some stuff on it here

Says on the web that plastic is an option...

PY is only numbers and some rough attempt to have some sort of race. 

I'm saving my breath for living, sailing and racing my mates when we meet up for some boat on boat.

Looks a nice enough boat though, why taint it with what the bean counters think? 

 I would imagine the typical dinghy connoisseur who would commission a Hadron, or build one him/herself has got more elegant objectives in mind than creating a bandit.  Frankly they will build it for the love of the boat itself- and would no doubt customise it to suit their specific tastes- maybe a trapeze, maybe a gennaker- personally I think it's crying out for self tacking jib to make it a demon upwind.  

Sure they may race it a handicap race, and will no doubt suggest whatever spurious number it currently suggests on the Hadron website.  Someone somewhere will beaver away building a case for calling it a bandit, but in all likeliness it will be the only Hadron entered, therefore the handicap will be fairly meaningless.  The pursuit of sailing pleasure should not be destroyed by the rantings of folks trapped in handicap racing who don't 'get it' and ought to accept it's not for them and they'd be better off sailing in a class race.

I bet Tom will appreciate that 

personally I think you need to be prepared to show boats against what's already in the market.  There needs to be good reason to show why someone would want to consider leaving an established class in favour of something new.  I don't expect those with a marketing budget to spend on advertising will be so keen on this approach- but you are right, it would be better reading for the dinghy sailor.  I'd say that one test like this an issue would compel me to buy it again rather than flick through the odd copy lying around a sailing club once in a while.  Even if this were for categories of dinghy I'm unlikely to buy... Comparing an RS100 to a D1 is pointless- despite the number of gigabytes of opinions this forum has on its servers on the subject.

The best review I saw recently (well in the last 5 years or so) was the one where someone chucked a Shadow into the mix against a 700 and MPS iirc.... I'd never heard of them before, and almost bought one as a result of further research.  The fact that I couldn't do the SJ series in it killed it for me, but this isn't a criteria I'd be bothered about now a few of years on.

you pay for porn???

Not long ago, we had Dinghy Sailing magazine which Y&Y took over, then Y&Y went from 2 weekly to monthly.  Roll tacks used to be a double page every 2 weeks now its one page once a month.

Last months clubs & classes was only 4 pages, it included, Fireball Nationals, SB20 nationals, Optimist nationals, B14 worlds, Firefly nationals, Flying 15 nationals, National 18 nationals, Squib nationals, 420 nationals, J24 nationals, Contender Worlds, Enterprise nationals, OK Europeans, and on an area the size of a postage stamp was the D-one nationals.  Yes all of that and a bit more was on 4 pages.  There was no top 10 results, gear guide, etc.. like there used to be.  In the old mag, bits like the Optimist/Fireball nationals would of had a double page.

Rubbish!

+1

 

And that's a problem, because...?

I would not put the Blaze with the Phantom these days, maybe Phantom vs RS300 vs Halo 

Then Supernova Vs Hadron vs Blaze

Just my 2p.....

Why this, and not a couple of big inflatables down the back corners?

That's not a Solo though, it'll be far quicker and will drain.

Besides even contemplating sailing in such drifting wind that it doesn't drain... have a word.

it's called hog stepped innit?  I know, I know... you're more used to websites that feature hog ties....

what's the craic with the mainsheet?  did you lose it in the capsize?

+100

It's not even a shadow of its former self.

I thought I saw a resemblance in the last image of Tom (I guess) standing in it, now I know why.

We had one at our Club, I seem to remember the rear tanks being set about with a jig saw to make it float lower when on its side.

However, the problem with any sort of test is that it is not as easy to do as some may think. Being able to be really objective - almost being able to visualise yourself sailing the boat from 'outside' and then writing what you found out in clear, concise and 'constructive' terms is something that is not straightforward - those that do it, just as Tom (and myself back in the days of DSM) will have spent many an hour back ashore in front of the PC screen writing and re-writing. The trouble is today is that there are very few 'bad' boats out there, the Darwinian process of weeding the dogs out is remarkably effective.

So, DSM's last comparison test was the RS100, two boats with the big and small sail, against NOT the D-One (contrary to those who think they remember) but the 'Big Blaze' aka the HALO.

Now here is where the job gets difficult. In the weeks leading up to the test I'd been sailing both the D-One and a Contender, so I think I was well situated to express an opinion. Yep, no matter now objective you are, any test report in the end boils down to the opinion of the tester.

My view was that having sailed both boats 'back to back' it was maybe a good thing that the D-One wasn't there as it would have 'in my opinion' shown up the harsh fact that it was simply a better boat that the RS. However, what really gave me a full postbag full of hate mail was the fact that for the more generously figured (ie, lard arsed) club sailor, the HALO was the best of the bunch, I loved it! Upwind in medium conditions, when you'd have been doing hunchback impersonations on the gunwale of the Contender, the HALO just flew; for round the cans, when legs are often not that long, you could swing around a mark and be straight onto the pace.  For those club sailors who can do one day a weekend and the occasional mid week evening, I thought it a wonderful compromise and NO, it certainly didn't need a kite!! For those with maybe the time to indulge the boat to get the best out of it, the D-One was the next best and this wasn't even on test!

Sadly, expressing opinions that don't match well with some of the more vocal (but maybe less well informed) readers was simply seen as heresy.... how dare I say these things.

In the end, boat tests are interesting but if they are to be of value, then they have to really make the boat work to show what is good and what not so good, plus that all important 'why' people should sail it. With magazines now held to account by the power of the big advertising budgets, I wonder if you'll ever see again a real 'warts and all' report that highlights real shortcomings in a boat's design. So the bottom line is to get out there and be your own tester.... and then you too can tip the boat in and find for yourself just how great the claims from the maker really are.

PS - Hadron: I was dealing with designer Keith Callaghan when he was working on the lines that became Hadron. Keith has been designing winning Merlins for many a long year and knows a trick or two about what the boat needs to be able to satisfy a fairly demanding set of criteria...

Nice deep cockpit  for those with Laser wrecked knees and hips

High enough boom so you don't have to limbo dance when tacking a gybing

Enough performance to be sparkling without turning into a monster at 20 kts of breeze

Vice free handing

Reasonable weight carrier

Light weight for easy handling ashore

Easily recoverable after a capsize!

I've yet to sail it but I will be...... but from what I've seen so far, those criteria have more than been met!

Dougal (ex DSM and other outlets!)

 

I was always uncertain that the Phantom main was smaller than the 300. At Sailfest we laid a 300 main over a Phantom's. The 300 is marginally longer in the luff (2-3 inches only) and has a little bit more roach by the top batten. However, the Phantom has a longer foot and a droopy boom as opposed to the 300 one which sticks up. We estimated that the Phantom's main is nearly 1m2 larger than the 300.

However at the time, it's very easy to get caught up in the buzz of one class over another, and frankly to support the builder offering the early adopter incentives who was interested in building up the class.  It also protected our investments somewhat!  

The D-One was still suffering badly from a sh*te exchange rate and euro pricing- the headline price of the 100 wasn't far short of half the price!  The gap is far less now, and of course headline prices don't take account of the 'optional' neccesiities.  

As for the Halo- it missed the point, a number of us felt that to add more horsepower to the blaze was the right thing to do, but to do this via a kite was the only option.  We were wrong, but it takes experience to know that.

Funnily enough, whilst doing 'that' comparison test, plus some other sailing I was given the chance to do around that time,  I started  thinking and by the time the 'plug' was pulled on DSM I already had the outline of a pretty good series all lined up.

My plan was to accept that there's nothing wrong in the way dinghies are going if you've the time to work at the boat, or  you come from the same gene pool at Dan Holman, Ben McGrane and others, or you are still on the right side of 55 (or all of the above). I might have actually had the genes, but that was half a lifetime ago, yet as one lurches into the sunset of sailing why the hell shouldn't we continue sailing. The simple answer is that we can, but after a lifetime of sailing performance boats, do we want to shuffle around in the sailing equivalent of the mobility scooter?

People are worried about the loss of numbers, but there are a lot of people in the same position as myself, I'd love to be sailing and still have my beloved Contender AND a classic Merlin Rocket but these are very weather and 'event' specific. So, the series already referred set out with a focus on boats for the 50+ sailor, who wants to race at his club yet isn't 'up' for the work that you'd need to be putting in with one of the spinnaker assisted single handers. So, out went boats with kites, ditto acres of sail. The criteria that I listed in my earlier posting was a starting point for the single hander and after long discussions with Keith Callaghan, the Hadron came into being. But I did say a series...my plan was to make it a 3 parter, singlehander, 2 person non-trapeze and 2 person, single trapeze. You'll not be amazed to read that whilst I looked at lots of boats, the core of the writing focused on the Hadron, Icon and Alto.

There are lots of little sub-issues - for the sort of sailor - and sailing ,that I was describing. It went without saying that a proper centreboard was a plus point, as were sails that you could hoist up the mast (and take down whilst still afloat - maybe a more important factor) - this was really about wanting the easy 'turn up and sail', with the minimum of faffing around. Not all the boats I was looking at (including offerings from abroad) ticked all the boxes and yes.... I was happy to add in some of the existing 'market leaders' in each grouping. Sadly the article went no further than a verbal discussion with the DSM editorial team, I guess the good news is that I didn't lose out when the Mag closed before we included it.

All the other issues that previous posters have raised...'is the boat an established class' and 'will there be an every weekend of the year open meeting circuit, Inlands, Championships and a Worlds in some far off destination' are irrelevant - this was unashamedly a boat for the Club sailor who still wants to enjoy a great sailing 'experience'. The standard Blaze does that well already, the HALO just did it more so. What I WASN'T allowed to say in my draft article was that I found the difference between the two similar to the difference between the Contender and the RS 600. Sailing the 600 was like a Contender on steroids, right up to the point on the wind spectrum where all of a sudden the Contender started to look a far nicer boat...well, thats what I felt about the Blaze/Halo. However, most club sailing is held in light to medium airs and if you sail around the cans (even more so in tidal conditions)  then that ability to round the mark and be 'set' for the next leg can be a winner - to me it is one of the big 'plus points' that make boats like the Phantom a winner on PY.

But this thread is about the Hadron and I think that Keith Callaghan has once again showed a nice touch of balance with his design - once again that old adage that if the boat 'looks' nice then it will probably be okay and will do what it's supposed to do. Now I'm aware of at least one other single hander that is being considered, how about something along the lines of a single handed B14, you might even see one day something that is not a million miles away from a single handed Icon (it Could make a lot of sense!).

Great, I'll await these developments with interest and if I can have a shot in one I'll be off but - equally like grandkids the good thing is being able to give it back after an hour or so! However, as I've said in the past, in one of the talks I do at sailing clubs called the 'Slow death of fast dinghy sailing' one of the core premises is that as you add sail  -or sails to a boat whilst making the hull lighter, you radically improved performance but at the expense of reducing the pool of sailors with the capability to comfortably sail the boat across the full range of wind conditions.

My guess is that given the care put into the design (not to mention the designer's track record of drawing fairly vice free hull forms) that you'd be okay sailing in the Hadron in a blow....after some of the supposedly 'sexier' stuff is heading for the sure. The problem is saying things like that in a boat test, even though it is an opinion drawn on a lifetime racing just about anything that floats, is a surefire way to get 'hot coals heaped upon the head'.

Do I care.... nah, not any longer.

But being that old fart I do also remember these...so just for you YW, here's a pic of the original 'blue wellies' as featured on the Noel Edmunds Radio 1 morning show.......along aside such characters as 'sid snot' (shows there is nothing new...a bit like being on here!!!!!!_

D

Yes, it was always rather strange to see that the "skiff type" boats were once hyped as the future of sailing, while all involved in the hype ignored one of the most fundamental factors involved in traditional skiffs - the use of multiple rigs.

You CAN create a skiff style boats that hacks can use across the full range of conditions. There are plenty of very average skiff sailors here in Oz, as is shown by the fact that a top Tasar can often pass about a third or a quarter of 16 Foot Skiffs, despite the fact that a well-sailed 16* is as quick or quicker than an Int 14. But although the hacks may be pretty average sailors, they can get their boats around the course across the full range of conditions because when it's windy they just switch to a smaller rig. 

Take away the multiple rigs - and they are probably only viable when you don't have a Brit-style dinghy park, when you have reliable winds and when even the hacks get thousands of dollars of support from the club each year - and the whole situation changes.

* and the top guys are very good; top Olympians and Laser sailors struggle to catch them.

Why was that have been a good thing? I'd have thought the opposite?

It would have been good to read a comparison between the D1 & RS100 as they are endlessly compared. 

I can't stand Clarkson but I will say that he says what he thinks regardless of the implications ...

Boat reviews in sailing mags seem to have never tested a dud ... but seems the market eventually uncovers some ...

 

I suspect this was one of the reasons why windsurfing failed as you always seemed to be on the wrong rig ....

With variable UK wind conditions having one rig that is versatile seems the best solutions; after all we only really sail in quite a narrow range.

I don't find I'm on the wrong rig very often, but to get the point of knowing what you're rigging is pretty frustrating/expensive.

My rule of thumb- big gaps on the big sails (they have the most wind range anyway) and smaller gaps on the small stuff.

I have 5 sails I take to the coast, and another larger one (9.4) which is reserved for the lake:

8.4- rigs on a 460 mast

6.4, 5.9, 5.3 - rigs on a 430 mast

4.4 - rigs on a 400 mast

All of these need to paired with the right board and fin combo.

But recent experience with the RS100 shows us that dinghy sailors just can't cope with the concept either, even those who would class themselves as forward thinking enough to try a new class out.

 

I had no issues if someone wanted to flip their rig in the RS100s in the early days, and from asking around, didn't feel that I was particularly a minority view, although some wanted a specific event rule in the NOR to prevent lunchtime switches which seemed liked the sensible middle ground.  Not that would have bothered me personally either... better to get more folks out there maximising their time on the water, rather than restrict them with rules and regs that mean they can't change up or down.   But for whatever reason, the 'choose your weapons' approach lost favour, a lot of the 10.2 sailors have buggered off and now you have the mess being highlighted in the other thread with two world champions for a class which can't even muster 40 on the start line- nevermind the mess that's gone hand-in-hand with PY racing at club level.  

At the time of your reviews I thought the multiple rigs was a major positive (other forum members disagreed and said it would lead to chaos and lack of clarity).  I guess they were right...  

But the idea of the 'big rig' was and still is attractive - the North sail I tried when the lake was still half frozen was a very nice sail - in fact, the whole rig just looked 'right'!

D

First I would echo Tom Gruitt's comment that 2 pages is not enough to fully state the case for the Hadron. 

Somebody asked what crew weight, I am about 12st (80kg) and no problems in a Force 5, just sheer enjoyment, and yes I've hit the 50yrs mark hence no mention of a force 6 (wisdom comes with age)

Why did I want one? Well, maybe I am biased, I normally sail a Merlin but a lack of crew and summer sailing time meant I needed a single hander. I tried Blazes etc. but I needed the thrill of a Merlin. That is exactly what you get with the Hadron. Which is what you would expect with it coming from the the stables of Mr Callaghan.

You can sail it hard single-handed, or you can just sail with two up. My 7 year old just loves being in it, it's stable and forgiving (a non merlin characteristic). The layout is such that teaching her to sail means that I can be in the boat with her and not in the way.

I've already had 3 people test sail mine and they are now convincing their wives that  Mr Callaghan should be contacted.

Finally, the Hadron is not necessarily a home build, you can of course have one built for you. If you have the time and inclination as I do then building your own boat is an ideal solution.

see: www.littlejoesolutions.co.uk/hadron

 

Hats off to the Bloody Mary by using realistic handicaps, not the published ones, so that people sailing most of the boats think they have a chance, instead of a Moth 1,2,3 if there is 8-14 knots of breeze.