The Unpretentious Mirror Dinghy

classic mirror dinghy

The Mirror dinghy is a family favorite for sailing, rowing, and cruising, and it’s a pro sailors’ favorite for racing or training on a classic. The boat was designed by Barry Bucknell and Jack Holt in 1960, and there has been 70,000 Mirror dinghies made since then, a testimony to the boat’s success. For DIY-skilled boat aficionados, a Mirror dinghy is one of the easy classes to build in a garage. And for those who can’t tell the difference between a saw and a set square, there are for sale Mirror dinghies ready to sail made from wood or glass reinforced plastic.

Mirror dinghy construction kit

mirror dinghy kit

The original construction materials of a Mirror dinghy are marine plywood, copper wire, and fiber glass tape. If you want to construct your own dinghy today, you can only do so by buying a supplied kit from a licensed manufacturer like the Mirror Sailing Development in order to safeguard the original class design of the boat. To make the building process exhilarating for you, prepare tools like power saws, power sanders, and clamps – lots of clamps. And with some DIY skills, the building instruction manual that comes with the kit, and some patience, you’ll see your Mirror dinghy come into shape in virtually no time.

Sailing a Mirror dinghy

mirror dinghy racing

A Mirror dinghy can be sailed by a single helmsman or woman because the boat is simple to use and quick to launch even with by one person. In fact, if you’re bold and ingenious enough to create a boom awning, you can even dose off a little bit while sailing a Mirror across short routes. A historic event involving a Mirror dinghy was when the Australian teacher, A.J. Machinnon, sailed and rowed over three thousand miles from River Severn to Thames and across the English Channel to Calais. How’s that for record!

The versatility of a Mirror dinghy

mirror dinghy rowing

Although lightweight, the Mirror dinghy is one of the most versatile and stable dinghy in service fit for family use. The boat can be sailed even by a child or it can be fitted with an outboard motor just fine. It can take a full family of four and can be cruised across shallow waters by retracting the centerboard. Because it’s lightweight, weighing only 45.5 kilograms or 100 pounds, you can row a Mirror for an afternoon fun on a weekend also. The boat is really perfect for fishing, rowing, sailing, and the Mirror dinghy class association even holds racing with this classic dinghy design.

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