was the mirror dingy the best little ship ever built?

[Praxinoscope]

LittleSister is right #20, many started their sailing in a Mirror, my first attempt at sailing was in a Mirror dinghy off Mevagissey after a lunch time session in 'The Harbour Lights' on scrumpy cider.
Have to admit spent more time in the water than on it, but the sailing bug bit, that was over 50 years ago and I'm still mucking about on the water.

 

[Refueler]

I think some here have lost sight of the original intention of the Daily Mirror and its sponsoring of the design .... it was to introduce boating to as many different people as possible ... which it certainly did.

If anyone had a Mirror sitting around and I was still in UK ... I'd grab it ... In fact I have even thought about getting hold of plans and maybe build one. But over here Marine or even WBP ply is hard to find.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I learned to sail in a Mirror built by my father. I would have been 2 or 3, can remember odd bits about the build, as well as the sailing.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

The Mirror was a great youngsters boat because you could row it, carry your mates, or even put a seagull on the back. Way more all round fun than a Laser or Cadet for kids. When we were 10 or so, our club had Herons (which were OK), but we were really envious of the kids in the neighbouring club with their Mirrors - they were lighter, modern and had spinnakers.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I think some here have lost sight of the original intention of the Daily Mirror and its sponsoring of the design .... it was to introduce boating to as many different people as possible ... which it certainly did.

If anyone had a Mirror sitting around and I was still in UK ... I'd grab it ... In fact I have even thought about getting hold of plans and maybe build one. But over here Marine or even WBP ply is hard to find.

I have a set of temlates for cutting the panels and a book from a long standing forum member.

I build several and donated then to the clubs in my area for use by any disadvantaged kids use

PM me with address and I can photocopy the book and post it to you if you wish

 

[Kelpie]

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).

Be careful of competing requirements.
I met somebody here who cruises with a gorgeous strip planked nesting dinghy. It has a big carbon rig, open transom, and flat bottom with about an inch of freeboard. Goes like the clappers.
But it's totally useless as a tender. He also carries a RIB.

Our tender hits a bit of a sweet spot, I think, in my entirely biased opinion. 11ft, nesting, can sail, motor, or row. But one big comprise is it has huge internal volume, both to allow nesting, and to give useful carrying capacity. Which means if you capsize, you have a LOT of bailing to do.

 

[Kelpie]

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.

I started with Oppies as a kid, but the first boat I bought was a Wayfarer. Still not civilised enough for SWMBO so a year later we had our first yacht.

 

[DownWest]

t ... In fact I have even thought about getting hold of plans and maybe build one. But over here Marine or even WBP ply is hard to find.

Plans were never available, only kits.I was too early for the Mirror. We had a Cadet as kids, I used to sail it on the Lea after primary school. Otherwise it was the Fleetwind when a bit heavier.

 

[Refueler]

I started with Oppies as a kid, but the first boat I bought was a Wayfarer. Still not civilised enough for SWMBO so a year later we had our first yacht.

My First Wife (UK) had lessons in a Wayfarer and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time - I had a Snapdragon 23 (triple keel) .... and what I found strange was she said she felt safer in the Wayfarer being closer to the water than in the Snappie.

Guy has a Wayfarer out here on the river ... quite often see him ghosting past our house quietly enjoying the peace ....

But here's the 'kicker' .... its been converted to Gaff rig ... and suits it ....

Before anyone questions that - its actually not unusual for odd Wayfarers to have Lug or Gaff modifications.... especially on river / canal use.

 

[Praxinoscope]

I think some here have lost sight of the original intention of the Daily Mirror and its sponsoring of the design .... it was to introduce boating to as many different people as possible ... which it certainly did.

If anyone had a Mirror sitting around and I was still in UK ... I'd grab it ... In fact I have even thought about getting hold of plans and maybe build one. But over here Marine or even WBP ply is hard to find.

I think it is still possible to buy the kit to build not cheap

 

[Refueler]

I think it is still possible to buy the kit to build not cheap

In Riga - guy is offering a 'tired' dinghy that has a similarity to the Mirror .... once I've checked out the Nauticat 33 this week - I may have a look and see if worth the money ...

A Mirror ... Enterprise ... Wayfarer ... any of those 3 would be my first choice for the river at back of house .... basically because of sitting IN rather than ON ...

 

[Chiara’s slave]

My First Wife (UK) had lessons in a Wayfarer and thoroughly enjoyed it. At the time - I had a Snapdragon 23 (triple keel) .... and what I found strange was she said she felt safer in the Wayfarer being closer to the water than in the Snappie.

Guy has a Wayfarer out here on the river ... quite often see him ghosting past our house quietly enjoying the peace ....

But here's the 'kicker' .... its been converted to Gaff rig ... and suits it ....

Before anyone questions that - its actually not unusual for odd Wayfarers to have Lug or Gaff modifications.... especially on river / canal use.

Handy for low bridges.

 

[Praxinoscope]

I'm just looking for a 'Topper' at the moment, just for a bit of fun and to add one more to or small dinghy fleet, my Fireball/505 days are long gone, and the great thing about a Topper is they are easy to right and easy to get back into, useful when you are old enough to remember the early days of the Mirror.

 

[Daydream believer]

In Riga - guy is offering a 'tired' dinghy that has a similarity to the Mirror .... once I've checked out the Nauticat 33 this week - I may have a look and see if worth the money ...

A Mirror ... Enterprise ... Wayfarer ... any of those 3 would be my first choice for the river at back of house .... basically because of sitting IN rather than ON ...

An Enterprise is not exactly a stable dinghy
I would suggest a GP14. Ok with outboard. Can be rowed & sailed fairly quickly.
Another Jack Holt design for home building or available from the Bell Woodworking Co at the time.

 

[Refueler]

An Enterprise is not exactly a stable dinghy
I would suggest a GP14. Ok with outboard. Can be rowed & sailed fairly quickly.
Another Jack Holt design for home building or available from the Bell Woodworking Co at the time.

I first sailed at 5yrs old in Fathers Enterprise of Hill Head beach in Solent ..... later sailed a number of Enterprise dinghys.
GP14 - raced for Plymouth Maritime School

To try remember all the dinghys I've sailed ?? But I have fond memories of Enterprise.

The GP14 I had in Plymouth ... reckon they had sense of humour ... they were all named after stars ... and I was given Pollux !

 

[Concerto]

My sailing experience did not start in a Mirror, but with a new Kingfisher 30 in 1965. At our club, Sheppy Yacht Club, the youngsters said we could not sail as we only did armchair sailing. After a couple years of these comments, my brother and I build a Mirror to join racing with the other youngsters. They were not too happy after the first race, when we came second and then won just about every race from then on - so much for arm chair sailing! We were not the best Mirror sailors, but came 12th at the Southern Area Championships with over 120 entries.

This was not the end of my sailing a Mirror. Before I acquired Concerto I bought a Mirror that had been built by a musical instrument maker and then passed on to his son. It had never been raced, but I also bought a wrecked racing Mirror for all the race fittings and sails. I used this to teach my daughter how to sail, but we never raced. We also towed it to the Lake District and sailed on most of the lakes.

Overall they were certainly a design of the early 1960's when sailing was a rich mans sport and enabled many to start sailing for little money. To use the copper stitch method with the relatively new material of glassfibre tapes was revolutionary and allowed for easy home building. Although they were a good all round boat of its time, better designs have now been created. Was it the best little ship? No, but it was certainly near the top.

Somewhere I have a photo of our original Mirror under sail. This is what the second Mirror no. 59725 looked like when I sold her in 2014.

 

[Daydream believer]

No one has mentioned the Mirror Offshore yet (Oh! they just have ) A wierd little craft & I think that I can only ever recall seeing one.That might have been in the Boating on a Buget hall in the "gods" at the London Boat show. Has anyone got memories of one? Were many built?

 

[Bodach na mara]

I have fond memories of the Mirror although I didn't own one until I had been sailing for several years. I started in the Enterprises owned by the University Sailing club. I found them a bit exciting and bought a GP14 which I had for a few years then changed to a YW Dayboat. That was followed by a 32 ft six-metre of 1912 vintage and as a tender I bought a mirror. The Six lasted a few years and then was sold to pay for central heating in our house but we kept the Mirror. We sailed it all over the place when we were cruising to explore around anchorages and even sailed right round Gigha when we had the Six anchored in Ardminish.

Sadly the weak floor coupled with my weight gain led to a need for extensive repair and weight gain. But eventually we gave it a Viking funeral.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I learned to sail in a Mirror dinghy at Strathclyde Country Park. A fleet had been built by Lanark Schools Sailing Association. I eventually won the LSSA Mirror class some years later.

Great dinghies, some have voyaged far.

Reflections on a fantastic voyage - Sails

 

[ylop]

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

I’d say you are wrong! A wayfarer or GP14 is a far better “ship” and the drascombes all deserve the title far more than a mirror. That’s not to suggest that a mirror was not an important and influential bit of maritime history but there’s no way it was the best beginnners sailing dinghy, never mind the best little ship.

I think some here have lost sight of the original intention of the Daily Mirror and its sponsoring of the design .... it was to introduce boating to as many different people as possible ...

really? I’ve always assumed it was to sell newspapers. It probably achieved that aim.