Is it the boat or the sailors? A look at the top ten Aussie Mirrors

by Grant Atherton on 25 Jan 2009 Is it the boats or the sailors? A look at the Top Ten from the Sydney Ports 43rd International Mirror Class Australian Championships.

At this time of the year, there is often much interest in which boats came out on top at the various National Championships, with the results being studied by sailors (and often their parents/financiers) in terms of gearing up for future seasons.

The eternal question still remains unanswered, is it the gear that made the sailors perform or is it the sailors that made the gear perform? There are business futures on the line; sail makers, spar suppliers, and hull builders are among many who like to see their products at the top of the fleet.

There are no universal answers and it is virtually impossible to make accurate assessments given the vagaries of weather and human performance on the race course, but consider the following data from the recent 43rd Mirror Australian Championships as shown in the following table.



43rd Mirror Nationals Top Ten Boat Details
Place Boat Name Hull Rig Type Sails Mast Pole Launcher Crew Weight (kg) Sheeting
1 Stanley Crocodile GRP Mk III Bermudan Olympic Goldspar (54) Yes 100 Centre
2 Kamikaze Timber Bermudan Walker Goldspar (50) No 102 Centre
3 Jukebox Timber Bermudan Walker Superspar Yes 109 Centre
4 Kamikaze II GRP Gaff Walker Yes 102 Stern
5 Stealth Timber Bermudan Walker Goldspar (50) Yes 80 Centre
6 Time n Tide Timber Gaff Walker No 115 Stern
7 Guppy Too Timber Bermudan Walker Superspar Yes 100 Centre
8 Predator Timber Bermudan Walker Goldspar (50) Yes 82 Centre
9 Critical Path Timber Gaff Walker Yes 90 Centre
10 Fizz Timber Gaff Walker No 118 Stern

It would be possible to assume that Lachlan Gilbert and son Finn won the championship as their fully imported Mark III GRP Mirror was the only one in Australia and furthermore that the Olympic sails they used were better than the Steve Walker sails used by all other boats in the top ten (and the vast majority of the whole fleet).

A better understanding of the history of the last few nationals would of course add a more balanced view.

Lachlan won two years ago sailing with his son Paddy at Williamstown on Port Phillip Bay. That year Lachlan was the only boat in the nationals using a Bermudan rig, and hence the assumption is that he is constantly at the leading edge of the class development – we need to go back yet another year to the Nationals in Canberra where Lachlan and Paddy were again the winners.

But in their first Mirror National Championship win, they were sailing in a borrowed boat which had nothing out of the ordinary in rig, sails or any other component.

Finally some objective evidence – this must mean that Lachlan and his sons are simply good sailors and that they take their sailing seriously by adopting what they believe is the best gear.

It is also noteworthy that Lachlan did not actually own the Mark III imported Mirror he sailed; it was on loan (and sold straight after the Championships to Paul Taylor of WA).

The timber boat that Lachlan built and sailed to victory in Williamstown was sailed by Paddy who was given the boat (but not Lachlan’s favourite boat name).

Second overall and last years Nationals Champions Jessie Atherton and Katherine Maher sailed in an 18yr old timber boat and used the Bermudan mast and centre sheeting they used last year.

Veterans Champion Mark Barrington with Molly Hutton in Kamikaze II were the first gaff rigged boat at fourth overall.

Mark is a former National Champion and his Mirror was one of only two GRP hulls in the top ten. Mark won a heat and also did well early in other heats before dropping back to typical top five positions. Paul and Austin Taylor in a borrowed gaff rig boat were 6th overall and included two top three finishes in their tally. There were then three more Bermudan boats before the 9th and 10th positions were filled by gaff rigged boats.

Would these gaff rigged boats have done better with a Bermudan mast? With the price of a fully fitted out mast at well over $1,000 it is a vital question.

Other data recorded from the top 10 included crew weight and the use of pole launchers. Crew weights varied from 80 kg to 118kg in the top ten (almost a 50% disadvantage to the heavier crew).

The penalty in performance of the fly-weight crews in the heavier weather is very dependent on the skill of the sailors, the two light weight crews were Anita Scott-Murphy and Ben Cruse in fifth overall and Paddy Gilbert and Daniel Barnett in eighth overall.

These two were rewarded with the Women’s and Sub-Junior Titles respectively, which probably answers any question on their skills – they didn’t suffer too much in the rare heavier conditions.

There were only three boats in the top 10 that didn’t use pole launchers however a study of the photos taken during the championships by Ernie Spielman demonstrated the girls in Kamikaze were able to float their spinnaker during gybes and hence made up some ground over boats with pole launchers.

The loose pole setup is also more versatile in tactical situations, you can gybe as you need to without needing to retract the pole before the gybe.

All of the Bermudan rigged boats elected to go with the centre main sheeting option while only one of the gaff rigged boats in the top 10 elected centre sheeting, the other gaff rigged boats using the more traditional stern sheeting.

While there is still enough doubt for the debate to continue on the Bermudan versus gaff rigged options in performance terms, there can be no doubt that the Bermudan rig is easier to set up and unrig back on the beach, and that the centre sheeting options (there are various options legal in the class rules) allow easier transition into the Mirror class from Optimists or Sabots, etc. and also from the Mirror into other classes.

It is still intriguing to see some of the traditional Mirror sailors tacking facing backwards!

The new spinnakers are now legal and this is another development of the worlds most popular two handed dinghy that will lead to increased popularity.

According to Steve Walker of Steve Walker Sails who has already made a spinnaker to the new rules, the new shape is more akin to a 420 or 470 spinnaker and should both make the Mirror faster (it has almost 1 square metre more sail cloth than the old version), but it should make it easier to trim the spinnaker as it has a more forgiving dynamic.

With the 2011 World Mirror Championships in Australia at the Princess Royal Sailing Club, now is the time to get the vital questions sorted, and get your Mirror campaign up to full speed.