Hadron H2 National Championship 2023 at Highcliffe Sailing Club - Day 2
by Keith Callaghan 17 Sep 2023 09:58 UTC
15-17 September 2023
Robin Parsons leads at the weather mark during race 6 on day 2 of the Hadron H2 Nationals © Sarah Press
With a little more wind forecast than the first day, Ian Dawson was hoping to continue his position as top dog. However, others had different ideas and in race 4 it was Josh Hamer who took the gun, with Robin Parsons second and Ian in third - his lowest placing to date. In fourth place was Richard Leftley - one of the pre-event favourites had the wind been stronger.
Race 5 saw the same trio in the top 3 places but this time it was Robin ahead of Josh. Richard Leftley topped the heavyweight rankings in fourth, with Tim Garvin securing his second fifth place of the day.
It was now apparent that the 2023 National Champion was going to be one of these three. The wind did not increase as forecast, remaining light and shifty and causing a course change for the last race of the day. Again it was Robin who led the fleet home, followed by Ian and Chris Brown who was having a much better day than yesterday, notching up 7,7,3. In a creditable fourth place was Roger Millett - one of the heavier contestants. Richard Leftley was fifth but Josh Hamer dropped to sixth, effectively now making it a 2 horse race for the championship, with Robin having the edge on Ian. Josh has only an outside chance of the top place. However, with rain and wind forecast for day 3 there could be new names at the front of the fleet on Sunday.