A Brief History of Mirror Sailing in the Netherlands
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The two Inventers of the Mirror Dinghy. The Mirror Virus is very contagious and hard to cure.
It all began in 1973 in Monnickendam. My brother who lived in Hamble took us out on his boat on the Solent. There I saw for the first time a fleet of 60 mirrors racing. I was very impressed and brought one mirror dinghy back to Holland.
That was the first mirror in the Gouwzee M9269 "SHINDY".
The red sails pulled attention and soon many people were building a mirror in the garage. After two years there we had about 100 mirrors in Monnickendam. We promised the mirror sailors every week a race on Sunday 12.00 with the Zuiderkruis as a starting-ship. Famous were the chicken-races (eating chickens after the race).
In 1976 the first WORLDS Mirror was organized by the Mirrorclub Nederland on the Mirror Centre. After a few years windsurfing grew and mirror sailing in Monnickendam slowed down. Other clubs started with the Mirror as a beginners boat for children. Several clubs in Holland are sailing Mirror dinghys like Loosdrecht ,Enkhuizen and Medemblik. Thanks to the enthusiastic committee of the Mirrorclub Nederland the club is growing again.
June 2004 Herman Janssen, Monnickendam
Part of the Mirror Fun Sailing website.
