Chew Valley saw the famous red sails return to the lake hosting a two-day Mirror Inlands championship. An entry of 21 boats competed with competitors travelling from 8 different clubs across England & Wales. As storm Babet battered the North of England Chew remained relatively peaceful as the high calibre field, a wash with elite sailors produced close and enjoyable sailing over the two days.
Mirror Inland Championship at Bassenthwaite SC - photos by William Carruthers
There was an entry of twenty boats of which seventeen took to the water. The less than expected numbers are likely to have been due to the forecast of extremely light winds over the two days. Five crews had travelled from other northern clubs.
Yes, there was a short postponement prior to the first race but the breeze built allowing three good races to be completed by late afternoon. Taking account of the forecast for the following day the race officer decided to extend the first day’s racing by adding a fourth start. This made sense but a number of helms felt their young crews had endured enough exercise for one day and didn’t take the start.
Shustoke Sailing Club hosted the Mirror Inlands on the weekend of 30th September to 1st October. Conditions were favourable all weekend with building winds through-out.
Race 1 saw juniors Sandy and Douglas Simpson lead the way with hot favourites Chris and Daisy Fuller having to make a massive recovery. Sandy and Douglas held their own whilst the Fullers managed to squeeze in a last minute second place ahead of local single hander Malcom Coombes right on the line.
Wraysbury Lake Sailing Club hosted the 40th anniversary Inland Championship of the Mirror Dinghy Class Association, on Saturday 7th & 8th June.
Following the launch of the Mirror dinghy at the 1963 Boat Show, the first open competition for the class was held at Wraysbury Lake Sailing Club on Friday 12th April that year.
The 2003 Inland Championship returned to the club to celebrate the 40th anniversary. 36 boats competed during the two days of racing, including number 3 'Dingbat III', one of the first prototypes, and number 14 'Mimi' the winning boat in 1963.
The attractive sunlit setting of Hollingworth Lake welcomed a fleet of 44 Mirrors to their Inland Championship. With visitors coming from as far as Penzance, Plymouth, Poole, Brightlingsea and Sunderland (and many places in between), it was sure to be a competitive event. The weather stayed fine until the prize-giving, though the wind was light and highly variable. Jonathan McGovern and Nicola Brook were comfortable winners, but the next few places in particular were closely contested.