was the mirror dingy the best little ship ever built?

[viago]

it was a terrible dingy to sail. bobbing up and down like nobody's business.

however, it was cheap and brought sailing to the great unwashed.

i'd argue that it was indeed the best little ship ever built.

people all over this land became interested in sailing and the little bobbers racing around the buoys could be seen everywhere.

it was aspirational and something bob ferris would have bought into at the disgust or our hero, terry collier.

over the years on here i've heard so many people say they learnt to sail in a mirror dingy.

i think it was real fillip to british industry. the pocket cruisers soon arrived.

go to it and argue against me, if you have the bottle.

be careful, you wouldn't want to look like a prig.

btw, i'm not the great unwashed, my dad had a heron.

 

[Kelpie]

I've never sailed one.
But I have sailed an Oppie.
And so has everybody else.

 

[Neeves]

it was a terrible dingy to sail. bobbing up and down like nobody's business.

however, it was cheap and brought sailing to the great unwashed.

i'd argue that it was indeed the best little ship ever built.

people all over this land became interested in sailing and the little bobbers racing around the buoys could be seen everywhere.

it was aspirational and something bob ferris would have bought into at the disgust or our hero, terry collier.

over the years on here i've heard so many people say they learnt to sail in a mirror dingy.

i think it was real fillip to british industry. the pocket cruisers soon arrived.

go to it and argue against me, if you have the bottle.

be careful, you wouldn't want to look like a prig.

btw, i'm not the great unwashed, my dad had a heron.

I think it was accepted because - as you say "the best little ship ever built" it was built at home and thus became something Dad could afford. It brought sailing onto the street, the guy next door or your own kitchen table and allowed the kids to relate to Swallows and Amazons - suddenly the book became identifiable with what Dad was doing and what his efforts were used for.

Arguably there is a greater need now - not much to aspire to in a video game - but if Dad was building a ship (or yacht) on the kitchen table and little Jimmy could help - maybe the appeal of the console would diminish.

PBO or YM could offer the lead - and provide the backing for something based on more recent technology, glass and foam are not difficult to work with, design to have a foil as an option - much better than a skate board......

Go to boat shows now - Dad's mortgage payments are getting bigger and bigger (as are the yachts at the show) - not easy times.

Jonathan

Edit

I've always wondered about a dinghy, call it a tender to provide more focus, that would be sailable and come in sections (so it could be stowed on long passages) and foiling seems to be very popular, here (but maybe a bit physical).

It would open up opportunity for a larger interest base (and might increase hard copy media).

 

[fredrussell]

Certainly the most successful - over 70,000 built if memory serves.

 

[Sandy]

I've never sailed one.
But I have sailed an Oppie.
And so has everybody else.

I've not sailed an Oppie.

Lets see, a Wayfarer and a Sprog, then I discovered you could sail without getting wet and cold, and moved to yachts where tea could be made while underway.

 

[Poignard]

The nautical equivalent of 'The Flying Flea'?

But less likely to kill you!

 

[Daydream believer]

Certainly the most successful - over 70,000 built if memory serves.

Compared to 215,000 lasers I would consider it lacking in numbers. But the Mirror dinghy was good. However, I suspect that many lay idle in garages. My sister's for instance was sailed 4-5 times & spent 30 years in the garage roof. I cannot recall having seen any for some years. It may have been good for home building but was not very good as a dinghy for sailing. I did not enjoy it much when I tried it.

If one goes to France the Oppie is in widespread use as a training aide for schools. Kids of just a few years upwards learn to sail in them. Race open meetings will draw numbers over the 100 mark.

Here in the UK I think that the Cadet had a lot going for it. (only 10,000 built though).World championships are held all over the world including places like Argentina. One has to be a top sailor to do well in international events. My kids learned in one & now in their 50's they still talk of their cadet sailing days. The interesting point is that they still have a lot of friends they made whilst sailing them. That has to be a plus for the class. The cadet has been a boat from which some of our olympic sailors progressed & certainly a number of UK, national & european champions, started out in Cadets

So I would plump for the cadet. However, the move to single handed boats would possibly favour the Topper these days. Horrid things that they are though.

 

[Beelzebub]

I went down the classic route of Cadet, Enterprise, Osprey, Laser, Fireball and then offshore interspersed with Fireball.

I hit seventy next year and I'm slowly updating my Fireball with a view to sailing it again in my retirement.

 

[Wansworth]

I rescued a man in his canoe in Littlehampton harbour with the ebb sluicing out,boy was he grateful.He invited me to his home and gave me a mirror dinghy.Unfortunatly it was on it last legs and Veryheavy I thought.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

it was a terrible dingy to sail. bobbing up and down like nobody's business.

however, it was cheap and brought sailing to the great unwashed.

i'd argue that it was indeed the best little ship ever built.

people all over this land became interested in sailing and the little bobbers racing around the buoys could be seen everywhere.

it was aspirational and something bob ferris would have bought into at the disgust or our hero, terry collier.

over the years on here i've heard so many people say they learnt to sail in a mirror dingy.

i think it was real fillip to british industry. the pocket cruisers soon arrived.

go to it and argue against me, if you have the bottle.

be careful, you wouldn't want to look like a prig.

btw, i'm not the great unwashed, my dad had a heron.

I think Jack Holt went for a commission on each sale rather than a one off payment. Reckon the right choice.

 

[Stemar]

A great little boat for relaxed sailing. Yes, you could capsize one, but you'd have to try - or be really careless

 

[johnalison]

Jack Holt was a great designer and used to leave everyone else well behind when he raced in the Merlin-Rocket class at our club. I think the Mirror was indeed one of the great boats of its time, being useful as a tender, training boat, and a focus for competition. I only got to sail one once, when I got the chance to plane it up and down the Deben. It was a bit stodgy if you rated it as a racing boat but did what it said on the tin, as Barry Bucknell might have said.

 

[fredrussell]

Compared to 215,000 lasers I would consider it lacking in numbers…

Ah, but I very much doubt many of those 215,000 laser owners built them themselves!

 

[jwilson]

I had one: could lift it onto Ford Anglia car top on my own (just - I was stronger then) and carry it with me when working away from home so I could sail in the evenings. Sold it and bought a bigger dinghy, but missed the Mirror so bought another one. Could plane surprisingly well offwind one-up in a bit of wind.

 

[Wansworth]

I had one: could lift it onto Ford Anglia car top on my own (just - I was stronger then) and carry it with me when working away from home so I could sail in the evenings. Sold it and bought a bigger dinghy, but missed the Mirror so bought another one. Could plane surprisingly well offwind one-up in a bit of wind.

Certainly couldn’t lift mine how odd

 

[Refueler]

As a Cadet at Plymouth - we built GP14's .... and during summer months raced the local Clubs ..... most of the club boats were Mirrors ....

Used to be interesting stuff ... and contrary to what many expected - the GP14's did not always get the upper hand ...

 

[Daydream believer]

A great little boat for relaxed sailing. Yes, you could capsize one, but you'd have to try - or be really careless

So I borrowed my sister's one to teach my daughter how to sail. I had never sailed it before. On the first outing, no more than 150 yds from the beach I capsized it & tipped daughter & myself into the oggin.
Mother - standing on beach- was NOT impressed & neither was young daughter- swimming back to shore whilst leaving me to sort it.. I never did get on with the stupid thing & soon gave up on that idea. To daughter's relief.
It ended up with me buying a cadet for son & daughter & they then had proper training from club cadet class captain.

 

[Daydream believer]

Ah, but I very much doubt many of those 215,000 laser owners built them themselves!

But the Op never said that was a deciding factor. In fact I would suggest that it was one of the reasons it grew so fast in numbers. Cheap- at the time- & readily available. I doubt that Bell Woodworking would have built professional ones at the rate the lasers were turned out in. Plus being all made in a similar mould they were better for racing , rather than some home built Mirrors, which would have varied somewhat

 

[johnalison]

On our one trip to Ireland I was talking with a small group in the Royal Cork YC and as usual with the Irish they were asking about our origins. I explained that we came from near London, assuming that they would have heard of the place. A bit more prompting drew from me that we lived and sailed in Essex, to which the reply was "Would that be anywhere near Brightlingsea?", the village just down the road from us. I was a bit taken aback, and it turned out that a dozen or more of their club had been there the year before for a Mirror open meeting.

 

[LittleSister]

Of course it wasn't the fastest, best looking, etc., etc., but Viago's correct that it was not just a big success at the time, but hugely influential, and directly or indirectly a key reason so many people are now into sailing, both in the UK and many places overseas.

It couldn't happen now. Not only do far, far fewer few people have the tools, the skills and the inclination to build a boat, but that people now would mostly be looking for some 'wow' factor that the Mirror neither had nor needed.

(A mention is required in this thread, too, for 'The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow', in which A.J. McKinnon hilariously recounts his sailing a beat up old Mirror dinghy from way inland in Herefordshire (or thereabouts) all the way to the Black Sea.)