That looked like a fun day on the lake. Even your boat going off for a frolic by herself is a learning experience. Reaching should be the fastest point to sail on. I would spend a lot of time reaching backwards and forwards on a lake that size, purely for the pleasure it gives. You are right to practice all points of sailing, especially gybing. You should try heaving to, a very useful thing to be able to do. Best wishes Al
I agree and perhaps I have been spending too much time Beating when I think about it. Also I tend to cop out and "run" Wing-On-Wing when with the wind so I literally never Gybe. Towards the end of last season I rectified this a little bit doing circuits rather than jaunting off down the lake. This season i'm going to be focussing more on Reaching and Gybing, I have certainly had some amazing moments surfing on waves reaching. Videos coming soon on that!!!
Thanks again, Captain Dave, for your videos. I am learning a great deal of sailing techniques from you, to try out on my wee Seahopper whenever the ice melts from my lake. Cheers, and fair winds from northern Japan.
I really enjoy these longer sailing vids that are narrated like this, while sailing a wooden boat of course. :) I'm a beginner and I hope to build a garvey type hull (pram type) this fall. It will be just under 14' LOA and 3" less in the beam than a mirror dinghy. The Mule by Howard Chapelle is 4' 4" wide.
Really great stuff Dave. I have my Mirror waiting to be restored but I think I’m going to pull my finger out and start my restore project on it as a priority. I’m not that far from Bala myself so I might look into doing some camping and sailing in the near future. Really enjoyed seeing your exploits.
Love the videos! Hopefully I can sail in britain as well one day. Also thanks for introducing me to the mirror class, it is not very well known in austria vut seems like a fun class. Do you mind telling me what app you are using for the speed? Thanks again and keep up the great content. Greetings from Lake Neusiedl, Austria
Cheers for the kind words. Yes the Mirror is a great first boat, she's taught me a lot and continues to be a great little dinghy. I think I will be graduating from her soon for some of the more Sea venturing adventures, but I think she will always be my goto boat for a quick sail!! The boat speed app I use is called "Boat Speedo". Not sure if there's an iPhone version but its on the Android Play store here: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amodtech.boatspeedo&gl=GB Happy sailing!
Hi Mate. I made them myself. I have 2 versions. The red ones that are flat and clip over the hanks or the ones that a slightly larger and have a hole in them allowing for a jib downhaul to be used with the jib. I was going to get a little shop set up and charge like £10 for a set of them bit haven;t got round to that yet! Do you sail a Mirror? I have sent a few few packs out to various people over the past couple of years in exchange for some feedback on their usage but have literally never had anyone come back to me!!!
@@SailingWithDave Awesome, yes I have #70995. I was thinking of the same issue you experienced but was rigging a piece of cordage for now. Your 3d printed clips looked brilliant. Id be happy to send you some loot in exchange if you could print me up a set. Shipping USA
Hi John, cheers for watching. The front insert is for sailing under mainsail alone. As the jib is gone, you need to move the centre of gravity/force forward slightly to balance the boat. I have never sailed her using this insert with main alone. I have sailed her under main only with the jib down and mast in the rear insert and she behaved OK, but she definitely tacked a little less willingly!! Needed a good shove to get through itons.
Hi Alan. Yes but I think with my weight I found it really hard to use them and not capsize to windward. However I was pretty inexperienced when I took them out. I also wanted to simplify the boat a bit whilst learning. Maybe I should put them back I and see if I can use them properly now!
@@SailingWithDave You have to sit up on the gunwhales when you are hiking out, and yes any dop in wind whilst doing that , can give you a dunking . Well done though, we all have to learn
Hi Ross, sorry for late reply, it has been Easter weekend here. Welcome to the Mirror family! What sail number is she and what's her name? You'll get so many people stop and talk to you about how they once had a Mirror, it's a truly wonderful little boat and you can do so much with them. I got my hank clips from the UK Trident website, which is the official Mirror parts place in the UK now. See here: www.tridentuk.com/gb/product-5-nylon-sail-hanks-al-a-144-5.html Not surre where to find them in AUS, but these are the ones you need. Happy sailing!
Thanks Dave. I purchased my Mirror from the local classic boat association after they had restored. It my does not hav me a sail number and the guys who restored it said that it had not been registered. Does this sound right to you?
Hi Matt, No this is Lake Bala in North Wales. I hear the waves in Ullswater can get very big though so I am hopefully going to sample that before the end of the season.
@@mattcol99 Yes Egg sarnies are the best but make a right mess in your beard!!! So to get onto Lake Bala, you can pay Bala Sailing club to use their shorline. Go to the website. I think you can pay when you turn up. Theres a public jetty over the water at the North end of the lake where the adventure centre is. You pay for parking and a daily launch ticket and its like £15. Thats the cheapest way to get on the lake. You can also apparently get on the lake the same way using "Llyn Gower" train station car park, half way down the east shore just after the camp site there. Not sure if you can get a dinghy through the gates though. You can also get on the lake via the 2 camp sites on the lake, but I think you have to be camping to do that. I would just contact them.
I'm just editing a series on reefing the Mirror that I recorded at the beginning of this season. It should be out about August time. My videos lag a little due to work committments.
That looked like a fun day on the lake. Even your boat going off for a frolic by herself is a learning experience.
Reaching should be the fastest point to sail on. I would spend a lot of time reaching backwards and forwards on a lake that size, purely for the pleasure it gives. You are right to practice all points of sailing, especially gybing. You should try heaving to, a very useful thing to be able to do.
Best wishes
Al
I agree and perhaps I have been spending too much time Beating when I think about it. Also I tend to cop out and "run" Wing-On-Wing when with the wind so I literally never Gybe. Towards the end of last season I rectified this a little bit doing circuits rather than jaunting off down the lake. This season i'm going to be focussing more on Reaching and Gybing, I have certainly had some amazing moments surfing on waves reaching. Videos coming soon on that!!!
Thanks again, Captain Dave, for your videos. I am learning a great deal of sailing techniques from you, to try out on my wee Seahopper whenever the ice melts from my lake. Cheers, and fair winds from northern Japan.
I really enjoy these longer sailing vids that are narrated like this, while sailing a wooden boat of course. :) I'm a beginner and I hope to build a garvey type hull (pram type) this fall. It will be just under 14' LOA and 3" less in the beam than a mirror dinghy. The Mule by Howard Chapelle is 4' 4" wide.
Good luck with the build, sounds awsome! I'm experimenting with some longer formats right now so will see if they go down well!
This is really inspiring Dave.
Really great stuff Dave. I have my Mirror waiting to be restored but I think I’m going to pull my finger out and start my restore project on it as a priority. I’m not that far from Bala myself so I might look into doing some camping and sailing in the near future. Really enjoyed seeing your exploits.
Love the videos! Hopefully I can sail in britain as well one day. Also thanks for introducing me to the mirror class, it is not very well known in austria vut seems like a fun class.
Do you mind telling me what app you are using for the speed?
Thanks again and keep up the great content. Greetings from Lake Neusiedl, Austria
Cheers for the kind words. Yes the Mirror is a great first boat, she's taught me a lot and continues to be a great little dinghy. I think I will be graduating from her soon for some of the more Sea venturing adventures, but I think she will always be my goto boat for a quick sail!!
The boat speed app I use is called "Boat Speedo". Not sure if there's an iPhone version but its on the Android Play store here: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amodtech.boatspeedo&gl=GB
Happy sailing!
any chance you can share where to get the 3d printed hank locks?
Thanks for the video
Hi Mate. I made them myself. I have 2 versions. The red ones that are flat and clip over the hanks or the ones that a slightly larger and have a hole in them allowing for a jib downhaul to be used with the jib. I was going to get a little shop set up and charge like £10 for a set of them bit haven;t got round to that yet!
Do you sail a Mirror?
I have sent a few few packs out to various people over the past couple of years in exchange for some feedback on their usage but have literally never had anyone come back to me!!!
@@SailingWithDave Awesome, yes I have #70995. I was thinking of the same issue you experienced but was rigging a piece of cordage for now. Your 3d printed clips looked brilliant. Id be happy to send you some loot in exchange if you could print me up a set. Shipping USA
Hi Dave. Why does the mirror have two mast inserts ?
Hi John, cheers for watching. The front insert is for sailing under mainsail alone. As the jib is gone, you need to move the centre of gravity/force forward slightly to balance the boat.
I have never sailed her using this insert with main alone. I have sailed her under main only with the jib down and mast in the rear insert and she behaved OK, but she definitely tacked a little less willingly!! Needed a good shove to get through itons.
Nice sail, have you used the toe straps yet ?
Hi Alan. Yes but I think with my weight I found it really hard to use them and not capsize to windward. However I was pretty inexperienced when I took them out. I also wanted to simplify the boat a bit whilst learning.
Maybe I should put them back I and see if I can use them properly now!
@@SailingWithDave You have to sit up on the gunwhales when you are hiking out, and yes any dop in wind whilst doing that , can give you a dunking . Well done though, we all have to learn
@@alanlake5220 I thinks the problem. If I sit on the gunwhales I will capsize!! Need a strong breeze to keep me upright!!!
Hi Dave, greetings from Oz. I am the proud new owner of a Mirror…and new sailor! Where did you get the hank clips for the jib? Thanks Ross
Hi Ross, sorry for late reply, it has been Easter weekend here. Welcome to the Mirror family! What sail number is she and what's her name?
You'll get so many people stop and talk to you about how they once had a Mirror, it's a truly wonderful little boat and you can do so much with them.
I got my hank clips from the UK Trident website, which is the official Mirror parts place in the UK now. See here: www.tridentuk.com/gb/product-5-nylon-sail-hanks-al-a-144-5.html
Not surre where to find them in AUS, but these are the ones you need.
Happy sailing!
Thanks Dave. I purchased my Mirror from the local classic boat association after they had restored. It my does not hav me a sail number and the guys who restored it said that it had not been registered. Does this sound right to you?
coniston?
Hi Matt, No this is Lake Bala in North Wales. I hear the waves in Ullswater can get very big though so I am hopefully going to sample that before the end of the season.
@@SailingWithDave Nice Egg Sarnies. Look forward to next vid. Can anyone access this lake? (is there a public Jetty?
@@mattcol99 Yes Egg sarnies are the best but make a right mess in your beard!!! So to get onto Lake Bala, you can pay Bala Sailing club to use their shorline. Go to the website. I think you can pay when you turn up. Theres a public jetty over the water at the North end of the lake where the adventure centre is. You pay for parking and a daily launch ticket and its like £15. Thats the cheapest way to get on the lake. You can also apparently get on the lake the same way using "Llyn Gower" train station car park, half way down the east shore just after the camp site there. Not sure if you can get a dinghy through the gates though.
You can also get on the lake via the 2 camp sites on the lake, but I think you have to be camping to do that. I would just contact them.
how do you reef
I'm just editing a series on reefing the Mirror that I recorded at the beginning of this season. It should be out about August time. My videos lag a little due to work committments.
just about to buy mirror in Australia thx u
Awesome, they're great boats to learn on. They have everything you need. A main, jib, sail controls, even a spinnaker!. Good luck and happy sailing!!