The Mirror Book E-Book

Peter Aitken

• Herausgeber: Fernhurst Books Limited
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

The Mirror dinghy was a significant factor in the boom of dinghy sailing in the 1960s, introducing thousands to the delights of sailing. While sailing has come a long way since then and there have been a lot of far more exotic craft launched, the Mirror remains a fantastic boat in which to learn to sail and to compete at the highest levels. With this second edition, The Mirror Book has been bought into the Start to Finish series format alongside such revered books as The Laser Book, The Topper Book, The Catamaran Book and The Foiling Dinghy Book. Like these titles, this book tells you everything you need to know about sailing the boat (whether it be the original gaff-rigged boat or has the newer Bermuda rig). Written for those starting out through to those striving to win a championship, the book is packed with practical advice and illustrated with step-by-step photographs. It covers: setting up the Mirror and early sailing experiences; developing skills on all points of sailing and with the spinnaker; racing & masterclasses to become a championship winner. Over 180 photographs show you exactly how it's done, and 72 diagrams illustrate key boat parts, the different points of sailing and complex on-the-water scenarios with clarity. It is written by Peter Aitken, formerly the UK National Mirror Coach, who has coached teams to win world championships in the Mirror, Cadet and 420 classes, and Tim Davison, a successful racer and author of countless books on sailing. The UK Mirror Class Association have contributed to this update and it is endorsed by Dave Wade, double Mirror National Champion, who says: "Armed with this book, your understanding of Mirror sailing techniques will grow, and your results will improve. I thoroughly recommend it."

Leseprobe

THE MIRROR BOOK

MIRROR SAILING FROM START TO FINISH Second edition

Peter Aitken & Tim Davison

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

PART ONE: GETTING STARTED

Rigging A Basic Boat

Rigging A Gaff-Rigged Racing Boat

Rigging A Bermuda-Rigged Boat

A Touch Of Theory

Your First Sail

PART TWO: SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Launching

Reaching

Beating

Tacking

Running

Gybing

Capsizing

Landing

PART THREE: ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

The Spinnaker

Racing

PART FOUR: MASTERCLASSES

Setting Up The Boat For Racing

Advanced Boat Handling

Advanced Crewing

Strategy

Boatspeed

Mental And Physical Fitness

Race Preparation

Travelling To An Event

Parents And Coaching

The Mirror Class Association

PETER AITKEN & TIM DAVISON

SAILORS & COACHES

Peter Aitken has worked as a sailmaker (at Hyde Sails and his own company, Aitken & Wayne) and for mast maker Proctor Masts, but he is primarily known as a sailing coach.

He was the UK National Mirror Coach and has seen plenty of his charges triumph on the world scene, winning gold medals at the Mirror World Championships. He has also coached sailors to win the Cadet and 420 World Championships and has worked with some of the best sailors in the world.

Tim Davison competed regularly on the International Laser racing circuit in the 1970s and 1980s, and was on the podium for both the Open Worlds and European Championships and won the Masters European and UK National Championships during this time.

Since then he has raced a number of other classes competitively including the Laser 2, Fireball, Dart 18, Blaze, Solo and British Moth, whose National Championships he has won four times. He has also written, or co-written, over 18 sailing books.

In this book we refer to ‘helmsman’ and ‘he’ but, of course, the Mirror is sailed by many women and girls. ‘Helmswoman’ and ‘she’ is implied throughout.

FOREWORD

BY DAVE WADE

The Mirror dinghy was a significant factor in the boom of dinghy sailing in the 1960s, introducing thousands to the delights of sailing. Sailing has come a long way since then and there have been a lot of far more exotic craft launched. But despite its long heritage, the Mirror remains a fantastic boat in which to learn to sail and to compete at the highest levels.

The Mirror provided the first steps in the sailing career of one of the UK’s most successful sailors, Ian Walker. Having won the Mirror National Championships 4 times, Ian went on to compete in 2 Olympic Games (winning 2 silver medals), 2 America’s Cup Challenges and 3 Volvo Ocean Races (winning 1). Along the way he also won 4 world championships and is now the RYA’s Director of Racing. And it all started sailing a Mirror!

Ian also had the time to come back to Mirror sailing a few years ago and win another national championship – over a quarter of a century after he won his first title!

Over the last few years I have had great pleasure in sailing in the Mirror with my daughter Imogen. We have had great fun and had some great races. I, as a competitive sailor, have enjoyed the challenge of close racing and Imogen has learned so much about sailing. It has been wonderful doing this together and there are few other classes where this would have been possible.

Having, hopefully, persuaded you that you should be sailing a Mirror, what should you do next? Well this book is a fine place to start! The Mirror Book tells you all that you need to know about sailing a Mirror – whether you are new to sailing or wanting to move up the leader board. It starts with the basics – rigging the boat and going for your first sail – and goes through developing your skills, then advanced techniques and finally Masterclasses. It’s written by a World Championship winning coach, so the advice is championship winning.

So, go out and enjoy your Mirror sailing! Armed with this book, your understanding of Mirror sailing techniques will grow, and your results will improve. I thoroughly recommend it.

Good luck, and I hope to see you out on the water!

Dave Wade

Mirror National Champion, 2015 & 2017

2nd in Mirror World Championships, 2017

Past Fireball (x2), Scorpion (x3) & Wayfarer (x2) National Champion Commercial Director, P&B

INTRODUCTION

Just before the first edition of this book was published, the traditional gaff-rigged Mirror had a significant update. An optional Bermuda rig was introduced and a centre mainsheet was allowed.

Surprisingly (although perhaps not with all the thought the Class Association put into it) the performance of the Bermuda rig was not noticeably better than the traditional gaff rig. In the 2016 European Championships at Cork, ex-world champion Mel Collins sailed a 1994 gaff-rigged boat to come second, despite two retirements, beating many much newer Bermuda-rigged boats. But the Bermuda rig, and the centre mainsheet, are easier to handle and more modern and have generally been adopted by the racing fraternity and for new boats.

However, given the long history of the class, there are still lots of gaff-rigged boats still sailing, along with the original aft-rigged mainsheet. Since this book is for all Mirror sailors, not just the racing hotshots, we include both the traditional gaff-rigged boats with their aft mainsheets as well as the more modern boats.

Since the first edition was published, things have continued to evolve, particularly around the way the mainsheet is rigged. And, of course, more people have spent more time sailing with the Bermuda rig.

We would like to thank the UK Mirror Class Association, and in particular, Martin Egan and Ashley Shepherd, for their contribution to this new edition.

Fernhurst Books

September 2018