Hello from Hamburg

I probably am biased, but the Mirror is an everything boat. Forgiving YES. With its fore tanks, side tanks and rear tanks it is just about impossible to sink unless these tanks leak.

You can sail the Mirror with just the mainsail but most also use the jib. Those interested in racing almost always also use a spinnaker. Don't feel like sailing, you can row or attach a small out board motor on the stern and motor along.

It is easy sail single handedly but just as easy to sail with a crew. If you are a family man, I have seen parent's cruise around with three small children. Also if a parent, the Mirror is an ideal boat to teach your child how to sail.

You have some choices, the Mirror is a wooden boat which can be purchased new as a kit and you build it or you can purchase it with the hull prebuilt and finally the Mirror is also available as a fiber glass boat (prebuilt). These choices assume you want a brand new Mirror. Used Mirrors are frequently available, but I do not know how often the are available in Germany.

My co-administrator, Gernot, lives in Berlin and he will be able to tell you a lot more about Mirror information in Germany.

I hope the above is of help. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask. The many members of this forum will have answers to just about any question you have.

Pete

Schön, dass die Klasse etwas Aufmerksamkeit sammelt.
Bist Du Mitglied im Segeln-Forum? Dort ist ein Mirrorist aus Hamburg zu finden, "Nord-Mirror" genannt.
Unter Umständen könntet Ihr dann ja ein Probesegeln organisieren.
Ich habe vor Kurzem eine Facebook-Message verloren, bevor ich sie antworten konnte. War sie von Dir?
Cheers,
Gernot

I wasn't sure before, but when you mention sailing with your small daughter, that makes it clear that the Mirror is the right kind of boat to look at - you'll want to be able to put her in control of the tiller and for her to be strong enough to control the boat easily. Mirrors are a lot slower than the boats you're used to, but they don't feel slow, and they're responsive - always fun to sail. They're hard to capsize as they have a lot of width for the amount of sail they carry, and that makes them controllable in a gale, so you'll be the last to get into difficulty in a squall. Mirrors are also proper boats that you sit in rather than on, so I prefer them to more modern rivals that go a bit quicker, and they look nicer too, which means that everyone will be pleased to see you wherever you go. You do need to try one though to make sure that it really does live up to your expectations.

Buying one in Germany will be difficult unless you have the luck to find one on sale nearby. In Britain it's possible to get one in good condition for even as little as £300, but the costs of getting it transported to you could be high and you won't know exactly what you've bought until it arrives. It might be possible though to get someone from this forum (or the Facebook group) to check one out for you and confirm that it's not in need of serious repairs, and they might be prepared to go to the trouble of arranging for it to be sent to you even if the seller isn't willing to do that, but it would need to be someone who knows where to look for rot and how to recognise it. There was a group of Scouts which repaired and sold old Mirrors recently and they may still be doing it - if they are, buying from them would be a particularly safe way of getting a sound boat, but it could also be a way of being able to collect it in person at a time that suits you so that you can have a little sailing holiday in England while you're over, possibly keeping the costs down by staying with other Mirror owners who might enjoy your company for a few days. It would be worth asking around to see if that's possible, and it would be worth joining Facebook just to get access to the "People who love Mirror Sailing Dinghies" group, because that would be the best place to discuss all of this and to find people who may be able to make it happen.

Edit: Having checked the meaning of Angebot, it looks as if you're saying there's a Mirror available near you for £500 (but why pounds rather than Euros if it's local?) - it's fully possible that a boat at that price could be in fine condition with no work needed on it, but you'd need to go and see it to make sure.

@David: Ferdi was mentioning that one can get a Mirror for ~ 500 GBP in the UK.

@Ferdi: Mein Tipp für deutsche Interessenten, die kein Bausatz haben wollen und bereit sind, ein gebrauchtes Boot zu kaufen lautet: niederländische Angebotsseiten anschauen (Botenbank, e-Bay usw.).
Die Klasse war früher in NL stark vertreten, nun fahren die Holländer auch alle größere Boote, also dürften etliche unbenutzt in Garagen, Bootshäusern und Scheunen schlummern.
(for the English-speakers: I usually recommend that Germans looking for a Mirror should try the Netherlands, as the class used to be strong there).
Das Boot ist keine Rennmaschine, da es als Allzweckjolle konzipiert wurde, aber bei unsteten Leichwindverhältnissen überholst Du manches Dickschiff, da der Mirror sehr leicht ist und sofort anspringt. Zum Gleiten braucht man schon eine ordentliche Mütze Wind. Durchstöbere mal Youtube, da gibt es viele Videos von Regatten, Training-sessions usw.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmwijsI1HoE ist ein guter Einstieg. Auf unseren "Jollenflottillen"-Videos (einfach "Jollenflottille" als Suchwort eingeben) bekommt man einige Eindrücke vom Einhand-Fahrtensegeln mit dem Mirror.
(my comments on boat speed, advise looking for Mirror-videos in Youtube to see performance examples and cruising reports).
@All: Have a pleasant weekend!

Gernot H.

Ich habe Rohrisolierung als Polster benutzt.
Used pipe insulation as padding.
Siehe letztes Foto im JollenFlottille-Bericht hier (von 2015) / las picture in my report from last year.
http://forum.mirrordiscussforum.org/node/363

Cheers,
Gernot

I think you're talking about planing when you say glide. The Mirror's undersize rig makes planing hard unless the wind's really blowing, but that's also what makes it so safe in normal conditions and fun to sail in a gale.

Unless you spill wind, you'll need to sit up on the gunwale in strong winds. The Mirror originally had no tiller extension and no toe straps, so you just had to sit on the benches and just let the sail flap a bit to stay upright. The gunwale clearly wasn't designed for sitting on. With mark 2 mirrors these faults were corrected, though the gunwale is still not wide enough for comfort. Gernot's pipe is a simple solution, but you could also wear stiffened padding to spread the load up and down your thighs - I'm guessing that hiking shorts do that, though I've never tried them.

Die eingestanzten Nummern sind oft schlecht lesbar, da nicht sehr tief in das Holz eingedrückt.
Stamped/embossed numbers are often difficult to read as they are not very deeply embossed.

Bei GFK-Rümpfen ist ein Aufkleber in der Plicht an dem Schott des hinteren Lufttanks angebracht.
In GRP Mirrors, there is a sticker in the cockpit, on the front of the rear air tank.

@ OTHER READERS : please correct me and/or add further information if you know other marking methods

Gernot H.

That's good news - welcome to the Mirror tribe!

If you aren't going to be sailing on the sea, you might manage fine without a self-bailer. If you do fit one though, don't be tempted to use anything bigger than the small type designed for Mirrors - I knew someone with a Gull (similar size and speed to a Mirror) who fitted a large self-bailer and it absolutely sucked (meaning it didn't suck at all) - if anything, it let water in whenever he put it down. One self-bailer is usually good enough for sea sailing, but two may be better for racing where you want to lighten the load as quickly as possible after a capsize.

I don't know if you already have a wooden plate fitted for a spinnaker chute at the bow, but the newer type doesn't need it and is probably better - the old type of chute jammed easily, though I've never used the new type and can only assume it's an improvement. If there is a plate there, it may get in the way, so it would be worth asking around to find out if it needs to be removed. If you manage to get hold of the old style of chute that needs the wooden plate though, they come in two widths and both jam easily, but the narrower ones are terrible and should be avoided at all costs.

Hi Ferdi,
ich gehe davon aus, dass ich Dein "neues" Boot in das Register "Roll Call" eintragen darf?
45949 ist dort nicht aufgeführt, und die meisten 4k NUmmern sind in Australien zu finden.
Selbstverständlich ist es am wahrscheinlichsten, Info über das Boot in NL zu bekommen. Wende Dich mal an Hermann Janssen (http://home.kpn.nl/herman1.janssen/) bzw. an die NL Klassenvereinigung.

Can I register your boat in the roll call?
45949 is not on the list there, most 4k numbers are in Australia.
You're most likely to find info on your boat from NL. Try contacting Hermann Janssen (URL above) or the NL class association.
So now there are at least two MIrrors on the Elbe this year ;-{) .
Cheer;
Gernot

Ferdi's boat "kleine Hexe" (little witch) is now in action!

Schön zu hören. Hier haben wir zwar eigentlich mehrmals gutes Segelwetter gehabt, aber ich bin zur Zeit mit dem "großen" Boot beschäftigt. Der Bodenanstrich inkl. Grundierung und Antifouling ist fällig.

Viel Spaß / have fun!

Gernot H.