Hi everyone,

I have just aquired Mirror number 36 which I am hoping to restore to a reasonable standard. I am aware that there are some differences on the very early boats, but does anyone know where I can find some good references, apart from viewing no. 1 in the Greenwhich museum. Also is there a record of the sail numbers of early boats still sailing? Mine must be one of the earliest in use.......possibly even the earliest? Any info would be very welcome, Thanks,

Samantha.

Hi Samantha,

You need to talk to Neil Cooke from Tewsksbury who knows more about early (Mark 1) Mirrors than anyone else I know. He owns No. 3 and No. 14. His e-mail is n.cooke@surrey.ac.uk

By the way, Mirror No. 1 is in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, http://www.nmmc.co.uk/ down here in Falmouth.

Martin Egan
Technical Officer, UKMCA

Hi Martin,

Very useful, Thankyou .......I would have looked very silly searching for M1 in Greenwich then....my info was a little out of date I think I will get in touch with Neil and see if he can help me.

Samantha.

Hi, I've restored a 1963 boat (sail number 766) to racing condition, including bermudan rig and centre main....
(see http://www.asyc.org.uk/index.php?option ... &Itemid=48). It was a lot of work, so good luck.

As far as I can see the only differnce between a Mk 1 boat and a more recent one (apart from the rig obviously) is that Mk1's had only a single floor batten on each side, and triangular knees to stiffen the gunwale below the rowlock positions. Also, the transom drains were small holes instead of large slots.

I have the original 1963 building and sailing instructions (but not the plans) which I got from the previous owner, which I could scan for you if you are interested. Probably got some of the original fittings somewhere as well.

Was it worth the effort of restoring an ancient boat to race spec? Well, logically, probably not. Its a bit scabby in places but it seems to be a reasonably fast hull if a little heavy. Main thing though is my 10 year old daughter is very proud of it, and there is a sort of fun in racing it against modern plastic boats.

Information on sail numbers and years is listed on the website (Buying/Advice)

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the info, all very useful, and your boat looks lovely in the photo on the link you posted
Is it worth all the effort you ask......well I grew up with mirror dinghies, and remember the early ones....but didn't own one until I was in my twenties. I suppose for me it is the nostalgia factor, and the fact that I love wooden dinghies in general, so owning a low sail number just seems right for me. I doubt I will race her, (an interesting thought though, not raced in years) so as long as she is in sound original condition I think I will have a lot of fun.
I could well be interested in fittings as I am not sure exactly what I need yet, but I am guessing we are at opposite ends of the country unfortunately....I'm sailing in Chichester Harbour! If you are able to scan the documents though and send to samigirl69@o2.co.uk I would be very grateful, thank you very much for the offer.

I should get some pics of no. 36 soon and hope to post them on this site. I don't know if there are many technical pics on this site.....I haven't found any yet, but that could well be me not being familiar with the site layout yet (I hope )

Many thanks again,

Samantha

Hi Early Mirror fans. Here is a quote from Graeme Partridge for you to enjoy !