Hadron H2 Open at Walton & Frinton Yacht Club

National Champion Richard Leftley dominated the Hadron H2 Open Meeting at Walton & Frinton © Keith Callaghan

The penultimate open meeting of the Hadron H2 year was hosted by the Walton and Frinton Yacht Club at the weekend in ideal sailing conditions- sunshine, mild temperatures and fresh winds.

It was to be an important event for H2 National Champion Richard Leftley (Bowmoor SC), as he needed a win here to nail the Travellers Trophy, which is given to the helm with the best 4 open meeting results. It was equally an important event for Richard's main rival Gavin Fleming (Hunts SC), third at the Nationals and current leader in the Travellers Trophy results.

The 2 day/4 race event kicked off on Saturday, with a race in the Walton Channel and the amusingly named Twizzle creek of Walton Backwaters. But it was not Richard or Gavin but another visitor who featured strongly at the early stages of the race - Stephen Oliver from Warsash SC. Also in the mix was local James Oxley but a determined Richard pulled through to win the race, half a minute ahead of Gavin, with James in third and Stephen fourth.

A jovial evening was spent in the clubhouse with a take-away curry organised by class wine guru and gourmet Chris Brown.

Sunday brought a fresh 20 knot breeze which whipped up choppy conditions for racing in the more open area of Hamford Water. A triangular course with two excellent reaching legs was set by race officer Alex Hooper. In short, the conditions were just about ideal for the H2s - and Richard and Gavin in particular. Richard has been sailing H2s since 2017 whereas Gavin is in his first year with the class, so it was perhaps not surprising that Richard dominated the racing, with three wins. Gavin finished with 2,3,2, the last result achieved after recovering from a capsize seconds before the start. James Oxley led the six strong local contingent, with 4,2,3, with H2 builder Simon Hipkin taking third place ahead of James in the first race of the day.

Sixteen year-old Arlo Atkins finished 8th in the Hadron H2 Open Meeting at Walton & Frinton - photo © Keith Callaghan

Two more of the locals deserve a mention: Heidi Wright and Arlo Atkins. To my knowledge, Heidi is the first (or possibly the second) woman to compete in an H2 open event. In a borrowed boat and despite more than one capsize, Heidi completed the event in style. Arlo usually sails a somewhat different beast - an International Canoe - but again in a borrowed boat he is surely the youngest H2 competitor ever, at 16 years old.

Heidi Wright savours the joy of the Hadron H2 Open Meeting at Walton & Frinton - photo © Keith Callaghan

Richard Leftley has been a mainstay of the H2 open meetings circuit for most of the short life of the class and is currently serving his second term as class chairman. His National Championship win secured a place in the Endeavour Trophy event to be held on the first weekend in October - the same weekend as the last H2 open event of the season at Warsash SC. Thus if Richard was to be sure of winning the Travellers Trophy he had to win the WFYC event, which he did in fine style.

Richard Leftley - winner of the Hadron H2 Open Meeting at Walton & Frinton - photo © Keith Callaghan

It was a perfect weekend's racing, with congenial hosts, great race and safety teams and perfect sailing conditions in an interesting location. Thanks to all at Walton & Frinton Yacht Club who made our visit so enjoyable.

Overall Results: