s favour for a well deserved second place. James Oxley, a clubmate of Simon’s, borrowed a boat to finish a creditable 4th. As is usual with major H2 events, every competitor received a prize.
As a regular spectator at H2 events I have observed a distinct increase in boat speed throughout the fleet over the last year, thanks to a great training day by Jim Hunt and also the increased opportunities for boat on boat competition. South Cerney SC now have six H2s at the club and the regular competition has no doubt increased Richard’s performance.
The Hadron H2 Class Association thanks the SailJuice Series organisers and Draycote Water SC for hosting this event.
Click on the H2 sail number to browse the photos of that boat at the Herne Bay Nationals
Above: Geoff Parker sailing H2 #103 ‘Ghost Ship’ at Herne Bay
The Hadron H2 2018 Inland Championship will be held on Saturday 17th November at Draycote Water SC (http://draycotewater.co.uk/) in conjunction with the Selden SailJuice Winter Series “Fernhurst Books Draycote Dash”. The H2s will start as part of the main fleet and all races on the Saturday will count toward the Inland Championship; the optional pursuit race on Sunday 18th can be sailed but will not count toward the championship. More details to follow soon!
This year’s championships took place at Herne Bay SC, Kent, from 7th to 9th September, the full report from Yachts and Yachting.
The third and final day of the Hadron H2 National Championships at Herne Bay SC dawned with a light SSW breeze which steadily increased to 18 knots at times. As on the previous day, the RO opted for a triangular course for races 6 and 7 of the series.
Ian Sanderson’s three wins on the previous day had made him almost unassailable for the championship – but not quite. If second placed Alistair Glen could win both remaining races, with Ian DTP in both, then he might just do it. Alistair set to with a will and his H2 creamed around the course with full intent, flying from wave top to wave top in the short seas. He succeeded in his goal, but Ian was at his heels and finished in second place, thus becoming H2 National Champion. Dave Barker, one of the lighter H2 helms, was also having a great day and came in third. Class chairman Dick Holden found his old form after reconfiguring his spreaders and came home fourth with Richard Leftley in fifth.
And so on to the final race. It might have been an anti-climax after the decisive previous race but it turned out to be a very close race indeed as all competitors were now fully used to the brisk conditions and were determined to give of their best. By some coincidence, the first four places were taken by the overall leaders – in the correct order – Richard Leftley in third and Michael Alexander scoring a fourth place to retain over all fourth – just as last year. The next group of contenders were very close indeed, places 5 to 10 being separated by only 5 points. Dick Holden scraped a seventh in this last race to lead the pack over all.
After nearly six hours of racing over 3 days, a dozen and a half rather tired competitors made for shore to de-rig their boats and prepare for the journey home – two of them returning to Scotland.
At last year’s champs, Ian Sanderson was involved in a titanic struggle for number one spot with Paul Smalley. Paul won by the smallest of margins, but this year Ian became the deserved winner of the Harold Smith Championship Trophy – congratulations, Ian, from us all.
IAN SANDERSON. H2 National Champion, 2018.
But of course there was one more event to come – the prizegiving. Every competitor received a prize, sponsored by Hadron Dinghies, and the top three also received vouchers from Allen Brothers. In addition, there were special prizes for the first helm in the following categories:
Mid life crisis – Age 55-64: Alistair Glen
Prime of life – Age 65-70: Ian Dawson
Super grand-daddy – Age over 70: Kevin Connolly
Too light to sail an H2 – definitely not! (weight under 75kg): Ian Dawson again (he is a healthy but sadly uncommon combination of old and light)
Battlecruiser weight (over 95kg) – Richard Leftley (NB, definitely no flab – all muscle and bone!)
There was also a special accolade for Julian Hines’ Hadron H1, which competed as a special guest of the H2 class. (The H1 is the plywood precurser to the H2 and Julian’s boat was beautifully built by Simon Hipkin a few years ago). The boat sported a striking new flat top mainsail by Ian Morgan.
Special thanks went to Dougal Henshall and his race crew for their impeccable management of the races, carried out in variable conditions of wind and wave.
There was unanimous acclaim for the 57 volunteers from Herne Bay SC who willingly gave of their time to organise the wonderful meals and refreshments, man the rescue boats and race boat, manage the boats ashore and recover them after the racing, and all of the many other things that are necessary to make a successful championship. 57 people – that 3.5 volunteers for each competitor! Thank you, every one – we would love to come back soon if you will have us!
Itchenor Sailing Club’s first open meeting for singlehanders took place on 21 April and attracted seven Hadron H2s, far outnumbering the other classes taking part. Again, nearly a quarter of the nation’s H2s turned out for battle on a day which featured some sunshine and a constantly backing 8-10 knot breeze which made life none too easy for race officer Chris Froy.
Alistair Glen, from Starcross SC, had collected his new H2 only the week before – at the H2 training day at South Cerney SC, mentored by Jim Hunt – and maybe he had taken Jim’s tips to heart, or maybe it was because he also sails a Merlin Rocket that he was instantly at home in an H2 and showed great boat speed. But it was the organiser of the Training Day, Richard Leftley (South Cerney SC), who was first at the weather mark in the first race, closely followed by Alistair then Dick Holden from Arun YC and Andrew McGaw from Northampton SC. Richard stayed ahead on the next two reaches but Alistair eventually pulled through into the lead, while Andrew overtook Dick. These were the final placings at the end of the 3 lap race.
The second race was almost a re-run of the first, with similar results. With two out of three races to count, this gave Alistair the trophy, which must make him feel very encouraged, as it was only his second competitive outing.The other positions were still up for grabs, however, and the tight start in race 3 saw Alistair experiment with a close encounter with the pin end mark, which proved unsuccessful, so he had to do his penalty and started last. Dick led at the weather mark, but made a navigational error on the revised course and let Andrew Mcgaw through on the next leg. Andrew then found another gear and pulled well away on the next two legs into an unbeatable lead. Meanwhile, Richard was closing in on Dick and Alistair was closing in on everybody. Dick dropped back to fourth and Alistair just nudged Richard on the finish line to complete a very successful day.
Back ashore at the clubhouse, talk was all about rig settings – the H2 rig is quite technical, and despite Jim Hunt’s guidance, opinion was still divided as to what was the best way to set up the rig for the conditions prevailing on this day. Opinion was unanimous, however, on the enjoyment of the racing and the hospitality of the club.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 126 | Alistair Glen | Starcross SC | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 2 |
| 2nd | 128 | Andrew McGaw | Northampton SC | ‑3 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 3rd | 115 | Richard Leftley | South Cerney SC | 2 | 2 | ‑3 | 4 |
| 4th | 121 | Dick Holden | Arun YC | ‑4 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| 5th | 114 | Adrain Williams | Warsash SC | 5 | ‑6 | 5 | 10 |
| 6th | 109 | Nigel Cowan | Itchenor SC | 6 | 5 | ‑7 | 11 |
| 7th | 122 | Melvyn Palmer | Mengeham Rythe SC | ‑9 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
The new Portsmouth Yardstick numbers for 2018 were announced at the RYA Dinghy Show in March and we were pleased to be given an Experimental PY of 1037. This is very much in line with the designer’s original estimate of 1040 and will give H2 owners a realistic chance in handicap racing. However, he is confident that, as expertise builds in the fleet, the PY will approach 1030.
So the H2 is not slow, but it was never a design aim to produce a speed machine at the expense of other characteristics such as handling, comfort, seaworthiness, safety and the pure joy of sailing the thing.
A quarter of the nation’s Hadron H2 fleet turned up on a cold, grey day to do battle for their first open meeting of the year on 31st March. There were two very welcome newcomers – Dave Barker, who has just purchased ‘Fire and Ice’ #113, and Andrew McGaw, who collected his new H2 #128 from the manufacturer on Thursday. They joined Nigel Cowan, Dick Holden, Adrian Williams, Ian Dawson and Simon Hipkin for the three race event.
The wind was a desultory 8-10 knots, with wind streaks which made for some difficult sailing, especially upwind. All competitors showed a good turn of speed at times but by far the most consistent helm on the day was Ian Dawson, sailing in a borrowed boat ‘Agent Orange’ #122, as his new H2 is not yet completed.
Although Ian was challenged by Dick and Simon in particular, losing the lead to them on several occasions, he was in the lead in each race when it counted – at the finish line. So with 3 bullets, a surprised and delighted Ian (he is so modest) was the clear winner.
Ian Dawson – a delighted winner.
Simon and Dick sailed consistently well to finish second and third, followed by the two newcomers (well done, chaps) and Adrian and Nigel.
And well done all for showing up on a cold and damp day and for giving the shoreside spectators such an entertaining spectacle.
Overall Results:
Pos Sail No Helm Club R1R2R3Pts
1st 122 Ian Dawson Warsash SC -1 1 1 2
2nd 103 Simon Hipkin Walton & Frinton YC -3 2 2 4
3rd 121 Richard Holden Arun YC 2 -5 4 6
4th 113 Dave Barker Draycote Water SC -5 4 3 7
5th 128 A McGaw Northampton SC 4 3 -5 7
6th 114 Adrian Williams Warsash SC -7 6 6 12
7th 109 Nigel Cowan CYC 6 -7 7 13
Hadron Dinghies have two demo boats which can be transported to your club for a demo day or weekend. To arrange an event at your club, see our contact details here.
Here is a recent example of feedback from someone who tried a demo H2 at his club:
“The wind was relatively light but did fill in to enable a few good planing reaches and to get a feel for the power on a beat. I spent about 45 mins sailing.
My biggest concern was whether as a relative lightweight at 70Kg it would be just too much for me, but I’m pleased to find that it was fine and much more controllable than my 300.
The H2 is clearly light for it’s size and easily driven so I think using the considerable depowering capability it should still perform reasonably at my weight.
There’d clearly be much to learn to get the most of it. I like the hiking comfort. I crew a Scorpion and on that and my 300 I wear hiking pads, but I don’t think they’d be needed on the H2
I like the responsiveness. Coming from a 300 pretty much every boat has better initial stability, but it still does feel that it can roll and respond to heel nicely. I did stumble across the buoyancy tank a couple of times before working out the right step over it, and mid tack couldn’t decide whether to pass the extension forward or back, but the boat just sat on the chine showing great secondary stability until I worked it all out.
I liked that it can be roll tacked well but it’s hard to over do it, so you don’t get a bucket full of water on each tack. I think I’d need some practice to get the roll and the exit point right, I felt I kept over doing the tacks. Gybes were a breeze.
I loved the rock steady stability on a planing reach. Even in the gusty conditions it just sat there level and allowed me to feed the power in and out. Much more controllable than other boats that need armfuls of sheet in and out
I found the sheet loads quite high on the beat. I really don’t like mainsheet cleats and find them never at quite the right angle for me, but would need it for long windier beats. I took the sheet straight off the boom for a while and found it almost lighter to handle from there. certainly more controllable. That’s how I sail my other boats so it’s great to have the option.
The rig is clearly very adjustable – I’d have a lot to learn to get the best out of kicker and Cunningham, never mind rake and rig tension – lot’s to play with.
I’d want to spend some more time playing around on a run. I like the unstayed ability of the 300 to go deep by the lee, and find that even with my stayed Farr 3.7 I can let the kicker right off and go almost as deep. On the H2 I couldn’t do this as well. The loose kicker allows the fat head to fall right off but the shroud base does not allow the main to square off so far and I struggled to hold the hull heeling to windward. I’m sure with more practice and experiment this could all be optimised.
It’s nice and light for its size. Lovely trolley so it’s easily handled on the shore. Nice to have a centreboard, especially with the easy uphaul / downhaul controls.
So – Yes I’d love to own an H2.”
