mirror dingy

[aztec]

hi, iv'e been offered a mirror dingy on a trailer, all there etc... but need tidying and a coat of varnish.

iv'e never sailed, so have a few questions relating to this type of craft....

1) stability... am i going to end up capsized within ten minutes?
2) stability again.... are my kids going to end up capsized... at all?
3) is this a good entry level dingy to learn in?
4) if all else fails what sized engine will get me home!

can anyone recomend some good reading before i even contemplate hanging the flaggy bits up.

oh dear, iv'e done it again.....

thanx, steve.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[1114C]

I learned to sail in one as did many others on this forum I would not doubt

I loved it - never capsized it although we did go out in reasonable winds in decent seas on the west coast of Scotland, sailed it alone and with crew from the age of around 8 I would guess. Great for pottering around in too which we also did - never had an engine on whilst sailing though and have never seen anyone do so - I would have thought it would be too small for that but could be wrong. Used to use a 3.5 on it when not sailing

A great boat and the numbers back that up

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[yoda]

Steve

Don't pay too much for it, there are plenty around. They are an ideal first dinghy and provided you take things easy at first there is no reason to end up in the water. It is however a dinghy and it can all go wrong so you do need to know how to get it back upright should you capsize. The Mirror does have one unfortunate tendancy and that is to turn turtle if when you capsize you dont keep your weight on the boat (ie end up in the water). I spent years sailing mine in Poole and up the Wareham channel with a small seagull on the back and a pair of oars in case I ran out of fuel. As a sea boat they will keep going in almost anything. Go for it.

Yoda

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[aztec]

i already have a spare featherweight, and poole and the wareham channel are just where i want to go sailing.. as i fancy exploring the tributories into the harbour, but not in a motorboat!

been looking round for other sources of info, but most echo what's been said here.

upshot is the guy (friend of mine) says i can have it for 60 quids, sounds cheap enough to try it out.. think i'll give it a go then.

cheers for your help... both for you (at time of writing)

regards, steve.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[ex-Gladys]

..only thing to check with the Mirror is the basic ply in the boat is really cheap and nasty. Check it over for cracks and bulges where the glue may have blown. At £60 a few repairs will be worth it. Only capsized once in a Mirror, FOrce 7 screaming rich with my mate helming, me hanign out on my toe nails, and we went in to windward as a wave bore us away... and yes it did turtle.

<hr width=100% size=1>Larry Botheras

Anderson 26 "Amber"

 

[SteveGorst]

I've never sailed one but have just finished reading "The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow" a Mirror Odyssey from North Wales to the Black Sea, by A J Mackinnon. If your buying a Mirror Dinghy this book will inspire you!!! The guy set off to sail down to Bristol from Shropshire and just kept going. If he could sail down the Severn Estuary, down the Thames through London and then across the Channel and through Europe the boat has got to be pretty seaworthy.

His boat was also, like yours, a few years old and needing a few coats of varnish. So if he could do it....

Cheers
Steve





<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://"www.nwcc.info">North Wales Cruising Club</A>

 

[thaxter]

Hi Steve,
I've had three Mirror's at different times over the last thirty years, they are a great little boat and very stable, as Yoda says though, it is a dinghy when all said and done and things can go wrong so pick your days carefully until you gain some experience. Any small engine will do the job, the last one I had I used a Yamaha Malta on and that took me in and out of the run at Christchurch without any trouble.
At sixty quid you cant go wrong, go for it!!
Stuart

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[thaxter]

Hi Steve,
Just remembered about a chap I knew years ago in the Dinghy Cruising Association, he was 6'2" and used to camp on his Mirror Dinghy, he had an old army stretcher that fitted above the bouyancy compartments. Last I heard of him he had just completed sailing around Anglesy, sleeping on board for two weeks.
Stu.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[windandwave]

If you've never sailed before, then I'd strongly recommend coughing up a few quid for lessons. The Mirror is a nice stable family boat, but still capsizes just like any other dinghy, and is just as easy to sail into danger if you don't know what you're doing. The RYA level one & two will cover most of what you need to know at the beginning over the course of two weekends or one week. For an idea of what is covered see:

http://www.dswc.org/RYA2.htm

Most people (in my experience) take at least four full days of being taught how to sail before they can handle a boat with minimum standards of safety. The learning process is substantially more difficult if you're trying to teach yourself.

Warnings aside... I strongly recommend the Mirror. Lovely little family boat, great to learn on, will handle strong winds well in the right hands. I wouldn't bother with an engine, but would go for paddles or oars. On a boat this size an engine is really just another expense and something else to go wrong.

Regards

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Strathglass]

Re: 60 quids

If I remember correctly that (£60) was the price of the original kit when it first came out. I still remember my then boss being quite concerned whether he would manage the payments for the HP. He did go ahead.

Mirrors are good dinghys but, if used as a tender then respect must be given to the ply on the bottom. They will not take the same rough treatment that can be dished out to a heavy GRP or clinker dinghy.
They sail very well and many of the earlier ones have an alternative foreward mast position to allow nicely balanced sailing with just the main up. Although they can be easily sailed single handed with main and jib.
The quickest way to learn is to find out if any of your local sailing clubs run basic beginers classes (sometimes for adults only) Then join that club. You would be taught - how to point it in the right direction - how to rig - how to recover from a capsize - basic necessary safety and will meet a lot of like minded people.
At £60 you can't loose with a complete Mirror, even if it does need some paint.

GO FOR IT

Iain

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[jhr]

I agree with everyone else. Mirrors are a great starter dinghy and you can't really go wrong for £60 so long as it floats.........

We have an old Mariner 2hp that we use on ours. She doesn't exactly rush along but we get there in the end. I've never capsized, but I'm quite cautious, particularly when I have my young kids on board. I say "never" capsized, but there was one occasion when I did, actually, which I've recounted before but which bears repeating, as an example of how not to do virtually everything:



"Getting into the Mirror from a pontoon, the dinghy (moored at the bow only) slid away from me as I descended and then, with graceful inevitability followed the laws of physics by capsizing, dumping me in the water and immersing the outboard, which I’d just lowered into the boat. Back on the pontoon, I emptied my pockets, managing - with considerable skill - to drop the keys of my locked car into the water at the same time. Yes; I know they should have been attached to something.

I then spent an enjoyable few minutes diving down into cold, murky water and trying to find the keys by touch, which was about as successful as you might imagine. This was all considered hugely amusing by the assembled crowd of onlookers (it was at Bucklers Hard on a Bank Holiday afternoon….) Fortunately it was round about LWS and, amazingly, I managed to get the keys before they were dragged along the river bottom by the tide or buried in silt, by fishing with the Harbourmaster’s big magnet on a rope thingy. The outboard lived to fight another day.

I made an excuse and left".


<hr width=100% size=1>Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho

 

[Inselaffe]

Class association http://www.ukmirrorsailing.com/
Ask them if you can still get the 'Mirrormania' book (1977)

I thought everyone learnt to sail in a mirror!

I spent virtually every minute of my childhood sailing/racing in what was even then a very old one (sail no 4268), and took an old delapitated one out again this summer and loved every minute of it.

Leigh

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[snowleopard]

<I thought everyone learnt to sail in a mirror>

we're not all youngsters like you! they were'nt around in my day.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Inselaffe]

Thanks!

You completely changed my view of the 4.0. getting uncomfortably close from that of beer half empty to beer half full in one simple post!

Leigh

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[beancounter]

can't add too much to what has been said.

Our mirror was an ideal starter boat (we did it the hard way & built it from a kit). Fine for two reasonable size adults, or one plus 2 sprogs.

It will capsize in extremis (such as when our gaff came down & dumped us overboard) and is prone to turning turtle. Once you've had some basic training, it's worth practising getting it upright a few times.

We used a Johnson 2.3hp outboard, & it was fine

If I remember correctly, "Sailing in a week" by Wendy Fitzpatrick uses the mirror as it's demonstration boat. Might be worth getting hold of a copy

have fun

John

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[gjgm]

dont get too fixated on the cost of the boat. Make sure you have suitable safety equipment, whether that means needing extra lifejackets, anchor,repairs, insurance. If you get dumped in the water its a bit late to discover your life maybe at risk because you saved £20 quid, but i m sure your friend can talk to you. Also, i d mention that once someone has got scared on a boat, they more or less will never go out again. It may seem obvious on dry land, but take a very gentle learning curve, especially with kids. One advantage of doing a course is you get trained at the very beginning about best practice, as it were, before you start getting ingrained sloppy habits of your own! otherwise, have a great summer on the water!

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Jules]

I dont know what size you are but if you tend to the higher side of the weight scale be careful not to put your foot through the bottom if the beast if the condition of the wood is doubtful. 1. You will get wet. 2. you cant get your leg out as the ply acts as a one-way valve. 3. You will end up smashing the boat to bits to release your leg before you die.
Just a thought.......
If it is so cheap there must be a reason
Best of luck

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[aztec]

ok you've sussed me!!

i am king lard, there's not too much wrong with the boat, just needs repainting and a coat of varnish.

i have had a good look at the hull,it seems fine with none of the problems suggested by others. by the way... there's no way i'd just take it out without training... or PFD's!

thanks to all who have given advice/opinions i'm going to buy it, and have cleared a space in my workshop to start the "doing up".... now what shade of pink to paint it.......

regards, steve.

<hr width=100% size=1>