Mirror 16 foot Sailing Dinghy

[goolawah]

I'd be interested to know of any Mirror 16s still sailing, or under restoration, out there.

We have a small group of about 4 boats here in Brisbane and I get the impression there are very few left - anywhere.

Would this be an appropriate forum to share ideas/experiences about repairs, restorations etc?

[Bill hyde]

Hi,
I, just bought one this evening while the Argentina/Mexico world cup match was on. I went to look at what I thought was going to be a standard Mirror, but when I got there, there was this fine old thing. She's a bit in need of some T.L.C. and the odd repair, but I love her already. Looked on the net to get some gen, but there isn't any. You guys are the only mention of a Mirror 16. I intend to restore her to her former glory, but know nothing about them. It'd be good to hear from a more experienced fellow enthusiast-you've got to have had more experience than my hour and a half.
Look forward to hearing from you,
Bill Hyde

[goolawah]

Great to hear from you, Bill. I started the thread in response to another new owner of a old Mirror 16 (in the UK) who had come across a couple of my posts on the Wooden Boat thread of the Woodworkers Australia forum.

Like you, he had been unable to find any other owners, or information, on the Mirror 16.

Our little group in Brisbane has accumulated quite a lot of experience in repair/restoration, and also a lot of historical information.

If we collaborate on this forum we may be able to gather a bit of a following of Mirror 16 owners. Given their rarity, it seems worth a bit of effort to presevre those that are left.

Here is a photo of a recent outing at a local dam where we had two Mirror 16s.

[SeaSpark]

Had one of my best sailing experiences in a Mirror.

It must have been about 20 jears ago, a full gale was blowing when a friend who was a bit to old and big for his Mirror called me by phone: "we have to go out now!" When the last of the other boats were sheltered in harbour we hoisted the spinnaker.

It was great fun but i would not recommend this to a crew that is not seriously overweight for a Mirror in normal conditions.

The boat did not seem to have suffered from this event so i guess a well build Mirror is a solid one.


edit:

Oops, it was a Mirror 10

[goolawah]

Originally Posted by SeaSpark

Had one of my best sailing experiences in a Mirror.

It was great fun but i would not recommend this to a crew that is not seriously overweight for a Mirror in normal conditions.

Do you recall if it was a Mirror 10 (still very popular), or a Mirror 16 (Now apparently very rare)?

[goolawah]

For those looking at doing up an old Mirror 16 I have put some pictures of our project here http://www.profitworks.com.au/wooden%20boats/#LuluBelle
Let me know if you need more information about Mirror 16s and, if I can dig it out, I'll post it here.

[POLLYMIRROR16]

Hello all,
I have a mirror 16 that I have just rescued here in the UK and am quite looking forward to restoring it, I would like to thank "goolawah" for introducing me to the few of you that own mirror 16s and also would like to thank those of you from around the world that are helping me with tips and useful sites to help with the restoration,one of which has a lot of useful information on it and I hope that they do not mind if I mention them here is
http://www.fyneboatkits.com/trolleyed/index.htm
I would also like to recommend goolawahs site as it has some great pictures of what lurks beneath the deck!!
Best regards to you all
Terence
aka POLLY

[POLLYMIRROR16]

I forgot to mention that there is also a mirror forum on msn that we could poach mirror 16 owners from, I posted a couple of threads there and was suprised at the amount of replies I recieved and a couple of good photos there too.
http://groups.msn.com/MirrorDiscussionForum

[goolawah]

Originally Posted by POLLYMIRROR16

there is also a mirror forum on msn

Good on you Polly. You're hooked!
The MSN Forum seems to be looking for some specs so I will add the information I have -

LOA = 16ft
Beam = 6ft
Draft (Board down) = 3ft 6in
Draft (Board up) = 9in
Mast = 21ft above foredeck
Design Weight (hull) = 260lb
Portsmouth Yardstick = 92 (Whatever that means??)
Jib = 55 sq ft (Roller reefing)
Main = 123 sq ft
Spinnaker = 120 sq ft

It also occurs to me that it would be a good idea to record the sail numbers we can account for. Perhaps a seperate thread for this.

The "father" of our local group (Boat Name = CLII, Sail No = 152) has provided me with a lot of information. Much of it is photocopies of photocopies and would not reproduce well here. However, I am more than happy to use it as a resource to help answer any questions that arise.

He also provided the following -

A good starting point in UK would be the Dinghy Cruising Association. There are a few hundred members and several (maybe 12-20) have Mirror 16s. Their website etc - www.dca.org.uk, national secretary, Roger Howard, RMH@sibsey.demon.co.uk. Jack Holt Ltd is still in business at 30 Lydden Rd, London SW18 4LR (www.holtallen.com), ph 20 5570 9044. The kits were made by the Bell Woodworking Company, UK. I've just googled "mirror 16 dinghy" and found 96,900 results - though I expect most of them are for the little dinghy rather than the "16". I looked at just a couple - www.noblemarine.co.uk and http://groups.msn.com/MirrorDiscussionForum. The latter might be another good place.

[goolawah]

Sail Loc Boat Name/Status
152 OZ CLII/Sailing (CLII is 152 in roman numerals, if you hadn't noticed)
179 OZ Lulubelle/Sailing
196 OZ ??
198 OZ Czarina II/Under restoration
258 UK Nemesis/Under restoration

If anyone wants to let me know their details I will add them here.

[Old Sailor]

Thanks for referring me to this site from the Mirror Dinghy MSN group.
I've built both the Mirror Dinghy and the 16. What a great boat, can't understand why it never took off. Can't remember my sail number, but I built it sometime back in the '70's in an old barn in NH. (USA)My launching was a great day until I discovered that the centerboard well was leaking and took on water in the tanks. Took a knockdown and couldn't right her cause she was full of water. Got uncerimoniously towed back to the boat ramp. Got her fixed and loved sailing her.
Haven't quite figured how to post pics I have of building her.
Old Sailor
P.S. Interesting this site uses the same software as the Wooden Boat magazine site.

[goolawah]

Originally Posted by Old Sailor

Haven't quite figured how to post pics I have of building her.

We would love to see the the pics. Is the problem to do with scanning them onto the computer, or loading them onto this site? I'd be happy to post some simple uploading instructions if that would help.

P.S. Interesting this site uses the same software as the Wooden Boat magazine site.

Apparently also this Australian one http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...splay.php?f=29 which you might find interesting.
Mirror 16s seem to attract "old sailors", some of ours are still very active in their 80s.

[Old Sailor]

I assume it is necessary to use Imagestation et al to post pics.
I'm not sure if anyone else in the US ever built a 16. The kits were sold by Bliss Marine in Boston.
Bob

[goolawah]

Originally Posted by Old Sailor

I assume it is necessary to use Imagestation et al to post pics.

If the pics are already scanned into a digital image format (preferably .jpg format) or were taken with a digital camera, AND they are on your computer, AND they are not too big, you should be able to attach them to your post.

In the Additional Options window below the Reply to Thread window you can click on the Manage Attachments button. This will allow you to select 5 or 6 images from your computer and upload them.

I will probably be self explanatory once you give it a try. If not, let me know and I'll give more details.

It may also be an issue about whether or not your membership of this forum allows you to attach images.

[goolawah]

Hi All,
I recently contacted Holt Allen to see if it was possible to obtain plans or patterns for the Mirror 16. I received the following reply -

Thank you for your enquiry.

Unfortunately we no longer manufacture any boats here at Holt and nor do
we have any remaining records of the mirror 16.

The only thing that I can suggest is posting on a few home build dinghy
websites.

Sorry I couldn't be of any more assistance.

I have replied asking if it would be OK to take the measurements off one or more of our Mirror 16s and make these available, as plans, to those who need them to assist with restoration or building a replica.

I'm happy to do the work, over time,
Anyone interested in the output?