Mirror Nationals at Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club

Dan & James Ellis win the Mirror Nationals for the second time © Simon Lovesey

The fleet head upwind at the Mirror Nationals in Plymouth © Simon Lovesey

Dan and James Ellis have joined the select group of sailors, including Olympic Medallist Ian Walker, by winning consecutive Mirror National Championships. Hosted by Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club, the 2004 Mirror Nationals saw 69 boats compete for the championships. Reflecting the family nature of the class the fleet consisted of a good cross section of sailors, with juniors battling it out with adult and child teams. It was very encouraging to see many hotsho ts from other classes attracted back into Mirrors, sailing with their offspring and introducing them to the delights of championship sailing. Also several families fielded two boats.

In light winds, the first race was won by Mirror expert Guy Wilkins from Chipstead, sailing with his son Joe. Second place was taken by National Squad member's Robert Struckett and Tom Hodkinson, with defending champions the Ellis brothers third. Race 2 was won by Robert and Tom, which with another second in race 3 saw the Juniors leading the Championship after day 1, from father and son pair Hector and Ben Cisneros (aged 7), with Fireball guru Vince Horey and Hanna Jones third.

Day Two started to see more of the Mirror National squad members dominate the event. Race 4 saw the Ellis Brothers coming to the fore and starting to stamp their mark on the championships. Since their win at the last Nationals they have sailed together infrequently, older brother Dan has been helming a 420 to gre at success, representing Team GBR at the Worlds and winning the Junior Bloody Mary, and James is now helming in his own right, being one of the youngest members of the Mirror National Squad. Clearly it took them the first day to get back into the winning groove. Fellow Squad members Juliet and Richard Long were second, with father and son pair, Craig and Mitchell Bond third. Race 5 defiantly belonged to the National Squad and junior sailors, with the top seven places filled by the fast y oungsters with the Longs winning from Robert Struckett and Tom Hodkinson, and Ben Crompton and Sam Robinson respectively. Race 5 went to the Ellis's, from Vince Horey and Hanna Jones, with Josh Rumbol and Tom Davidson third. By the end of the day the Championship was wide open and very close, Robert Struckett and Tom Hodkinson led the tables with 14 points, from the Longs and Elliss's both with 16 points.

The Third Day saw an enforced lay day, as the start of Transat forced the cance llation of all racing. This allowed the Class Association to host a well attended Members' Forum which bought out many positive and useful suggestions for the future direction of the class, demonstrating a high level of goodwill and enthusiasm for Mirrors.

The final day bought an increasing wind, and by the last race some very robust conditions with only half the fleet finishing. This allowed the heavyweights to shake off their frustrations of the first two light weather days. In the end the Ellis Brothers sailed to three bullets and their second championship win. Robert Struckett and Tom Hodkinson managed to come away with second place, despite 19th (R7) and 15th (R19) place with the Longs hanging onto third place, again with an indifferent last day.

Overall Results:

Results generated and submitted using Sailwave sailing scoring software