Thread: Mirror 16 Sailing Dinghy

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 -

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?

Our little group of Mirror 16 enthusiasts now has permission from Holt Ltd to replicate the plans, for amateur construction, based on measurements taken off our actual boats. This will make it possible for new Mirror 16s to built.

We have also unearthed the certification measurements required for racing, so we can make sure our "reverse engineered" plans are correct.

Some of our group have asked how to go about taking some of these measurements so I have prepared some notes on using a "Jog Stick" for this purpose.

I thought it might be worth sharing with members of this group also.

Measurements are progressing....

Cheers,

John,

I reckon that'd be a good thing to have in a thread of it's own too!

Glad to see that commons sense has prevailed with the reproduction of the plans too.

cheers,

P

One mod of the joggle stick I picked up from Duck Flat was that for shorter ones (say 3ft and under) instead of having the random say tooth cuts to make it a bit wider out of ply and have random joggles - some that look like M next to a wide vee next to a square etc.

When you trace round there is not need to write numbers down and little chance of mistaking one position for another.

MIK

Originally Posted by onthebeachalone

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 -
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?

Onthebeachalone Brisbane,

Hello,

Just came across your project to re-engineer plans for the Mirror 16 dinghy.
I also live in Brisbane and build my own wooden boats. Just surfing looking for info on the Mirror 16 and came aross your posts.

Would like to build one of these as a boat to take my grandkids out on Moreton Bay.

My current boat is a Young 6 Meter that I built myself and race occasionally. But at present am crewing on a new Ross 830.

Please let me know the status on you Mirrow 16 plan project.

Brundah1

Lulubelle had a close shave, and she wasn't even on the water. On 16 November Brisbane was hit by a violent thunderstorm. Just google it and you'll find lots of u-tube videos of the event. We were out at the time and were delayed by about 2 hours in getting home due to fallen trees across roads. When we finally got home it was chaos. Several big trees had dropped branches and some had snapped right off. The first sight that greeted us was that our loquat tree had fallen on Lulubelle.

The tree was heavy with dense new spring foliage, the ground was softened by heavy rain, and the wind had been extremely strong. It just toppled over, crushing the 'temporary' carport shelter down on our poor fragile plywood boat. The tarpaulin over the cockpit was destroyed so, in the heavy rain, she had half filled with water. Some of this had drained out through the centre-case (as it is designed to do in the event of a capsize) but the deposit of shredded leaves had pretty much clogged all exits.

The first thing was to set up a siphon to drain the water out and relieve her of that great weight. The next step was to start at the accessible 'top' of the tree, now resting across her bow, and lop off the thinner branches with their heavy load of wet leaves. Once the leafy branches were removed it was out with the saw and cutting the heavier branches eventually getting down to the trunk. Before long enough weigh had been removed from the top ot the tree that the weight of the root bole was enough for remaining stump to pull itself off the boat and back to a vertical position. All by itself! It just remained to remove the mangled carport and fit a new tarpaulin to prevent the next thunderstorm filling her up again.

The original plan for this weekend was a messabout with other Wooden Boat Association members, including a couple of other Mirror 16s, from Manly Boat Harbour to St Helena Island (see here), Instead we stayed home so that Lulubelle could have a clean up and a closer inspection. Apart from a good deal of residual dampness and dirt, the only damage was to the yoke I use to hold the dropped mast when she's on the trailer.

Of course, the worry is that she has been thoroughly soaked in fresh water and that space under the floor needs to be dried out thoroughly to prevent rot. When we did the original rebuild we included 16 plastic ports in the floor to make it easier to mop out any water and to aid ventilation when she's not in use. Naturally they are all removed to let the breeze through. There have been several heavy storms since the big one and the weather is very humid. Hopefully a few sunny days will dry her out thoroughly.
Next job is to erect a new temporary car-port. It looks like being a wet summer.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?hl...3c803c814&z=14

Just a mention here, but there is one of these near me.
It was in an auction a few years ago. It is in terrible shape.
It has had water standing in it for years. The structure is
like a sponge. it has been badly fiberglassed over top and
bottom. All the sails and rigging are with it, all wet and rotted.
Some one has cut the hitch off the trailer and one wheel hub
seems to have no bearings in it, the wheel will move nearly
a foot at the top if you pull on it. The mast has de-laminated
over most of it's length. The transom has light showing at the
bottom edge, the water level is just at this height. It is sitting
bow down BTW. The water is green and it smells bad!

They wanted $1500 minimum for it at the time and it is still sitting
where they left it after the sale. It did not get a single bid. I checked
about a year ago and they still want the $1500, period.

Next time I am over there I will see if it has any numbers on it.

I am pretty sure it is a Mirror, It has the deck plated in the back.

Originally Posted by onthebeachalone

Our little group of Mirror 16 enthusiasts now has permission from Holt Ltd to replicate the plans, for amateur construction, based on measurements taken off our actual boats. This will make it possible for new Mirror 16s to built.

We have also unearthed the certification measurements required for racing, so we can make sure our "reverse engineered" plans are correct.

Some of our group have asked how to go about taking some of these measurements so I have prepared some notes on using a "Jog Stick" for this purpose.

I thought it might be worth sharing with members of this group also.

Measurements are progressing....

Cheers,

Hi, Please could you let me know how you go with the plans for the Mirror, I live in Melbourne and would like to build something to sail with my son. I have done a bit of lofting and wooden boat building at Williamstown, I just need the measurements then its stitch and glue time.
Thanks for all your work so far keeping the Mirror alive.
JD

That is fantastic news! Nice to have the Mirror 16 back in circulation AND all official too!

Well done!

Michael

Originally Posted by Boatmik

That is fantastic news! Nice to have the Mirror 16 back in circulation AND all official too!

Well done!

Michael

I could be being a bit thick here but I cant find the plans for the Mirror on the forum......
Is it just me?

I found out today that I may have a set of sails and rigging for my mirror. I just have to build a hull, shouldnt be too hard with the correct plans.

JD

Hi new to the forum.
What is the statis on the Mirror Dinghy Plans.
I too live in Brisbane and sail on the Morton Bay around the Bay Islands with a home made Dinghy and would like to get plans to make a 'mirror'.

Is everyone clear that we are talking about the pointy nosed Mirror 16ft sailing dinghy here.

YOu can't get plans for the flat nosed 11ft dinghy from a Mirror class association either by the look. Have a look here ...
http://www.mirrorsailing.ca/msd/

Hello there,I am a new member so perhaps I am on the wrong thread here.Let me know if I am.My interest is in dingy cruising.I have read the book on that topic by Margaret Dye and articles by John Welsford in AAB no #57.I have heard about some Brisbane people who camp in Mirror 16's and am interested in any discussion on this type of thing.The Dye's favoured boats are the Wayfarer (16 foot)and Wanderer(14 foot) but I have not heard of these boats in Australia.I have sailed in Hartley 16s and have owned a Farrier 720 for about 10 years.It is now a bit too big for me to handle.

I have two mirror 16's. One of them the ply was too bad and it was a destruction job.
However, what I did was dismantle every part of the boat to its basic components and measure them. I traced them onto a large roll of lining paper. I photograhed each stage 300+ photos with a measuring tape. I then took every key wooden part- other than the ply- like the ribbed wooden frame from the bow ect and kept them.

I have also kept every part of the iron mongery, the rudder and centre board.

Of course there is the orignal single piece mast, boom and roller reef. Not to mention the sails ect.

This was a fully sea worthy sailed boat before she was stripped back. All she needs is the ply sheets recut and a few bits of solid mahogany edgings to put her back together again and make her perfect. In effect it is the closest anyone is going to get to a pre made kit for a fully functional mirror 16, short of ripping apart and existing one that is seaworthy.

BTW, the other mirror 16 is for sale too. You could buy them both and use one as the template for the other. She is a beauty.