Mirror Open 2026 at Poole Yacht Club

by Neil Baker 6 Jul 01:31 PDT 27-28 June 2026

Naturally we'll start this write up halfway through the event... It was early on Sunday morning and I was essentially lying in bed in a strangers house, or air BnB if you will, trying to figure out how on earth the tide works in Poole harbour.

Having grown up sailing on Southampton water I thought I had a grasp of double high tides but apparently Poole harbour has about 8 and then the whole tide goes down and up in the tidal equivalent of the time it takes to make a cup of tea. We weren't rushing out the house for two reasons: Firstly, the NOR said the first race was at 11, I had just double checked it to be sure, and secondly my 7 year old son Fionn was breaking the habit of every weekend by sleeping well past 6am. Likely due to the late night on Friday after driving from the north east followed by 4 races in light winds and blazing sun on Saturday. Of course, the up-coming nationals at our home club of Derwent Reservoir is starting on a Sunday to "give people (ahem, southern people) time to make the journey" but you don't get that luxury for a weekend in Poole and, TBH, no one expects any idiots to make the 13 hour round trip from a part of the country that is further north than part of Scotland. But the lure of a practice weekend at the venue for next years mirror world championships was too tempting.

Eventually Fionn woke up and having still not really figured out the tide I gave up and we got on with the day, made excuses to avoid an awkward token breakfast with our host, and legged it to a very nice café on Poole Quay which did waffles as I wanted to fill Fionn to the brim with carbs ahead of what looked like a glorious day in 15-18 knots from the south west. Perfect for our last ever day in our wooden mirror Dotty who was being handed over to her new owner, Dan, in Newbury services after sailing.

Breakfast delivered but unfortunately this was where the day went south as we pulled into the boat park at 9.30 to see all but 1 other mirror sailing out of the harbour for a 10am start...the NOR and the SI's apparently saying different things AAAAAND we missed the briefing on the Saturday, where they mentioned it, because the pre-event Facebook post gave the wrong time for that too (face palm emoji). This is the point where, when sailing with your children, you really have to bury the frustration down and put on a positive face. Back to the day ahead, I'd spent a chunk of time last year trying to make Dotty a better boat to race, mostly fitting a new kicker and cunningham system to take the controls back to the helm, as opposed to an old fashioned Laser style system where you lean forward to the mast to do everything. I'd also filled in the skeg hole as is apparently allowed now. Probably a total waste of time but that hole really annoyed me from an aesthetic POV for a racing dinghy so it was more mental than anything else. We'd also cheated and borrowed the new rags from the plastic mirror we now have. Or, in short, we wanted to go out with a bang for our last day with Dotty and the wooden boats definitely stand up to the plastic ones better in a good breeze. I have to admit that I'd always wanted to score the point of getting a good result in a wooden boat before we sold her. I's probably a nostalgic sense of love for wooden boats based on memories of my Dad and my brother working on his wooden mirror to refurb it or Dad building me a wooden oppie and fitting it out on the dining room table.

At this point we'll maybe mention some sailing. The fleet was pretty stacked with 23 boats including a phalanx of talented local boats such as last years Poole open winners, team Burge, and the 2 Walsh clan boats just to mention a couple. There was also Mirror fleet regular chocolate takers such as the McGranes, Dates and Wincers.

Saturday only had 6-10 knots of breeze and having not sailed this boat in over a year I got confused with the shroud settings and launched with windy weather settings. I also left my watch in my kit bag. Idiot. Still, I could hope for a sea breeze (narrator: it never came). The south easterly was coming over Brownsea Island making it "quite" shifty.

Ben and Evie McGrane shot out the traps in the first race to take an early lead right with Toby and Molly Wincer in second, Nicky and Rory Walsh taking 3rd. Maybe the local knowledge wasn't everything? There were plenty of shenanigans in the pack with some serious snakes and ladders.

The second race started with a bit more breeze. The fleet split a little as most of the non-locals went right and the locals went left, presumably going for the ebbing tide which was kicking in over in the channel on the north side of the harbour. Team Burge took a lights to flag victory with Rhys and James Stewart getting through to second, Lucy and Olivia Forrester-Coles taking a great 3rd place. Back in the mid-fleet we realised there was a bit of competition building up for the (non existent) 1st Wooden boat prize. Hannah Blore and Hester Bonner sailing in the stunning home build Hannahs dad had built for her that has now been in the family for approx. 30 years, and Scott and Erin Bonner in their equally impressive Duffin.

Race three started with some real tide kicking in and naturally the locals made a better job of making an early tack off a Port biased line so as not to over shoot the windward mark. Team Burge called it perfectly to take a strong lead from the first mark. Team McGrane got back into 2nd with James and Meris Date sailing well in their least favourite conditions to take 3rd. With the strong tide across the course we were starting to get some pile ups at the leeward marks with the brave leaving their kites up to the last second and sneaking round the outside, only to get stuck in big holes and large shifts making for challenging racing. Shout out to Hannah and Hester getting a 5th, blowing the rest of us wooden boats away.

Race 4 was a similar story but with everyone getting more of an idea about the current. The holes and shifts kept the racing difficult and places were changing all over the fleet. We'd gain on one side of the course only to lose it all 2 minutes later. Matt and Rosie Burge did another great job with their 3rd win of the day to take the overnight lead, Ben and Evie McGrane we're easily in 2nd and Lucy and Olivia Forrester-Coles showing great consistency in the challenging conditions to sit 3rd. James and Meris Date sat 1 point back in 4th poised to drop a 10th and get right back in the mix for the overall. And not to forget the most important position of first wooden boat I hear you ask?! Hannah Blore and Hester Bonner were in 9th with us, Neil and Fionn Baker just behind in 10th. At this point it seems apt to mention that I'm certain Hester was asleep in the bottom of the boat for most, if not all, of the final 2 races that day. It's amazing what you can get away with in a Mirror Dinghy.

I've said enough about the start of Sunday but as we sailed out a lap late for the start, jealous of everyone flying down the 2nd reach with spinnakers up and Fionn whining about the spray hitting his face, I could see James and Meris comfortably winning race 5 with Andy and Jack Walsh in second and Toby and Molly Wincer in third setting up the battle for the podium places as Teams McGrane and Burge had opted for other activities that day. I'd say it was fear of the weather but in fact Matt had opted to do some weird thing where you swim to your bike, ride it around a bit and then leave it in a field to go running. Ben probably just had more/other boats to race.

Still, being late out to the start Fionn and I decided to make the most of having some time before the next race to do a bit of a practice sail, a novel idea. We even realised the kite halyard was running the wrong side of the jib (I blame the rush because I would NEVER do such a thing), fixed it and generally got a bit prepped for the races we could do. I even had my watch on for today so anything could happen. This was going to be our last day in Dotty so we had to do her proud. There was a good fleet to race against, great weather and this was the perfect weather for a working kicker you can adjust.

We got a clean start (well, we thought we did) in the middle of the line and squeezed up on James and Meris to keep it that way so they tacked off. After a couple of minutes we were all on port, in phase with a strong lift. We had Andy and Jack to windward and Toby and Molly below us. Fionn was telling me he thought we were leading and I was trying to spot the gusts when I realised Toby had tacked and we were about to T-bone them. In a classic "just before you sell the boat" moment I yanked the tiller but nothing happened so I threw it the other way in desperation and we somehow tacked and missed them with Fionn shouting at me for the lack of warning, the jib still cleated on the wrong side and then Andy and Jack crash tacked on top of us too. By the time we bailed out and got going we'd dropped from a possible lead to 8th. Team Date lead again followed by Team Walsh and Team Wincer but with the stronger winds some good spinnaker work got us back to 5th by the leeward mark. Fionn was really starting to get the hang of the spinnaker pole, remembering to put the guy in the cleat and then release it for gybes. He even tried trimming the kite for a bit of the races although struggled to hold it on his own. On the second upwind more work with the shifts got us right back on the heels of the front 3. Dotty proving James Dates comment that the wooden boats go well into a chop in breeze. We even snuck past Toby and Molly in time for the last downwind, a little boost of speed upwind coming from Fionn deciding to get his bum off the deck and onto the gunwale for the first time ever, taking 3rd at the finish...only to be UFD when we saw the results that evening. I think UFD is what the kids call OCS nowadays. Not knowing this we THOUGHT the race for first wooden boat was well and truly on after Hannah and Hester had an uncharacteristic 17th in the first race, giving us a chance again, but also pulling through to 4th behind us in the second Sunday race.

Ready for the final race, our last in Dotty, I said to Fionn we could get a win if we got it just right. He said if it would make a difference, he'd hike for the whole race! I gave Dotty a rub and said "come on girl, it's now or never". She looked up, grabbed the bit and put it firmly between her teeth. This was her moment and she was ready. She'd come a long way with us since we wrapped her up and wheeled her in the bifold doors into the lounge on Christmas eve 2 years ago.

We took the pin end and raced off as hard as we could with Toby and Molly on our hip and the other boats tacking off. After a few minutes the shift came and I shouted Toby to tack. We both tacked across onto a nice lift and Fionn straight away said "we've got this one dad, just don't mess it up again like last time." I love 7yearoldsplaining. He was sat up on the gunwale giving it everything. I resisted the temptation of pointing out he could look out for boats as well! We slowly eeked a few yards between us and Toby to get a solid lead. I could see James and Meris tacking back but they were on the wrong side "trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory" as James said later. We really had a shot at this.

A few tacks later, we bore off around the windward with Toby and Molly right on us, it was a proper match race at this point, but we held the lead with a good hoist and subsequent gybe at the mark. Andy and Jack were chasing Toby and Molly hard too and the three of us were getting well away from the boats behind. We had no idea if we could hold this lead but we started the beat in phase on the next beat and were able to tack with the first right hand shift and open a slight gap, staying with the shifts to the mark. James and Meris were catching back through the fleet, needing a half decent score to stop either the Walshes or Wincers taking the win. We started the run with both of them sitting on us. I hate that feeling. We just held them to the leeward but the gaps came right down again. This time should have tacked earlier but Toby and Molly got it right, going early and then getting to the left shift first. They just cross us half way up. We gave it everything but ended up a few mm behind them at the windward mark with just the final triangle to go.

We wouldn't give up and as I pulled the kite up I watched Fionn with a mix of pride and admiration as he worked so hard to get the kite set and keep up the pressure. He was struggling to do it all in the breeze but he could get it all 90% of the way and I just had to help him finish things like cleating the guy. We tried going high but got nowhere so used it to give us a good wide gybe coming out tight and keeping tight on top of Toby and Molly. We played cat and mouse but couldn't roll them on the last leg as Toby defended perfectly managing to watch me and somehow keep their boat flying along. Just as it looked like we might have to let it go Molly was berating Toby to go to the mark and they looked forwards to plan the rounding... just as a gust, wave and a sprint from Dotty gave us the chance to pop on the plane straight over them before they could react. We had water at the mark and rolled in for 1st. I did my best to screw it up thinking we needed to drop the kite but having let the pole off I realised. We managed to hold the kite without it across the blessedly short reach to the finish. Taking our first ever win together in our last ever race in the wooden wonder that is Dotty. Fionn was over the moon and I had a big lump in my throat. You can't write that...although I do appear to have just made a very long winded attempt. Anyway...#gotwood

In the results that mattered James and Meris had climbed back to 5th to ensure 1st overall. Toby thought us overtaking them had cost them 2nd but actually our OCS in the previous race had secured them 2nd anyway. Andy and Jack claimed a brilliant 3rd overall. Hannah and Hester finished 6th taking first wooden boat by miles as we had to count our UFD.

Matt Burge had returned to announce the prize-giving and took time for a special mention of Harper Philbrick and Oliver Campbell who were the only children who helmed for the event which is great to see. Especially as Sunday was pretty full on for kids to helm a mirror.

Overall it was a brilliant event. The harbour is a great place to race mirrors and I have no doubt the club will do a fantastic job of running the world championships next summer so if you haven't got a boat yet get searching for a second hand one, wood can be just as good, or get your order in with Trident or Winder soon before the order books fill up.

We met Dan at Newbury services to hand the boat over and said a fond farewell. You have to speak to wooden boats, they just have character. He said his two daughters were really excited to be able to sail her next weekend. We'll always be Dotty for her.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
1st	70967	JAMES DATE	MERIS DATE	BURGHFIELD SC	5	‑10	3	2	1	1	5	17
2nd	70922	TOBY WINCER	MOLLY WINCER		2	6	‑8	7	3	3	2	23
3rd	7096	ANDREW WALSH	JACK WALSH	POOLE YC	7	7	6	‑9	2	2	3	27
4th	70442	LUCY FORRESTER‑COLES	OLIVIA FORRESTER‑COLES	POOLE YC	6	3	4	6	5	5	(DNC)	29
5th	70840	NICKY WALSH	RORY WALSH	POOLE YC	3	5	7	8	4	‑9	7	34
6th	5 Y	HANNAH BLORE	HESTER BONNER		9	12	5	13	‑17	4	10	53
7th	71081	TIM FREEMAN	JOSHUA FREEMAN	NETLEY SC	11	8	‑13	12	7	12	6	56
8th	70960	MATT BURGE	ROSIE BURGE	POOLE YC	4	1	1	1	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	59
9th	70536	NEIL DAVIES	FRED DAVIES	PARKSTONE YC	(DNC)	OCS	9	4	8	7	8	62
10th	71038	BEN MCGRANE	EVIE MCGRANE	NETLEY SC	1	4	2	5	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	64
11th	70713	CHARLIE COULBORN	MADDIE COULBORN	NETLEY SC	‑14	14	14	14	11	8	4	65
12th	70639	NEIL BAKER	FIONN BAKER	DERWENT RES SC	10	9	11	11	(DNC)	UFD	1	68
13th	48756	CHRIS DOE	JOSHUA DOE	POOLE YC	13	15	12	‑17	12	6	11	69
14th	71084	LUCY SEARLE	ROSY SEARLE	NETLEY SC	12	13	‑16	15	10	10	9	69
15th	70832	RHYS STEWART	JAMES STEWART		8	2	10	3	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	75
16th	71073	DAVE KENT	LOWENNA LOWRY‑KENT	HOOE POINT SC	‑19	17	15	16	9	13	14	84
17th	70617	HARPER PHILBRICK	SIMON PHILBRICK	POOLE YC	16	16	19	(DNC)	14	15	13	93
18th	5 G	SCOTT BONNER	ERIN BONNER		15	11	(UFD)	10	6	UFD	DNF	94
19th	70972	RON VASS		READING SC	17	‑19	17	18	18	14	15	99
20th	71014	SARAH BURGE	ROSIE BURGE	POOLE YC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	13	11	12	114
21st	70815	OLIVER CAMPBELL	TOM CAMPBELL	POOLE YC	18	18	18	19	16	(DNF)	DNS	115
22nd	70738	CARLY HODKINSON	OLIVIA HODKINSON	POOLE YC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	15	DNF	DNS	145
23rd	70154	LUIGI MANZO	JACK MANZO	POOLE YC	(DNC)	NSC	DNF	20	DNC	DNC	DNC	150