right: a modern GRP Mirror Dinghy costs £4058 for a race spec. Trident's starter Mirror, the Weekender Mirror in GRP comes in a £3595 which is about as much as it would cost you to build a wooden Mirror to a similar spec.
contact www.tridenuk.com
What sealed it was hearing about a group of novice sailors in the Philippines. They wanted to learn to sail, had little access to funds and materials but did so by building a fleet of Michael Storer designed Oz Goose dinghies. 10 were built over a weekend by novice boat builders (with some expert guidance). They are now learning to sail on Lake Ta'a in the Philippines and judging by their progress and the films and photos I have seen, not to mention the smiles; it seems that the project has been a huge success. We've chosen the OzGoose because of the success of this project.
So over the next few months we will be building an OzGoose in the UK, in my garage, using my pisspoor collection of tools. Now, before you say “hold on a minute, Rich, you’re the editor of a boat building magazine, you’ll be an experienced boat builder” let me put you right. I am not an experienced boat builder. 30 years ago I built a GRP Kayak at school. The following year I helped built a GRP Enterprise Dinghy. I am reasonably skilled with my hands – but that is as an amateur mechanic, not a carpenter. Besides, I have arthritis in my basal thumb joints which makes working with my hands painful (the sacrifices I make…violins out please!). No, I am not an experienced boat builder and my wood working skills are decidedly ropey. You don’t need to be an experienced boat builder to edit a boat building magazine; you need to be an experienced editor! So, this is an opportunity for the readers to ridicule and scoff at my attempts as I try and build an Oz Goose to the specifications above.
If I succeed then my point will have been proven in that here is a boat that even I can build.
I’ve been explaining all this to a very patient and long suffering Mik Storer who has obligingly made the design of the Oz Goose EVEN MORE SIMPLE so that even the most ham fisted of muppets could get this boat on the water. “Once the rocker is cut the rest is relatively plain sailing” apparently.
Why £1200. Well, £1200 was the original amount a Mirror dinghy could be put on the water for. Whilst we believe that the Oz Goose could be floated for considerably less, this would mean compromising on weight, durability and sail. Many boats like the Oz Goose, especially in the USA, are sailed with Polytarp sails. Whilst there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach and I would encourage anyone working to a really tight budget to try this, the point of our exercise is to create a Mirror for 2015 specifically suitable for UK use. This means overcoming prejudice against boats of this design, prejudice against the lugsail and also, the lack of space in many rabbit hutch UK homes together with lousy weather makes drawing out a sail plan at home, without decent floor space, challenging to say the least.
Yes, we could save considerably on budget by using cheap ply but we need reasonable quality ply because we need to keep the weight down for car topping.
So £1200 it is, the same amount a Mirror dinghy cost you in 1962 in the UK. (£62 11 shillings)
Next Month:
We cost up the plans and start to work out where to build the boat.
Designer:
Date:
Hull Type:
Rig:
Sails:
Length:
Beam:
Draft:
Weight
ideal crew
Racing Crew
Cost 1962
Cost today (kit)
Build Time
Where to buy:
Mirror Dinghy
Barry Bucknall & Jack Holt, UK
1962
Plywood stitch & glue planing pram dinghy
Gunter Sloop
Main (50Sq ft)Jib (20 Sq Ft)Spin (47 Sq ft)
10’ 10”
4’ 7”
4”/2’4” w board
45.5kg (62.5kg rigged)
2 adults (not too large)
Adult and child or two light adults
£63 11’ 0” (£1200 + paint)
£3500-£4000
1 weekend
Oz Goose
Michael Storer, Australia
2012-
Plywood tape & epoxy planing modified Bolger brick
Cat rigged with main yard & boom
Single Balanced Lug Sail
12'
4'2"
3"/2'10" w board
50-55kg (with gaboon ply)
3 Adults
1 or 2 Adults
N/A
£1000-1300 (no kit currently avaliable plans only)
1 weekend
www.barnaclebill.org www.duckworksbbs.com
71.