Mirror Dinghy?

   Looking at the usual weights of dinghy classes, I see there are not many that are significantly lighter than a Mirror (because it is short I suppose).

A lighter boat will be nicer to pull up the slipway, all on your own. Older boats will have gained weight though. And some trailers/trollies are heavier than others!

I've seen several people recommend the Mirror for cruising, so it could well be a good idea. 

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MerlinMags Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Visit Member's Homepage Admin Group Joined: 19 Mar 04 Location: UK, Guildford Online Status: Offline Posts: 584	Post Options Post Reply Quote MerlinMags Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Mirror Dinghy? Posted: 26 Sep 14 at 6:47pm
	Looking at the usual weights of dinghy classes, I see there are not many that are significantly lighter than a Mirror (because it is short I suppose). A lighter boat will be nicer to pull up the slipway, all on your own. Older boats will have gained weight though. And some trailers/trollies are heavier than others! I've seen several people recommend the Mirror for cruising, so it could well be a good idea.

ronvass Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Newbie Joined: 19 Jan 18 Online Status: Offline Posts: 1	Post Options Post Reply Quote ronvass Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 04 Oct 19 at 9:10am
	The Mirror is an incredibly versatile boat and great for beginners. I am 18 stone and 5ft 11in and can sail it competitively at my club single handed recently winning a pursuit series. It can be used with 1, 2 or 3 sails. You can row it or put an outboard on it! There is big price difference between the wooden and FRP/GRP Mirrors. The top helms are now mostly racing the new Winder FRP Mirrors. You have to ensure the wooden boats are well protected and checked regularly if left outside in the Winter. I don't agree about a centre mainsheet being better. I have used both and as a single handed sailor much prefer the aft mainsheet which gives you more mobility to balance the boat in lighter winds. It will cost about £300 to fit out a self launching spinnaker pole so go for a boat with it already fitted!

Late starter Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 24 Feb 07 Online Status: Offline Posts: 481	Post Options Post Reply Quote Late starter Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 04 Oct 19 at 12:03pm
	Like many of my generation who started to sail back in the 60s/70s I started in a Mirror. What a great, flexible little boat. 50 years on I still don't think there is a better boat to put on the roof of a car and take on holiday or to learn in. As others have said, most of the top racers sail the latest FRP Winder boats. and it seems to have become a young persons boat at the the top level. Having said that. the Mirror also seems to have become the de facto boat for most of our older members to sail at my club. So if you were to look at dinghy classes with the widest active age range of sailors I think the Mirror would be well up the list. I personally don't think centre mainsheets suit the boat but each to their own. Nice boats are out there but can be hard to find, as others have said there are a lot of tatty poorly maintained Mirrors in the back of boat parks. But I think it's worth a bit of effort to try and find a decent one, if you keep it maintained well you won't lose any money on it.

ColPrice2002 Send Private Message Find Member's Posts Far too distracted from work Joined: 25 Nov 08 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 221	Post Options Post Reply Quote ColPrice2002 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 07 Oct 19 at 9:26pm
	One thought - on a wooden hull, look for 4 floor battens. Original design had 2, one on each side. After some time it was apparent that this wasn't quite strong enough! (Foot through the floor). The other feature is that the cockpit well has all 4 buoyancy tanks draining into it. It's difficult to drain it, so check carefully for water damage. Last tip Mirror dinghies have lots of buoyancy - recovering from a capsize is easy enough, but if you're in the water it's a long way up. Fit fighting lines which you can use to pull yourself a k in! Colin