I have used a Mirror dinghy for single-handed cruising for about 7 years and for 4 of these years I have also cruised with a crew in a Wayfarer dinghy. Comparing the two boats, the Mirror has been sailed on the greater variety of waters, both inland and coastal for outings varying in length from a single hour on a January afternoon to a weeks cruise. The Wayfarer obviously offers more carrying capacity, speed and independence of weather conditions on the longer trips, but the Mirror is equally capable of coastal passages of thirty miles or so in a day when the weather is agreeable, and when the weather does not agree it is more conveniently sailed on restricted sheltered waters and easier to handle on shore.

I find the Mirror is best cruised single-handed; the weight of one person plus a generous quantity of camping equipment seems to suit the boat ideally. I have had two aboard with camping equipment, but on a windy day on the River Crouch it seemed that with the greater inertia and lower freeboard more than the usual quantity of water was being shipped.

I find that it is well worthwhile sleeping aboard, even on a boat of the size. With the Wayfarer we have to camp ashore since the crew numbers up to five but one can spend several hours day manhandling equipment across muddy beaches, and one is restricted to the few anchorages where there is a possible campsite nearby.

I have seen two other Mirrors with tents; both arranged quite differently to mine and both to their owners’ satisfaction. My own tent extends from the forward shroud anchorage to the transom and is entered from the foredeck. The living area is amidships where there is full sitting headroom, but the ridge, which is hung over the gaff, slopes down towards the stern to avoid the creasing of the tent walls which might otherwise result from the reduction in beam aft, and also to give a less bulky appearance. The mast is stepped in the forward position at night so that the shrouds do not penetrate the tent walls. The canvas is PVC coated nylon which it was originally intended to line with cotton to avoid condensation but this has not been done since although condensation does occur it has not been much nuisance. The great advantage of a plastic coated fabric is that it can be made as rainproof as any wooden roof. Rain does drain aft from the foredeck, but goes into the bilges or trickles along the back edge of side deck; no water comes near the sleeping area which is covered with a ground sheet. The walls of the tent fit tightly over the gunwhale and are secured by eight cords which are threaded through small holes through the topsides close under the gunwhale and made fast inside the boat. This avoids the need for vulnerable lacing hooks fitted externally on the topsides.

At night a six foot long level sleeping area is formed by covering in the aft end of the well with the daggerboard plus a rectangular piece of 9 mm plywood located by small wooden chocks. The width of the piece of ply just exceeds the width of the well, and the length is equal to the inside width of the transom so that during the day it can be turned through 90° and fitted into the stern providing a sheltered stowage space at the aft end of the well. There is still plenty of room for the helmsman since the space taken up is in any case covered by the arc of movement of the tiller.

Heavy items including anchors, water containers and an engine if carried are best stowed amidships, usually alongside the daggerboard case. The stowage cupboards built in under the mast position are usually reserved for cooking equipment, tinned food, bosun’s stores etc. since they can become damp when there is spray about.

The only watertight stowage space is the forward buoyancy tank which is accessible through a 300 mm screw down hatch in the foredeck. This is excellent for spare cloths and bedding which are light for their volume; it must not be overloaded or the boat becomes noticeably bow heavy. Note that a foredeck hatch contravenes the one design rules so it can only be used if the boat is not intended to be raced.

The other modifications which I have made over the years are not specifically for cruising, they would be equally advantageous for day sailing. A variety of hooks and jam cleats are fitted so that it is no longer necessary to tie the rigging together by knots in thin cords. This saves much time and as a result with an ideal launching site it is possible to sail away in about 12 minutes after parking the car and trailer by the waterside.

Reefing is by lowering the mainsail then re-hoisting it with the halyard looped through one of two hooks fastened to the gaff above the halyard anchorage. The tack downhaul and clew outhaul are transferred to alternative cringles in the luff and leach and the foot of the sail is gathered by reefing points. The clew cringles particularly require substantial reinforcing patches. The second of the two reefs lowers the gaff jaws almost to the gooseneck, and there is a storm jib of about half the area of the working jib. With this reduction in canvas I imagine that one would eventually be overwhelmed more by the height of the waves than by the force of the wind. I originally tried reefing by rolling the sail onto the boom, but did not find this satisfactory.

Two folding grapnel anchors are carried and the smaller of these can be hoisted up to stow itself over the bow transom without the helmsman leaving the tiller, a great convenience. A metal plate wrapped over the top edge of the bow transom forms a fairlead and protects the woodwork from the anchor. The large anchor weighs about 12 lbs, a generous weight but it takes up little space when folded.

An engine is rarely carried, partly in the interest of 'purity' but also because from a practical point of view it is only useful if one is forced to make a passage in a calm. Usually when there is no wind for sailing I would choose to spend the day exploring ashore. However, if one does need an outboard the Seagull 40 Plus stows very neatly under the centre thwart with the propeller forward and the daggerboard case between the drive shaft and the folded down control lever. It is advisable to provide fibreglass pads to protect the plywood from the metal parts.

I have now reached a point where I can think of no more reasonably simple improvements to make and so naturally I have started to build a new boat. Equally naturally it is a larger boat, about 15' long and so it will be much more expensive to build and to operate.

This new boat is designed to be self righting and has a self draining cockpit but no cabin superstructure. It should be ultimately more seaworthy than almost all cabin yachts since foam plastic buoyancy will prevent sinking. It is a type of craft as specialised for dinghy cruising as say a Fireball is for dinghy racing, but neither of these two types can match the versatility of the Mirror dinghy which can be used for cruising and day sailing and can also be raced at a great variety of clubs throughout the country.