please add Mirror 5901 to roll call

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please add Mirror 5901 to roll call.
She never had a name so will name her in due course.
Boot bought from Ulrich Koch - Fehmarn, Germany.
After a complete refit (but keeping as much as possible in original 1966 kit-built condition) and after 36 years out of the water she will sail in future in the area around Nuremburg - Germany.

PuffinInTegel's picture

Welcome, John!
I was worried about 5901 after seeing her on e-bay and tried to help finding a buyer.
You will have the oldest (or at least the lowest registered hull number) in Germany.
I took the liberty of putting her on the roll call already, as "for sale" and am happy that you have found her.
In the discussion about "Jollenflottille" messabouts some years ago, a Heron dinghy owner from your neck of the woods joined the group on the "segeln-forum.de". If you're interested (as an expat ??) I could look up his data. Maybe we can organise a meeting (Müritz ?) in Germany this year. I haven't sent out a German Mirrorist circular this year yet, I'm afraid.
Cheers,
Gernot H.

Honey Pot's picture

Hi Gernot,
thanks for you quick response!
Just a few facts about me if your interested. I have owned two other Mirrors in the past. M32269 was my first one and i built her from a kit in 1972. The second one M66165 i finished off after my dad died during the building in 1982. He was a very talented woodworker. I helped to build a third one M49206 in the school sailing club in 1975.
So i have been involved with building and sailing Mirrors and other sailing boats since i was 10 years old I had great fun with my Mirrors and friends with theirs sailing in regattas etc. Those early years with these Mirrors and other yachts were spent in the area of Northern Ireland and Donegal where i come from. I have been living in the area around Nuremburg for the past 40 years and have done some sailing on the Altmühlsail with small sailing cruisers, windsurfing and up until now i also own and sail a SmartKat. So thats me, so how did i get M5901?
I had a very vivid dream about two weeks ago - i was standing on the gunwale my last M66165 and said to myself "i'm not going to sell her!" I got up the next morning and had a look in Ebay kleinanzeigen and saw M5901. I knew immediately from the boat number and photos that she was old, was in good condition for her age and, for me especially interesting, had been built in 1966 to the original instructions without any changes or additions. So i got into contact with the seller, drove 9 hours too Fehmarn, checked her over, bought her, put per on the roof of our Opel Combo and drove 9 hours back home where she is lying in the my daughters large and dry barn waiting for the spring to come when we will start to completely overhaul her. I will pay especial attention to keeping her a much as possible in the original 'Mirror of 66' condition. I thinks that is enough Info. for now but still just to say i would be very keen to take part in any gathering of Mirrors or with other dinghy enthusiasts in Germany.
Keep in contact!
Greetings from
John Cartwright and Maria Dassler

PuffinInTegel's picture

From your story, I assume you are the same age as the Mirror design is!
Another user ("Albman") was looking for a Mirror some time ago and this made me look on e-bay Kleinanzeigen where I found two. One, 61366, seems to have been sold quite quickly as the ad disappeared but 5901 seemed to stay up for sale forever.
The haul from Nürnberg to Fehmarn and return is quite a drive. My excursion to Woudsend in 2019 (https://mirrordiscussforum.org/Drupal_02/comment/1915#comment-1915) is the furthest I've driven with the boat on the car for a cruise. Of course bringing the boat from the Midlands in the mid-1980s was an even longer trip: with camping gear, three children, my wife and I in a beat-up Opel Rekord station wagon.
I admire your resolve to keep the boat in "classic" condition. My boat was built rather indifferently and has had to be patched by me several times so she probably wouldn't even pass class inspections. I've reinforced the centreboar casing/hull connection because I sometimes have to row quite a while and the motion forces lead to the leaks frequently occurring there (a brief description is given on pages 3 to 5 of https://mirrordiscussforum.org/documents/stories/jf2012english.pdf ).
We'll stay in touch.

Honey Pot's picture

Hi Gernot,
i have decided on a name!
Please include M5901 in the roll call with the name 'Honey Pot'

Regards John

PuffinInTegel's picture

Hello John,
That's a good one we haven't got on the roll call yet. You're not from the IT field by the way?
Bit of a buzzword in the internet field, honey pots are used to catch hackers etc.
Cheers,
Gernot.

Honey Pot's picture

Hi Gernot and anyone interested,
after a few hours work Honey Pot is ready to sail again after 36 years out of the water.
The main job was to replace the two inner gunwhales as they had been 'lightened' by the activities of some wood-worm during storage. I managed to get 2 nice knot-free ash gunwhales from a carpenter. Otherwise just new ash rowlock and Jib sheet supports, otherwise only sanded, painted and varnished.
She was in original 1966 'built out of the kit' condition without any knick knacks so i just added a decent kicking strap, jib cam cleats, main blocks and universal tiller extention joint as i always did with may two previous Mirrors. Also new original galvanised 10mm rowlocks. I still would be interested to hear of any Mirror meetings in Germany. Otherwise she may be taken over to Ireland in 2023 for the Worlds - not to take part but just to be there and maybe take part in a vintage Mirror side event!
Greetings from John and Maria

PuffinInTegel's picture

Hello John & Maria
All this social/economical upheaval has disrupted affairs a little and I haven't been on the Segeln-Forum very often either. However the impression I got was that not many people are interested in raids, messabouts etc. these days.
It always involves finding a common date and venue. Shall I try circulating an enquiry among the members of this forum? We could ask for suggestions regarding these parameters and determine which have the greatest potential for becoming reality.
That doesn't mean that you are not welcome to come North and test the Berlin waters, where there is a chance that the two other local Mirrorists might find time to spend a day on the water together.
To begin with, I'm starting a new thread on the topic.
How were your first sails in the boat -- after such a long withdrawal ?

Honey Pot's picture

Hi Gernot and anyone interested,
thanks for your reply.
Just an idea: maybe you could ask in a foren if anyone would be interested in sending a German Team to the Worlds in Sligo? Why not? It would be fun! Maybe i'm being a bit ambitious but what would we have to do? : Have the Mirrors officially 'Measured'. Get Registered and a 'D' on the sails, hold a German National qualifying, register a German Team. Get to Sligo on time - 24-30th July 2023. I think as the irish say it would be good 'craic'(fun). It's only about taking part. Even if we took part in a 'vintage Mirror Dinghy Regatta' as a side event.
Please let me know if anone would be interested.
Greetings
John and Maria

Honey Pot's picture

Hi Gernot,
after cheking out all the requirements and costs of getting a Mirror Dinghy measured and registered for International Racing events i realise that that is for me/us in Germany just not feasable.
But that would'nt stop me attending just for fun.
Greetings
John (now contributing as 'Honey Pot'.

PuffinInTegel's picture

I have entertained that idea for a while. I suppose we'd be a kind or "Eddie the Eagle" of the Mirror Class. There are subcategories for boats without a measurement certificate, but one could think about buying a used boat in Ireland for the event (I seem to remember the charter boats were prohibitively expensive). I've never handled a spinnaker in my life, although I own one but never rigged the running rigging and fittings required on my boat. On the other hand, in 2018 Ferdinand in his "Kleine Hexe" demonstrated masterful single-handed spi handling on the Schlei!
Cheers,
Gernot.

Honey Pot's picture

sorry for being so ignorant i think it's a GER is'nt it?

62816inBerlin's picture

Yes it's GER, but they add the national abbreviations to the sails of charter boats. I don't think that the Phillipino and Japanese contestants in past Worlds had come with their own boats. I'd have to research as to whether the Canadian team from the OMDA years ago had brought their own boat :-) .
Just sent you an e-mail....
Cheers