Racing another Mirror dinghy in Enormous waves at Lake Bala with a jury rigged rudder!!

[@gillonstewart1601]

I enjoyed that video. It's what sailing a dinghy is all about for me. Thankyou sir.

[@SailingWithDave]

No problem and thanks for the comment. Yes it was a really cool little impromptu Mirror race!!

[@knucker4931]

That looked like a nice sail. A lovely place to be messing about in a boat. Best wishes Al

[@SailingWithDave]

Yes it's a great place and pretty safe too. We were blessed with a nice summer last year too in the UK.

[@nosferatu8293]

What a great video! Really enjoyed the commentary and the views were excellent. Thanks.

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks, yes Lake Bala is pretty magnificent on the right day!

[@mactully322]

Great camera work Dave, thanks for posting 👍

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks, i'm always trying to improve things as I go along.

[@danielforde-pogson]

Such a lovely video - thanks Dave! I can't wait to get my little Mirror out on the water again this season. - Your boat is so similar to mine...except that unique mainsheet rig!! I suppose I've got to go out and get a Lugger now too! Glad I found your channel.

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha. Boats are contagious! Especially small cheaper ones!! Yes the Mirror is brilliant for a good lake sail but Lulu is the one we are going to be cruising and taking further afield in season 3! Cheers for the lovely comment.

[@joyliansailing8096]

Excellent video. Lovely location. Thanks for sharing. Nice sailing. It’s nice to see the successes and challenges of someone at a similar stage as me in their sailing development. I’ve had a bit of trouble heaving-to as well.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Joylian, Many thanks for the comment, Yes I wanted to show people how you can learn yourself. It's often better to watch someone fail than get it right so hope that helps. Still haven't quite got Heaving to down to pat yet!!! Nice channel BTW, I subscribed. Do you sail the Heron? I think it's also a Jack Holt boat? You have a bit more room in that than me!!!

[@joyliansailing8096]

@@SailingWithDave Hi Dave, yes I sail the Heron (also a Jack Holt). Interesting advantages/disadvantages between the Mirror and Heron for cruising. I’m very lucky to be a member of RAID Sydney (dinghy cruising facebook group). A very friendly and helpful group of likeminded sailors who have helped me to learn a lot. Thanks for the compliment on the channel and the subscription. Cheers, Terry 🙂

[@robertseaman2254]

Lovely sail Dave

[@SailingWithDave]

Yes it was a good one sailing with another Mirror

[@nicholasbell9017]

Nice video mate. The Mirror is a great and versatile dinghy for all ages. There is a guy down here on the Solent who cruises in one, sleeps under a boom tarp.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi There. Many thanks. Yes the Mirror is such great kittle boat. For me Mochyn Du was the perfect trainer. I preferred something slightky bigger for cruising. I think the guy you mention is David Sumner. His YT channel is a bit old now, but he's still live on the DCA forums. I also just saw another video where a chap circumnavigated the Isle of Wight. Not sure if its the same chap though!!

[@surferatapollobay1341]

getting better Dave

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha Yes, it was a good day's sailing.

[@alanlake5220]

A good days sailing and good camera angles , I last sailed a Mirror Dinghy in 1975 !!

[@SailingWithDave]

Oh wow. I think everyone I know who sails has either started in or owned a mirror at some stage. Great conversation starters!!!

[@mirror1675]

I have never seen such massive waves.

[@danielforde-pogson]

Terrifying...

[@nicholasbell9017]

When I go out, I tend to head for an upwind destination so as to get all the tacking and bashing into waves over with before returning with the wind behind. You should carry oars, or a paddle in case of calms, or gear failure. If that nail pintle had come out, how would you sail rudderless? Also, you were lucky the mainsheet didn't jam in the boom eyelet halfway through a gybe. If it had, you'd have been swimming! Get those little jobs sorted, fit rowlocks and oars, and an anchor as a must. Look forward to more from you! Nick.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Nick. Many thanks for the tips. I only ever sail the Mirror on the lake so, whilst I did ponder adding some Rowlocks, The paddle is usually sufficient to get me back on a windless day. On a windy day I can of course always get to the shore. At Bala the prevaling wind tends to be SW, not so uch last year but when a SW wind, you can indeed thrash into the wind, as far as you want to go and the run all the way back. It never fails to amaze me just how crazy beating can be, when reaching or running the exact same conditions is so calm and serene!! For cruising I alas moved up to the Lugger. I found the MIrror for me was just not quite the boat for cruising on the sea. I'm a bit big for her to begin with and I htink my risk appetite is a bit lower these days so opted for a larger/safer (technically) boat in the Lugger. I still plan to get the Mirror out a bit though, although she is awaiting good weather for a repair that needs doing after the winter break storms damaged her.

[@davidjoelsen3399]

I like you video very much

[@DinghyCruisingKingfisher]

Thanks Dave!

[@gurugoose260498]

Really enjoyed that video Dave. I’m Looking for my first boat. Would you recommend the Mirror?

[@SailingWithDave]

I definitely would recommend the Mirror dinghy, heres the main reasons why I chose her: 1. Very popular dinghy, big community, lots of help etc. Also most sailors have owned one at some stage so you get a lot of interested people and advice. 2. They're cheap, you always find them on Ebay or Facebook and it means if the worst was to happen, you're not losing thousands on a fancy dinghy or getting upset when you need to drill a hole or screw something in to her!!! - You can also sell her easily when the time comes. 3. The Mirror has everything you need to learn to sail. It has a Jib, mainsail and spinnaker system. You can sail her with mainsail alone too, so plenty to learn and also you can remove all but the mainsail if you need to. 4. She's small enough for 1 person but can carry 2. 5. She's got ample performance, behaves like a proper dinghy but she's not a monster. You don't want a "Ferrari" when you're learning, you want a Ford Fiesta!! 6. Personally the Gunter rigged Mirror (With mast + Gaff) appealed to me because everything fits inside the boat which makes a very small and tidy package when trailering or storing. I think being honest, I have come to a point in my journey where I think a bigger boat is needed, however for sailing around a lake and not worrying about making new content for KZbin, the Mirror would be al I need. BTW if you join a decent sailing club, they'll have loads of boats you can try, usually for free. Other members also share boats and no-one ever seems too fussed about letting people borrow their dinghy's!! Hope that helps

[@chuckgliderable]

What a peaceful race! Who won?

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha. Yes, the excitement of seeing and sailing with another Mirror was great though. Well it was a bit neck and neck but the other guy tacked and headed home in the end. We were headed for different ends of the lake!

[@buffplums]

Is it possible to turn up with your own boat if you aren’t a member of their sailing club? If so how much does it cost and where do you pay please?

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Chris When I first started looking at where to sail, it was so overwhelming on where or how you got onto the water. But essentially it's quite easy. There's a few options to get on the lake. 1. Go to the main "Adventure centre" its at the North West point of the lake. You pay for a daily or weekly ticket as part of your parking ticket, instructions are even on the Pay and display machines. 2. You can get a day pass to use Bala sailing's shores/ramps/jetty's. I actually don't know how you do that but I know people who come and day sail on a day pass. I would start with the Bala sailing club website, but I will ask when next down and see if I can help you more. 3. If you camp at either of the campsites (one half way down the lake on the East side and 1 near the bottom of the lake on the west side), then they both have extensive shore line and loads of people sail/canoe from those locations too. I assume you pay when booking your pitch. Hope that helps.

[@buffplums]

@@SailingWithDave many thanks Dave that’s very helpful. Not sure when I will be down but if you are still around sailing here when I get my boat back in the water it would be nice to come down and meet you for a sail perhaps

[@SailingWithDave]

@@buffplums Yes no problem. I just got another boat and she'll take me to other places this season hopefully, but still should be down the lake a fair bit, sailing Black Pig this season.

[@doctorrobin3040]

Water??? You have a lake of water.

[@Papawcanner]

Tsunamis

[@SailingWithDave]

Remember to someone new to the sport at the time the video was posted, 50cm waves, with that shorter period you get on the lake that makes them come over the bow, is quite something. This channel is about that journey and part of that is looking back at how exhillerating those first moments were, no matter how small they may seem to the more experienced.

[@fauvewalker3648]

Enormous waves? Click bait

[@SailingWithDave]

Waves, like sailing itself is extremely relative. None more so than to the experience you have. So, I think at the time, and with the experience I had, the size of the boat and the excitement levels I had simply sailing with another Mirror Dinghy all made up to the fact these were indeed enormous waves to me at that time. I've since sailed through 1.5M waves on the sea, in the Lugger and the first time I did that I thought I was going to die. I have since done it a few times without thinking too much about it, so it's all relative to the storyline of the channel and relative to the novice sailors its aimed at, so I hope that explains it a bit better. I get a bit excited, maybe a bit passionate at times but click bait...no, not very me!