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This year the Mirror Class Association will be running alongside its National Championship, the following is the background to this event : My thoughts behind the idea of the National Mirror Rally stemmed from the plain fact that at PYC (and similarly around the UK) we have a large number of Mirrors (111 to be precise!) that exist within the membership, yet the most we will ever see on the water is about 30. I asked myself why and the answer was obvious, the ‘rest’ existed, but without a purpose, as the only ‘purpose’ that was available was racing: Let’s wind back the clock to 1963 when the Mirror appeared, it was a time of ‘Do It Yourself’ with Barry Bucknell a household name, along with Stirling Moss, Two Way Family Favourites, Bonanza and Tony Hancock. (I was seven, but always old for my age and remember it all well!) The Daily Mirror wanted to emulate the success the Daily Express was having with it’s readership and their sponsorship of the Boat Show, so they got hold of the most well known dinghy designer and builder of the time in Jack Holt, and asked him to design a dinghy for their readers to build. The result was too complex, so they asked that he consult with the doyen of DIY, Barry Bucknell……result, still nothing that was easy to make. More rethinks…..Now as Barry Bucknell was enjoying such success he felt able to send his son to a private school in Cambridgeshire, where Mr Ken Littledyke (later of Kayel Canoes/Granta Boats) was the woodwork master. Bucknell junior came home one day regaling how they were going to build canoes out of plywood, stitched together with fishing line and reinforced with Glassfibre tape over the panel edges. A light went on in Bucknell seniors head and with a little tweaking of the process (replacing fishing line for copper wire) the rest is history. So the Mirror was born and at 69 guineas a bargain. Thousands were built, but not for racing, that came later. The Mirror was the Austin Seven (see I told you I was old for my age!) of the new boating age. Families sailed them, trailed them, fished from them, motored them, taught their families to sail in them, it seemed everyone had a Mirror in their lives. Dinghy racing prospered too and the Mirror was a natural success……somewhere along the way like so many things it got lost amongst the brighter, shinier, faster, glitzier, boats on offer. There was still a decent following but they were stalwarts especially if you look at the numbers as a percentage of the sail number we are at now (70300). Happily the adage of ‘what goes around comes around’ (should really be ‘what goes away come back’, but never mind) applies here and the Mirror has now achieved ‘Classic’ status and is ‘trendy’ again. It is a unique design and one that really does not have any competition. Many owners have one tucked away in the garden, even if they have the latest ‘Bavarian Matchpot One Design’ (and the jackets to go with it) in the Marina. So, (big sigh) back to the PYC Mirror National Rally…….The values of the good old Mirror are still as virtuous as they ever were, and if one puts that together with a superb sailing area and a reason d’etre. I think we have a a new slant on an old recipe (didn’t do Delia any harm!) . Dinghy sailing for FUN in company. We need to reinforce the Mirrors unique position in the sailing world and if we make the ‘cruisers’ feel as welcome and as much a part of the Mirror Class as the ‘racers’ then we too will have achieved something unique. This is the program (subject to further tweaking!) Day 1: Sail to Wareham (subject to tide and weather) in company for Lunch (PYC are reciprocal members of Ridge SC so we could tie up there for lunch / ice creams on the quay in Wareham Day 2: Sail Around Brownsea with a treasure hunt (visual) en route (clues to be gathered from Wareham trip too for an overall three day prize Land on Brownsea and have a picnic and an explore. (afternoon tea maybe) . Day 3: Sail to Long Iisland / Russel Quay for a picnic (shorter time on last day) and beach games. For safety cover we have guard boats/ mother ships that can get to Ridge/Wareham and maybe a couple of larger Drascombe / Cornish Coble type boats that can get close in if someone has a problem. All this weather dependent of course and we’ll have to be thinking on our feet as the day (s) unfolds. The Classic Boat / Cruising section of PYC have taken this under their wing, as such it will be tremendous fun and well run. It may not be known that I have organised what is called an RSL Radio station for the event (Restricted Service Licence). This is basically our very own radio station broadcasting from PYC over the three day period. My thinking behind this is that so many parents and helpers are involved with getting Mirrors to an event and once the children /father/daughter/son are on the water the rest of the family are ‘tied’ to the clubhouse, which can be a bit daunting. So with our own ‘Radio Mirror’ broadcasting over a five mile radius on normal car and transistor radios (87.7 FM) (we have a 150 person spectator boat too) from on the water and on land, helpers / families’ can be on Brownsea / on the beach / Long Island / Studland / in town shopping, etc and still hear up to the minute commentary, news, views etc as well as a clue to who is coming in with a broken gaff (so get back here quick Dad!) or if racing is cancelled / extended etc. We can also keep the buzz going during the event as everybody will be informed and enthused all the time wherever they are (no escape). We are going to have a panel for racing comment and interviews in between races on the water as well as on shore. (by the way all this is paid for by a sponsor). On the Sunday evening we are going to have a “Sunday Night at the Yacht Club” show in the marquee. This will be a dance / ‘music through the ages’ quiz / memory lane show for every age. (I used to be a DJ I am afraid so you will have to endure (indulge) me!). We are also not going to finish ‘official entertainment late (9.30/10.00) as some of the crews need their sleep and parents need their rest. On the marquee front we are conscious of not ‘hijacking’ the club over what is after all a holiday weekend and so we have a larger than normal Marquee that will accommodate everyone (80’ x 30’), that way the clubhouse is still available for members to use as they wish, and guests to use after the ‘official entertainment’ has finished in the marquee. Larry Rumbol Links Poole Tourism and Accommodation
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2005
Cruising Rally - Poole YC