New Mirror owner.

Hi Everyone,

Today I purchased a Mirror dinghy and I am very happy to be a part of the Mirror dinghy crowd.

I will post pictures once I have figured how to. :-))

Cheers,
Paul.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Welcome to the forum.
We hope that you find it useful.
What is your boat's hull number? Or has it been put on the roll call via other channels (regatta results, Facebook groups or similar)?
Cheers, fair winds and kind seas.

Gernot H.

Hi Gernot,
Thank you for the welcome message.

The dinghy number is 70108. Built in 2002. Had a few races until 2008 and then sat in a garage.

I still need to understand how to post pics here. Any tips would be welcome ;-)

Cheers,
Paul.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Would you care to be put on the roll call?
The minimum data are hull number, country, owner/skipper , location or club . If you have no comments or remarks, then I simply add when, where and/or how the data were obtained.
There is an explanatory thread on posting pictures, see https://mirrordiscussforum.org/Drupal_02/node/35 .
As I have limited memory space, I haven't allowed members to upload files here. If your pictures are on a site which is accessible to others, you can reference them as described in that thread. If you have no on-line picture storage but would like to show them here, you can send them to me as e-mail attachments and I'll put them on our site and send you their URLs for future use. At present we have only rented 5 GBytes of space for this so we have to go sparingly.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

OK that was easy. Used Imgur hosting site.

This is how I got her home as it did not come with a road trailer.
I must admit I thought this would be a useful way of transporting the Mirror around but I really didn't like the journey home with the boat on the roof. At 40mph the noise in the van was not good.
For me it will be a trailer in the future.

Hi Gernot,

I would be more than happy for my Mirror to be added.

Hull number. 70108
Country. UK,
owner/skipper. Paul
location. Buckinghamshire.

Kind regards,
Paul.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Did you have the covers on the inspection hatches when the boat was on the roof?
If not, that's where the noise is generated. I drove to the Netherlands and back last year (660-odd km each way) with acceptable noise level. My car is a Skoda Fabia and I cruise at around 100 km/h on the motorway when I have the boat on the roof. Occasionally have to go up to 120 to pass a string of lorries, but that's my personal limit.
I'll put you boat on the roll call during the next edit session.
Cheers,
Gernot

Hi Gernot,

There is only one inspection hatch and that had the cover in place.
I think it must be the acoustics of the van. For local journeys to the Thames it will be OK.

Kind regards,
Paul.

This is the first time I have put up the sails since getting the Dinghy home.
Most things went back in the right place but you may notice I have not done a good job with the main sheet. :-)
I now realise the sheet should of gone from the transom to the pulley on the boom and then down to the pulley on the transom.

The main sail has a curve at the bottom and seems to hang lower than the boom. I think I need to learn how to set the sail.

The rope that winds round the mast a few times to hold the lower part of the sail close to it needs to pass through the bottom hole too, and it should be holding that entire edge closer to the mast (but not right against it) - the path that the leading edge of the sail follows should continue on down the same line as it does within the gaff, so it's in the right place where it comes out of the gaff and you just need the rest of the sail below that to match.

The outhaul at the end of the boom is used to flatten the sail in strong winds to depower it. in light winds you want to release that off to get a good curve in the sail for maximum drive, whereas in strong winds that's too much power to handle and the sail needs to be flattened so that you can keep sailing the boat upright and without putting excessive forces on the rig, and the sail won't look so ugly when flat once you have a gale blasting across it. The downhaul at the front end of the sail is also used to help flatten the sail in stronger winds, but it also brings the "belly" of the sail forwards to compensate for stronger winds pulling the sail out of shape.

The vang (kicking strap) is another important control, and in lighter winds this will be eased off. This is used for controlling sail twist. Stronger wind twists the sail more, meaning that the top is pushed further out then the bottom because only the bottom of the sail is pulled in by the mainsheet. You actually want some twist because the apparent wind direction changes with height, but you need to adjust it as conditions change, and as a general rule you should aim to try to keep the top batten parallel to the boom.

(The reason for the apparent wind direction changing with height is that the wind speed is higher higher up, but the speed the boat moves at makes the wind feel as if it's coming from a different direction, and that difference is greatest lower down where the wind speed is lower due to drag against the surface of the water/land - up at the top, the boat speed makes a lot less difference, so the top of the sail always needs to be aligned closer to the true wind direction.)

Many thanks for that detailed post.

Kind regards,
Paul.

It makes a big difference if people tell you how to use the main engine properly - I was left having to guess because no one explained any of it to me and none of it is obvious, so I try to make sure other people aren't put in that position. Knowing how to control sail shape is good not only for racing, but for comfortable and safe cruising.

Totally agree with you David.
I am in the process of joining a local sailing club, I hope to hook up with someone like your good self at the club.

PuffinInTegel's picture

That is really a sweet-looking boat.
I hope you enjoy sailing her.
Looking forward to some stories and pictures!
Gernot H.

I will certainly get some photos and video of my attempts at sailing.

Will you be having a JollenFlottille 2020 this year?

Regards,
Paul.

Hi All,
I needed a road trailer and I found one on e bay for £150 with a poor condition Mirror.
I offered the guy £150 and he could keep the boat, but he needed it all gone.
So I ended up with another Mirror.
I am so happy that I ended up with the dinghy, as all the spares will come in very useful.
Plus the good wood from the Mirror will go towards my hobby of turning pens.

Here is a short video.
Edit. PYSC stands for Portishead Yachting Sailing Club.

https://youtu.be/g233i_12FWw

PuffinInTegel's picture

The rear end of that hull which you bought look pretty badly gone. Is there no indication at all of the number on the transom? As the number on the oars matches the sail number, I'd suspect that's the correct one.
As to the "JollenFlottille" -- I have decided to take a back seat as far as organising is concerned. A discussion thread has been launched by Karl-Heinz, who was the only one to actually sail with me last year. If your knowledge of German is inadequate, you could use google translate or DeepL to follow it on the Segeln-Forum at https://www.segeln-forum.de/board9-community/board10-termine/74520-jolle... .
Should there be no interest; I'll probably just get in my boat and head off on our local waterways, saving myself the car-trip. Or get my family to take me out somewhere so that I can camp-cruise home.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

I looked all over the Mirror but no number.
The 40388 is circa 1973 and the Mirror certainly looks like it could be that old.

I will take a look at the German thread.
Cheers,
Paul.

Hi Gernot,
Just had a look at the thread on the "JollenFlottille"
The Muritz looks like a beautiful place to sail. I hope you guys do get together this year.

Good luck,
Paul.

Joined a sailing club this week and I will have a few more keys, so I needed a key ring.
It didn't need to float as the keys will not be needed on the boat.

https://youtu.be/TaWLkaLbDkE

PuffinInTegel's picture

I like the finish. Won't you need at least one floating key ring to keep the "Master" key on? I rememer the horror when I couldn't find my car key when on the 2014 Jollenflottille in Schwerin. It had slipped through a torn pocket lining and hidden in a far corner of my sailing parka. I had visions of having to leave everything there and taking a train to Berlin to fetch the spare key or some similar way of getting at it.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

I added the rowlock fittings this week. I used the fittings from the donor Mirror.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DnUPnHX5Bg

Will be back. :-))

Hi All,
I used an old dagger board to make up two decorative covers for the forward storage space.
The laser engraver is a great tool to have.

I'm sure Charles Aznavour was singing about a woman and not a Mirror dinghy that he built in his kitchen in Paris. :-))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2LzO0ncM6o&feature=youtu.be

Matt-LonghouseLife's picture

Very nice.

Watching this video, I noticed the compass you have, aside from being made by Silva, do you know the model # at all?

Hi Matt,
I don't have a compass. The guy who sold me the boat kept it for his other boat.
The Silva instrument I have is this.
https://silva.se/product/compasses/marine/clinometer/

The compass that was on the boat was this one.
https://silva.se/product/compasses/marine/compass-70un-2/

Hi everyone,

My beautiful Mirror will be up for sale in the very near future.
I have had a couple of outings with the sails up and I am afraid to say that at 6 foot 4 and not too supple it is not the boat for me.

I am moving on to something a little bit bigger. Once I have found that boat I will put the Mirror up for sale.

Cheers,
Paul.

Hi All.

I have now bought a Wayfarer and so the beautiful Mirror has to go.

It is in great condition. It will come with 1 Aluminium mast 1 wooden mast & 2 booms. Set of sails in great condition. Launching trolley, road trailer. Mast down cover and under cover.
Looking for £1600 ono.

Edit: I still have the other dinghy that is in this thread. I will throw that in if a buyer wants it.

Regards,
Paul.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Hi Paul,
can you move or copy the post to the "Members' marketplace - for sale " forum pages (if you haven't found a buyer yet), please?
I'd be grateful if you also inform the buyer about the roll call entry.
Thanx,
Gernot.

Will do Gernot.

I got around to disposing of the Mirror dinghy that came with the trailer I bought at the beginning of the year.

I have kept all the ply to the topsides and buoyancy tanks to use in scrollsaw work.

I found a number on the transom. 46219

I can't seem to post images now?

62816inBerlin's picture

I'll give her a line in the obituaries section :. -( .
Here's a picture test, the respective code, excluding the less-than and greater-than tag beginning and end marks, is: img src="https://mirrordiscussforum.org/pictures/members/62816/Footballfan.jpg" width="95%" alt="picture taken ten years ago"
.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

Perhaps you have used mixed upper-case/lower-case file names for your pictures and not observed the correct form in your attempt to post them? One way to check is to copy the file URL into the address line of your browser, which should then show the picture almost immediately (as when you click on the URL of my picture in this comment).

Very rotten in the bottom, transom and rear port side

I kept the top sides.

You can just see the number.

62816inBerlin's picture

Someone wrote that if there were no technical developments and everything lasted forever, we'd still be paddling around sitting astride of logs (or something to that effect). Sad as I am to see her go, I hope that a new kit is being assembled elsewhere! Not that I totally reject plastic boats (I own one myself) but they don't have that feel about them.

The club opened its doors yesterday and all was well with the Mirror.
Gave it a wipe over with Mr Sheen and it looked good.

Finished off having lunch on the boat. :-))

PuffinInTegel's picture

Happy Easter!
Have you been able to get on the water on the odd warm days we've had?

PuffinInTegel's picture

I found your message in an error message in the log files, no idea what had gone wrong. Did you put any special characters or code in the post?
Thanks for the Easter greetings all the same!
The weekend was enjoyable but cool. Rotten today.
Cheers,
Gernot.

Hi Gernot,

I am not sure what happened. When I hit save to post the message I think it said Error, I must admit I don't remember but I certainly could not post.
I hope this works now.

I have added a new boat to join my beautiful Mirror. It is a Drascombe Cruiser.

PuffinInTegel's picture

The Drascombes are all quite interesting boats and favourites in the dinghy cruising world, I believe.
So will she be the "Mothership" or the alternative for those long quarantine cruises ?
Happy sailing season!