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Originally posted by boatshed

Originally posted by boatshed

Originally posted by Chew my RS

Having said that, i'm not sure why the Mirror is so keen to change all of a sudden.

Inspite of the huge numbers, maybe it is feeling a bit threatend.  Kids jump out of Opis into 29ers and miss out the middle man.  Just a thought.  I know what I'd rather sail.
Also, how much is a fully sorted Mirror ?

The Mirror is the world's most numeric two man dinghy (70,000 +),  still today very popular and thousands still sailing Mirrors.  Over the years there has been numerous attempts by others to produce a modern equivalent of the Mirror,  IMHO none have succeeded.
Like other traditional classes,  the Mirror has evolved in to what today is a fine sailing machine,  light,  roomy and responsive, a 'Mini Thoroughbred' in fact.
The Mirror is still as relevant as it was 45 years ago when Jack Holt and the Daily Mirror conceived this fantastic boat.  There are around 50 new boats built every year,  this is a long way from when 6,000 + would have been built every year in the hey days of the class but still healthy when compared to other classes.  The vast majority of these are bought by private individuals,  so must comapre well to the mass produced modern designs
It was clear to those involved in running the class a modernisation programme was required,  at the 2005 Worlds representatives across the globe agreed on a three part plan :

Rig -  the traditional gaff rig had evolved into quite a sophisticated and tweak-able setup.  This was clearly putting newcomers off and cost of wood was rising out of all proportion.  From 2006 Mirrors are now allowed the option of an alloy Bermudan rig.   For such a radical development,  the introduction has gone amazingly smoothly.  Many owners have changed to the new rig.  They have come from all sectors of the fleet,  from casual cruisers to hardened racers.  Importantly those who have not changed have still proved very competitive,  gaff rigs are still winning championships.
Centre main -  as already discussed here,  the Mirror was one of the few remaining classes with just transom mains.  With kids learning on centre mains and graduating to larger boats with centre mains,  this was a major issue.  It certainly didn't make the Mirror attractive to Oppi sailors,  despite the class being an ideal transition to larger double handers
GRP -  Trident and Vasco (Australia) have proven that a Mirror can be built in GRP (FRP),  down to weight,  stiff and competitive.  The problem was they were inhibited by having to build to the wood rules,  this makes construction very complicated.  Phil Morrison's design will make the production Mirror much easier to build and more durable.
The class has made a conscious decision to address these changes in the shortest period possible,  they are designed to secure the future of the class and keep the Mirror at the forefront of entry level sailing without out classing the 70,000 existing boats.
We are now all very excited about seeing the first of the Winder Mirrors out at the 2007 Nationals