Oh shoooot sorry!

Yep. 

Well they do need extra catering at open meetings lol lol lol. 

Perhaps they should do joint opens with the phantom class  

Well let’s hope you still love it after you sail it!

Kind of ironic that you’ve picked Aero colours too 

The Aero is a great boat and I shall be sad to see mine go when I sell it in a couple of months. Any takers here? Sail number 2542 (April 2018)

I must have you confused with someone else. I thought you already owned most sailers last/final boat ie A Solo 

No, it isnt. A guy at my club bought an early one of them, decent and competent ent/merlin sailor he couldn't get around the H2. I seem to recall seeing a number of few week/months old ones go up for sale around the same time.

There is certainly a place for it, as a high performance hiking singlehander its more accessible than the 300 with an obvious significant hit on performance. But it is emphatically not a boat for an older/elderly helm coming out of a two man boat because he can't get a crew. 

Some strange views here...

Especially as a full order book well in to the later half of 2022 speaks volumes as to its continued success and market need.

Most of the H2's that are put up for sale are existing H2 owners getting new boats in order to allow a bigger fleet to develop. These second hand boats are snapped up in seconds. Other owners have sold on because of unrelated health issues.

I get that some people are not enamoured of the H2. Different strokes for different folks. I am not interested either in Javelin's, Solo's or most other classes. 

However, here is why I was prepared to pay the price - which I dont consider out of bounds for a fast carbon single hander at all:

I could go on and I am sure others will chip in as to why they see the H2 filling a particular niche in the crowded market. It always helps to have an informed view before disparaging a class.....

Current build progress :

There are lots of singlehanders around but the H2 has a specific niche for sure. Of the boats you list I personally see the Laser, Aero and D-zero as having a very similar target market and I might even include solution and supernova in the same category which is aimed at 65kg to 75kg helm who like a beach boat design and layout with a need to kneel downwind. I totally get the appeal of these boats and the large fleets that exist - they are great boats if you fit this category. For me I am 92kg and enjoy running and the gym too much so was looking for a boat that would carry more weight and that list narrowed to a Finn, Phantom, Blaze and H2 all of which are good boats. I am onto my second H2 now and love them the USP for me was that it would carry my weight, one design but with the ability to fit out controls to your own liking, ability to have any colour you want (mine is Gulf Oil Blue and Orange!), very comfortable boat to be in especially no kneeling down wind. You should try one, there are now 50+ boats out there and the order book is full.

But I do think the garden cane across the centre looks a bit low tech and could get in the way!

  

When I am no longer competitive there I would go for the H2 for the smile that I would get from sailing one.

Totally agree - when the H2 was launched they seemed to aim it at the "retired with dodgy knees" crowd but in my experience that was really the wrong positioning - a more accessible 300 is actually a good description! What I would say is that the H2 is one of those boats that is quite forgiving to sail but if you want to do well you are going to have to be fit and sail physically!

Last weekend club racing at Burghfield in 20 - 30 knots I think I was the only person who stayed upright, nailed every gybe and managed to beat the 400 over the water and I would argue that this was due to the H2 being stable downwind and through the gybes as well as being able to de-power the rig upwind.

Probably "thinking persons singlehander" would be more appropriate, though the photo of your champs would suggest "thinking mans" would work fine

I saw a couple up close at POSH this year and they are really nice boats, especially good idea on the central tank allowing for the boat to float low in the water, more should follow that design principle. Although of course getting on the plate is the easy bit, getting over the side again as it comes up must be bit of a jump??

Stats from the Nationals as provided by Keith Callaghan. Weights are 'fully kitted up'.

The nationals was fairly breezy this year and a decent wind over tide "Herne Bay chop" so it helped a bit to be big. Top three were Nick Craig (probably around 90kg without kit), Rich Le Mare (probably 110kg without kit) and I was third and am 92kg without kit. The boats do have a line fitted that you can put your foot in if you need it to help get over the side; personally I do not have it as I have never had an issue being able to lift myself in over the side. You can always swim in the back of the boat if you want too - it comes up full of water due to the hull design so is very stable once it is back up, once you get going it takes less than a minute to fully drain.

https://youtu.be/uyu-KGRjnx0

Very informative and logical. 

NB: please don't think I was "disparaging the class" ... it's a good looking hull and beautifully built.  I just wanted to know who it was for. 

Answer, I think:  big people who don't want to kneel in a phantom.

As a 5' 9" 74kg weakling who likes trapezing, it's probably not the boat for me, but I'll be watching the one at my club with interest.

There is (as I thought) a separate H2 thread:

https://www.sail-worldcruising.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12303&PN=32&title=hadron-h2

but it took some finding as it seems to have died in 2018.

Funny you should say that ;-))   I have been on a keto diet since May and have lost 3 stone. No pies for me  ;-)   At 63yrs old, I am now 80kg (79 to be precise) in my birthday suit, feel fitter, healthier and ready for some H2 hiking ;-) 

The Phantom is way faster and was designed in the 70s 

In the Finns we were much quicker upwind whenever I've been near one - even some very well sailed ones 

For something so light, of recent design and with a carbon adjustable rig it just seems like it should be faster than it is

I guess the hull shape is 'old school' ?

In big breeze and chop in Fed week  this year we were catching them easily - even statting 5 minutes later

And these were courses with reaches

Upwind in chop they were dog slow 

I understand the H2s were sailing with the D-zeros at Fed week . Were you faster over the water than them too ?

Maybe they were sailed better ?

They look quite comfy/ergonomic - easier on the knees than some.

Sure they still benefit from hard hiking though.

Interesting class for sure. 

Not really a surprise you would be faster than both the Dzero and the H2 in those conditions.

On flat inland water I would expect the results to be reversed. 

I thought rich 96 mentioned big wind and big  chop ? 

It’s all relative but I’d say this years Fed week was rather choppy 

That’s one of the great advantages of sailing as a sport 

There is no other sport like it world champions, newbies, young, old, large, small and everyone in between all on the same course at the same time. 

If only, eh? Don’t eat pies any more, nor do I partake of cider either. I have now lost nearly 32kgs, which at your age would equate to 5 stone. So actually I may be ok for a H2. It does help that my OK mast is a bendy one and it was cheaper to stop buying food than it was to buy a mast to suit my weight. Well I thought it was but it turns out that I needed a whole new set of clothes…..

Carb free life for 3 years plus resistance training - easier to change yourself than the boat 

Whilst I have no idea who was sailing at Fed week, its always worth looking at where the person your racing against finished in the last Nationals before and compare to where you sit in your fleet before deciding if the boat is dog slow or blisteringly fast! If you are at the top of your fleet and your racing someone who brings up the tail end then its probably not a relevant comparison.

I think that might have been from the last Bloody Mary event and was me in my old boat 115 - a big gust hit and flattened most of the boats around me and the acceleration was quite frightening. I have actually fallen out the back of a H2, mostly post gybe when not yet sitting back down and a gust hits. Its a decent sized rig and a fairly light boat so it does accelerate!

did you trip over that big tank at the back? Looks weird to me having that due to being used to boats that are empty at the back. Are the straps that useful on top of the tank or is it difficult to get your feet under them? Are they only useful for shorter legged helms?

The tank at the back is not really "big", feels more like a raised floor than a tank. 95% of the time your feet are in the footwell but when it is really blowing or in big waves you do need those little straps at the back. I nearly had them deleted on my second boat but have been glad to have them on several occasions when it is very breezy and big waves.

Thanks to Keith Callagham - designer, Simon Hipkin - builder. Great job.

(fluoro pink foils plus fluoro pink camber stripes on the sail)

Of its time there wasn't - im my opinion - a great deal wrong with the Harrier though its hasn't stood the test of time well at all. The main issues with it were it's weight and single skin construction.

Neither would be an issue today, and even with its original rig a stiffer lighter hull may have fared differently. Unfortunatley as a single hander produced in the 70's it falls to my usual rule of thumb that singlehanders are slow, overpowered or both.