Old Wooden Mirrors.

[Wild Wassa]

The Australian Mirror Championships start today on Lake Barely Sailable with final registration and measurements. The invitational race is on today, with the heats starting tomorrow. There will be a good opportunity to photograph a few old wooden boats over the next few days.

Here is the approximate course. The start and finish and third mark will be off the Museum of Australia Point (which is still referred to as Hospital Point). This depends on the wind prevailing from the NW of course.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/p38dabe8f290291ce67c863b010c4ea3d/f0cd0585.jpg

The first mark will be south of Springbank Island (or nearer the position called Deep Water Buoys if the wind shifts towards a westerly).

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/pcca616a4d145c61cdac19c565a5308d3/f0cd053c.jpg

The second mark will be east of Expert's Point off Ajunga Point, moving to between Black Mountain Peninsular, Yarralumla Bay and Yarramundi Reach if the wind shifts to a westerly (I hope you all remember all of that because later in the week there will be a test). May the Gods help the Mirrors if the 40 knots that Lake Barely Sailable is renowned for (yesterday's photos), gets up mid race. We are also experiencing record high temperatures in the South East some recorded as high as 44C yesterday ... and the place is now on fire, Canberra is the bush fire capital of the world. At Yarralumla houses were destroyed two days ago.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/p5e2d640186b59057b44f7e74311bc769/f0cd055c.jpg

Can you tell why it is called Lake Barely Sailable young Skippers and why 100+ boats normally enter the Mirror Championships but on Lake Barely Sailable, there are only 24 entries this year? We don't have to say bring it on ... here it is always on and when it is least expected, the Lake throws in a few drifters ... which are always endured at a searing 40C+.

Warren.

ps, If you want to see how bad it is here at the moment, watch today's BBC World News.

[ 01-04-2006, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Patrick Miller]

G'day Warren

Are those blokes in Gillawa your mates from our nation's capital? I hope they don't run out of essential supplies before the get to Hobart. It seems they're well on track to better their last year's time (in revese). I think they're beating into a westerly at present off Cape Raoul. I checked them at midnight last night and again at nine this morning and they'd managed to get 9 miles closer in 9 hours.

On the bright side, they'll be able to feel like winners because they'll probably sail into an empty Constitution Dock. smile.gif smile.gif smile.gif

[Hwyl]

They can rest on the laurels they got at Cowes.

What's it blowing in those pictures Warren 25 knots?

[Wild Wassa]

G'day Patrick. I'd resisted talking about the Canberra boats because I didn't want to put the mockers on either of them. Yesterday, after I reported how well Gillawa was going, Gillawa has only averaged one (which you have noticed), only one nautical mile per hour since 5am yesterday morning. I should have kept my mouth shut.

I don't know what the currents are like approaching Tasman Light to Cape Raoul but what ever happened caused them to overstand the mark at Tasman Island Light by three hours (and crucify their chances).

You are certainly right about an empty dock, the crew of Gillawa would have seen many boats heading north as they still plod towards the finish. Gillawa is capable of doing 8 knots.

If I run into Gillawa's owner Dave Kent at the club, I'll pick his brains about the race. Gillawa is a beautiful boat so Matt Owens tells me. Matt is the sailing Manager at the Canberra Yacht Club and Skippers the top Elliot 7 'Walter Turnbull'. Walter Turnbull wins every race she enter in Oz.

I'll see Gus Reid who was on Wild Oats XI, I talk to Gus after racing on the weekends.

Warren Reynolds is a Mate, I see Warren a lot, we get on well having similar thirsts and names. He and I are good friends. Warren gives me all the goss on the big races and a lot of what he has told me has gone on the Sydney -Hobart thread.

Warren is in the Mirror Championships (with a borrowed dinghy) along with four World Champion dinghy or cat sailors. There are a few runners up from dinghy World Championships sailing in the Mirrors as well. These guys don't care if they are racing on super boats or in little dinghies.

The class gap in the Mirrors will be huge. So much so, that the elimination time for the lesser boats (during these Championships) will be 50% after the winner's time.

Warren.

[ 01-01-2006, 07:15 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Wild Wassa]

Hwyl Ahoy Skipper. In 26 knots of blow, the waves breach the sea wall (after about half an hour's build up). Yesterday, at 11.40 am, some waves were lapping over the sea wall to a height of 1.7 metres. That's 40+ knots (from the BOM's report and gusts don't show on yesterday's CYC readings). Yesterday was outrageous.

The swell in the photos is only about 0.6 metre.

Here is the CYC weather data (the weather station is on the top of the race tower) at the yacht club. Today is benign ... so far.

http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/weather/Current _weather.htm (http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/weather/Current_weather.htm)

January's wind roses for Lake Barely Sailable, can be found here and the best condition are generally any time after 3pm. Twilight racing at 5.30 is best.

http://www.canberrayachtclub.com.au/ ... Corporate Express 44th International Flying Fifteen Nationals, below notice of race, there are the January windroses.

Warren.

[ 01-01-2006, 07:19 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[skuthorp]

Looks like Western Port on new years eve, 38C and blowing hard across the bay from the north. Our end is more or less enclosed water and very shallow so we get a short, sharp chop and sudden wind changes can make the place quite treacherous. I can cope with the wind mostly but launching off the beach can be quite "interesting", even with our old Sailfish with a smaller sail!

[Patrick Miller]

G'day again Warren

Re-reading my post made it sound a bit negative. (Ain't it always the way?) I've done a bit of ocean sailing but I admire anyone who competes in a Sydney-Hobart. I've been mainly following people I know over the years - principally Chutzpah and Toecutter from my old club RYCV before my tree change to the farm. Those guys are fiecely competetive and have had moderate success.

I've been to your club once some years ago. I was in Canberra for work and I went there for a geek at the Maricats. I had recently bought one and it was in original (unmodified) condition, still had surf rudders. I copied the astonishing mast rake and instantly cured the boat's dismaying tendency to nosedive on a planing reach. But I sold the boat because it kept reminding me I was in my 50s and not my 20s.

My first racing was done in a Heron against Mirrors and my first ever boat was an uncompetetive wooden Mirror called "Ferocious". What a great little boat!

[Wild Wassa]

Pat, I've restored both a Heron and a Mirror for the ACT Sea Scouts. Hopefully the Mirror 'Pickle' (named after Nelson's Cutter Pickle) will be entered by the Scouts. The race fees being so high could have excluded the Scouts. I hope not.

Here is the Pickle during her restoration.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid22/pebf71279c6e930df731e8bebe82eb6f1/fda96279.jpg

Before and after a cut and polish.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid22/p9e17f3c655c08cb24887035604e3be99/fda9684b.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid22/pef5d253a7b2c040c9a714ed4eed0822b/fda961c3.jpg

The epoxy shrunk, so I fixed the depression at the edge of the tape, near the keel.

The Pickle was the first boat that I restored.

Warren.

[ 01-01-2006, 07:42 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Patrick Miller]

Wow! If that was your first I'd love to see your latest.

Ferocious was agreat little boat. I bought her out of the Trading Post with a friend. She'd been built with a slight twist so was never a concours d'elegance possibility. It didn't seem to affect her sailing qualities at all. We used to slap house paint on her and sail and sail. Took her on campervan holidays to lakes and beaches. My co-owner sold his half to his brother who was a far more meticulous bloke. He did a similar spray job to the one you have photographed. The only trouble was that the ply underneath was in marginal condition and the paint job didn't last very long before it split here and there. The two pot custom colour was a lot harder to patch up than exterior grade enamel I can assure you. After about three years of ownership she sold for more than we paid for her.

I also owned another Jack Holt design - a Diamond sail number 24. That was the consistently fastest boat I've ever owned, but not my most successful. It was a one design so I had to race on a level playing field with the other Diamonds. I'm a much better racer when it's a performance handicap system! :D

[ 01-01-2006, 08:27 PM: Message edited by: Patrick Miller ]

[Wild Wassa]

Originally posted by Patrick:
"... I'd love to see your latest."

My latest wooden restoration is my own boat, my latest commercial restoration is a hull of a foam core composite Flying Fifteen

I'm about to work on a boat to be ready for Skandia Week in Geelong, to be seen in your neck of the woods. She is a trailor-tri. I start work(ing) on her on Wednesday. All I do is racing surfaces and fix crashes.

Warren.

[ 01-04-2006, 06:03 AM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Patrick Miller]

Good on you Wassa, I'll look out for you or the boat at Skandia week. A trailerable tri shouldn't be hard to miss! I'll be there on Sat and Sun in my alter ego as a jazz musician - been doing the gig for years. I've only sailed the regatta a couple of times many years ago and it was madness then. I prefer my nice little earner, catching up with old mates and a geek at the boats.

BTW if Gillawa gets a wriggle on they'll finish tonight, but I suspect the breeze will die with the sun, although, if I read my tides aright, they'll have the flood up the Derwent until it turns at 0053.

[Wild Wassa]

I'm very impressed with the little Mirrors in the wind. The racing is excellent. The wind is giving the sailors a full-on ride.

Lots of torn spinnakers, busted poles, broken booms, cracked CB's, ripped off chain plates and the odd collision resulting in punctured hulls and split rails (I notice these things). Gladitorial sports need gladitorial results ... even in Mirrors.

The Canberra Yacht Club is one of the best venues for watching racing in Oz and the sailors only take a few minutes to come off the water at the end of a race ... unlike elsewhere, having been elsewhere.

Warren.

[ 01-04-2006, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Wild Wassa]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/pbdfa63a6b8dca4c2b1421f46cd9099ca/f0bd4974.jpg

Red sails off Museum Point which is still called Hospital Point. Mirrors were the dominant fleets here once back in the 70's and 80's ... now it is all Elliot 7s and Flying Fifteens and NS14s and Hobies. Looking at red sails sure takes me back.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/pa8534433a42e98789fa976084caa11f9/f0bd497f.jpg

Hooting under a hanky, a light crew has no worries ... in a blow.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/p5d7bcdd96dab42a40bcbc7a90bdeaed8/f0bd5565.jpg

The bald mountain in the background is called Mount Painter. I call it Mount Boat Painter.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/p180bfa7b15e9c4b7ba6df32782ce0105/f0bd552b.jpg

Nice old boat. The differece in quality is huge amongst the wooden boats at the Championships, some boats haven't been painted in years. If exposed wood isn't your thing don't come and watch ... I should have borrowed a Sea Scout boat and raced. Watching Mirrors race, is like being at a Sea Scout regatta. There are so many kids running around and the cricket matches being played on the lawns are more important than the racing ... a good catch or stumping raises a bigger cheer than a good lift or a broach will on the water.

Racing in Flying Fifteens is totally different age-wise, being in the 'Old Timers' fleet, I'm really feeling old. All of the Canbera Yacht Club, YMCA Sailing Club and Cruising Yacht Club's keen racing sailors are watching the Mirrors race. Give the sailors a race to watch and you can't keep them away, no matter what boats they sail.

[ 01-04-2006, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Wild Wassa]

If you are into red and brown and hanky sized spinnakers, Mirrors will work for you.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/p1debb3097c552b143a503a93a594693f/f0bb61b1.jpg

Above is 'Black Adder' but I can see five Black Snakes in the boat.

Stazzer (if you are reading), do you remember the post on the boats that are finished to be deliberately retro?

This boat is uglier (I mean more retro) than the boat 'Beach Mother' that I posted. Her name is 'Reflections' and her Skipper said she is deliberately retro (so there are still some classy attitudes out there in boating). Yesterday she came third in the fifth heat, so her unkempt looks didn't hurt. Ugly up stairs but below the chines she is well faired and finished and her foils are likewise.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/pf5bfc92ef8b0dce4e148d9f5a530f668/f0bb59d6.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid198/p8b6304ae4c0ab86c0c160300d9896b71/f0ba7216.jpg

Nice boat funny name, 'Oz-Moses'.

[ 01-04-2006, 08:41 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Old Sailor]

I had a message from an Aussie Mirror sailor saying that typically 20-30 Mirrors race in the Nationals. Not 100.
Old Sailor

[Wild Wassa]

I'm only passing on what the Race Officer Paul Mainwarring told me were the numbers in the past and perhaps I should have elaborated. Three years (or four years) ago in Victoria (who really knows), 105 boats raced in the Australian Mirror Championships so I was told, the year before that 90+. During the last two Championships the numbers have fallen sharply only about 30 raced, so I've been told.

During the last two Mirror Championships, the numbers have been way down some think because of the distance to be travelled from the small fleet's home bases, some think it is the aging of the Class, so I've been told. After these Championships the numbers will most likely drop even further. We are watching the end of the Class in Oz, so I have been told.

I really don't care about Mirrors in detail not being a Mirror officiando. I thought that there could have been someone out there who might like to see boats that they started sailing in. I'm only telling you hearsay, I'm not a f'n Mirror statistician.

The reason why the numbers were even at 24 this time (which you will probably even dispute) was because many people borrowed boats, just to race. Many were not even Mirror sailors racing this week, as 'they' told me, I don't know what they told your Mate. I know many of the sailors racing personally and many are not Mirror sailors but have sailed Mirrors and didn't want to see a Championship with only a handful of boats.

Over half the fleet were in borrowed boats. Some Skippers only met their crews for the first time this week.

Do you and your Mate dispute that as well, do you? ... and try living with a bit of ambiguity.

Since I'm so general in my writing and it isn't appreciated ... get your Mate to finish the thread about the Championships for me. Obviously he knows more about Mirror racing here than me and I will always stand aside to more learned people.

Warren.

[ 01-06-2006, 05:05 AM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[formerlyknownasprince]

Since I'm so general in my writing and it isn't appreciated ... get your Mate to finish the thread about the Championships for me. Obviously he knows more about Mirror racing here than me and I will always stand aside to more learned people.
Just get on with it will you darling - we all love you! Stop being so touchy.

[Wild Wassa]

Read about it in the Canberra Times.

Warren.

[Old Sailor]

Thanks for the great Mirror pics. The Mirror was my first boat back in the 60's, and later built the Mirror 16 which never really took off. It was a hot sailer. Even featured a roller reefing jib.
And your right, the Mirror is fading.
Old Sailor