Mirror 16 Restoration

I have just joined the group and started to restore a Mirror 16 built in 1968.

While I am not new to wood work, or woodenboat restoration, I am however new to sail boats.

I am in the process of removing all the fitting and documenting their locations as part of the process, but so far I have found a few cracks in the ply sheeting, not sure if they will be able to be patched or sheets replaced, but thats for another day in the future. I have also found some soft areas of ply in the port seat, but unable to determine if they are previous damaged areas that have been glassed over or more ominous.

I will post some photos in the coming weeks as I peel back the layers.

To ensure I keep to the original design, I am looking for Mirror 16 plans or if anyone knows where I may be able to purchase some?

I am planning on removing the floor and seaat tops to allow full inspection, and access for any repairs that may be required. I am thinking about using a small router with a pattern cutter to do remove the flooring then an multi function tool with a half round or flat blade. Is this the best way to remove these sections of the floor and seat tops!!!!!

 

I have started to clean CL II, see photos.

So far I have confirmed crack in the port gunwale in line with the top of the seat, about 1/2 way along and another beside the centreboard. Both i believe are repairable without to much trouble.

Yes that is a 100% timber trailer, was concerned when towing home but went without a problem and towed very well. The winch post would hold the Queen Mary. Another item to add to the restoration list with a new axle and wheels

More photos soon

JS
"When we make something idiot proof, we make better idiot."

 

You won't find plans as such for a Mirror 16.They were sold in kit form and due to the nature of stitch and glue boatbuilding,the panels gave the finished hull shape without the need for conventional drawings.Do you absolutely have to remove large parts of the boat to inspect the tanks?A friend used a webcam and viewed the inaccessible areas on a laptop screen on the deck.

 

The attached should help. If you get the dimensions off the Mirror Association sites, you can easily scale the image. If you can use Rhino Cad, you can use this image as a background bitmap and draw it to scale.

 

PS - this info if you havent got it before

"
Mirror 16

The Mirror 16 is a class of sailing dinghy which was sponsored by the Daily Mirror newspaper in 1963 and the design project was headed by Jack Holt. Its design was based upon the easy to construct stitch and glue principle introduced by Barry Bucknell for the Mirror 11 dinghy. The Mirror 16 was designed for the racing enthusiast and also the camping/potterer dinghy sailor. The concept was a relatively light dinghy with a large sail area that could easily be reefed.

The main sail was designed for slab reefing and the large genoa had roller reefing. The Mirror 16, like the Mirror 11, was produced with distinctive red sails. The Mirror 16 was faster than the Proctor -designed Wayfarer .

LOA 16ft

Beam 6ft

Hull draft 6ins

Sail area; Main 123 sq ft (11.4 m 2 ), Genoa 55 sq ft (5.1 m 2 ), Spinnaker 120 sq ft (11 m 2 ).

Weight 260 lbs.

There were no plans and boats were built from kits provided by Bell Woodworking Company, the parts being made from templates. Bell Woodworking Company no longer exists and the templates have been lost. Currently a small group of enthusiasts are trying to recreate the design templates."

Mirror 16 plans drawings hull | Good vitamins for health http://www.docpowerclub.com/mirror-16-plans-drawings-hull/

 

I'm sure the last two posts were meant to be helpful.The problem is that the first of them shows the profile and plan view of a Mirror 11.The link in the second took me to a site where they mention that the wood in the Mirror 16 kits wasn't very durable (I agree and the same applied to the Mirror 11) but no plans were there and an annoying pop-up was present.

 

OK, I'll try and make amends. The last post was just to provide the basic dimensions, I will search further for the 16 profile.

In the meantime, I am not sure if you know about the Mirror 16 Facebook page.
Mirror 16 Sailing Dinghy https://www.facebook.com/mirror16/

PS, there is already an old thread about Mirror 16's Mirror 16 foot Sailing Dinghy https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/mirror-16-foot-sailing-dinghy.12064/page-18

I will attached a PDF from that thread with a lot of detail on the last page about some measurements, in case you havnt seen it before.

 

Wet Feet

Unfortunately i think i will need to remove the floor, as i believe there may be a small leak along the centreboard casing. Also from putting a camera inside some of the inspection holes, its very dirty in some areas, and some of the paint under the floor is flaking.

If i remove the floor, it will mean seats out as well. If this is the case, i am thinking ablout 6mm ply instead of the triditiinal 4mm ply floor and seat. While it may add a little weight, i think it will give me a stronger boat.

Also with the floor out, i can retape all the frames and timber preserve all areas.

Cheer

 

I had a mirror with a leaking case. I tried to seal around the case, but because the plywood was so porous, I had to epoxy/glass 1x2 metre section on the bottom (outside) of the hull , surrounding the case hole as well. It did also add protection from drag damage and heavy bodies inside the boat.

 

Tada !!! I have one for the Mirror 16.
from Design 1967 Journal - VADS: the online resource for visual arts https://vads.ac.uk/diad/article.php?title=223&year=1967&article=d.223.29

You now have enough information to do a Cad file.

 

Rwatson

Thanks for the information. Removing some of the inspection covers over the weekend has allowed me to get a few photos under the floor. Can see 1 or 2 tapes that are starting to come loose.

When i have the floor out i will be able to get some pattern of the frames as well.

A member of our local Woodenboat Association obtained approval a few years back to draft plans for non commercial use, but handed the project to another person with better cad skills. Trying to track down what happen to this project.

Will update if i get any information

 

CAD files for this boat wouldn't be cost effective, unless you're building new and hope to have class acceptance. My point is, you're just looking to make repairs, right? If building new, there are literally thousands of small plywood sloops of this general configuration to select from. Besides, unless you laser scan this puppy, any CNC work for this design will likely produce parts that don't fit well. Hell, this technology has been around a while now and you can download an app, that permits you to use a pointer and scan with your phone. With the scan in hand (or thumbdrive) you can download the point cloud into modeling software and make all sorts of pretty pictures with it, including working drawings, the hydrostatics and scantlings for CNC cut files. This sounds like a hell of a lot of extra effort, to just bring a 15' dayboat back to life.

 

Par, its not that hard, because if is a hard chine design.

With the plan and elevation, and the chart with a lot of dimensions, its a matter of a couple of hours work to produce CNC ready panel files.

With access to an actual boat to confirm the critical points, the job is pretty much a doddle.
You would only have to sell 3 or 4 other plan sets to recover the setup costs.