Hadron H2 Open at Chichester Yacht Club
by Chris Brown 6 Aug 2024 11:18 BST
4 August 2024
As dawn broke on a sunny Chichester mud pond, nine veteran sailors, fresh from (watching) the Olympics, arrived with their trusty Hadron H2 weapons which as we know is "the thinking man's single-hander", ready to do battle in the tidal creek.
Accompanied by a fleet of RS400s, racing kicked off in a gentle N/NE 6-8kn, softened by an incoming tide. CYC is a picturesque racing venue but there are numerous tidal snakes and ladders which local boats exploited during the day's racing.
The first race saw the fleet short tacking up the northern shore, with the author checking out the mud adhesion (it's good!), the race being won by Sir (he is H2 royalty) Richard Leftley followed by local interloper Martin Orten in his first H2 race outing! Between races it was confirmed that Richard is the best part of 20kg heavier than Martin, which demonstrates the boats ability to carry helms across a wide range of weights.
The second race was run over the tide change and conditions were now more or less fully powered up in the increasing breeze. The "hiking machine" otherwise known as Richard Leftley again won the race, with Stephen Oliver from Warsash in 2nd place. By the third race, the wind had aligned with the building ebb tide and sailing conditions were full power. A breezy start saw Chris Brown lead the fleet for a while, only to ultimately crumble under the pressure and leave Richard Leftley to complete his hat trick for the day.
For anyone reading this who isn't already a Hadron H2 owner, the Class is a super friendly collection of like-minded individuals and very courteous on the water - all adding to the enjoyment of racing.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 145 | Richard Leftley | Bowmoor SC | ‑1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2nd | 150 | Stephen Oliver | Warsash SC | ‑5 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 3rd | 112 | Martin Orton | Chichester YC | 2 | 3 | ‑7 | 5 |
| 4th | 111 | John Crawley | Chichester YC | 3 | ‑8 | 4 | 7 |
| 5th | 154 | Adrian Williams | Warsash SC | ‑6 | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| 6th | 131 | Roger Millett | Chichester YC | 4 | 4 | ‑8 | 8 |
| 7th | 127 | Chris Brown | Mill Creek SC | ‑7 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 8th | 115 | Ian Payne | Chichester YC | ‑8 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| 9th | 114 | Pete Harrison | Chichester YC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 22 |
| 9th | 153 | Neal Lillywhite | Burghfield SC | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 22 |