MIRROR CLASS and the Junior Classes.

I am very surprised by the comments and statement made by David Booth regarding the “Junior” nationals and the Mirror Class in a letter to the editor of Smooth Sailing on 9 December 2003.

David is well aware of the vision of the Mirror Class as we have discussed this at a number of occasions, where he actually agreed with this vision/strategy.

I would like to comment on the points made:

“Junior” Nationals

The Mirror Class has attempted, since our AGM in 1998 at Wriggleswade, to have our Nationals with the Junior Nationals as it complements each other, or so we thought. It was however categorically stated at every occasion we discussed the matter, that it was NOT a Junior Nationals but the Optimist and Dabchick National Championships. Junior sailors from other classes have always been welcome to join and sail in an open, non championship junior regatta. We have always encouraged the mirror sailors to support this and this year is no exception. It was also made very clear that invitation to take part at this event rests with the organizing authority as it was dependant on available infrastructure, etc.

The Mirror Class and Juniors.

The backbone of the Mirror Class are the juniors and families. Just about every Mirror that sails competitively in South Africa has at least one junior as crew. The strength of the Mirror is the fact that juniors sails with experienced sailors to gain the experience and confidence required to helm themselves.

In 1999 the Mirror Class had a major drive to get at least 10 Junior Mirrors to the Optimist/Dabchick Nationals at Theewaters. This drive came following our decision at the 1998 AGM and after the Optimist and Dabchick classes turned our request to hold our Mirror Nationals with them, down. We managed 5 entries. In 2000, Michael Robinson and Mike Dann did a fantastic job in promoting the “Junior” event at Midmar dam for the Mirrors, we managed 9 entries.

In 2001 Border Sailing saw the light and invited the Mirror Class to have their nationals with the Optimists and Dabchicks at Wriggleswade. What a fantastic event, there were 27 Mirrors. Of the 54 Mirror sailors, 29 were juniors. There were, however, only 8 boats that qualified as juniors. 10 of the entries were family members sailing together, Mom & Dad, Brother & Sister and Father & Child combinations. That has been the ratio at just about all the nationals I have been to since 1997, when I first got involved. It is not fun to sail in and event where there is hardly any competition and it does not qualify as a championship. Children, and for that matter, any sportsman, not only want recognition, but also reward for their achievements.

What is the mission and strength of the Mirror Class?

As I have said, the Mirror is an ideal class to teach and coach young sailors to become good helmsmen and crew. Some do not want to be helmsmen. The proof of this success is the performance of 3 of the current Optimist sailors. Taariq Jacobs, who won both the Eastern Cape and Western Province Provincial events, has sailed with his Dad, Fuad, in the 1999 Mirror World Championship in Saldanha at the age of 8. He also sailed with Sieraj at Wriggelswade in the Mirror nationals in 2001, which they won, and he sailed with Kuba Miszewski in the Mirror World Championship in Hobart, Australia, in January this year. We believe this experience, together with his commitment, made the difference. The same goes for Wayne Watkins and Andrew Collier. They sailed with Waldo and Diether Zevenster respectively, won some of the provincial championships and sailed in the Mirror World Championship in Hobart. Wayne and Andrew did very well in the provincial championships they participated in by finishing in the top 5. Wayne came 2nd at Western Cape and Andrew 2nd at Eastern Cape, 4th at Western Cape. At the club events they also battle it out for the top spots. That was not the case before.

On the 18th and 19th of October this year I was invited to attend a coaching clinic in Plymouth, UK, where they had one of the UK Olympic Sailing Coaches, 2 world champions and 2 regional Champions coaching junior Mirror sailors. They had 27 Mirrors (54 Sailors) on the water in Plymouth with sailors aging between 9 and 15. On the same week-end they had Mirror coaching clinics in the north of the UK on the East and West Coasts. Three venues in one weekend, coaching their advanced Junior Mirror Sailors to select their Regional and National RYA Squads. The RYA and the UK Olympic committees have realized the value of the Mirror in the development of sailing to achieve top results at the Youth Worlds and Olympic games. In Sydney 2000 they took 5 sailing medals. Sailors from the Mirror Class goes on to Sail Optimists, if they chose the single handed route, or they stay in the Mirror Class till they are 15 and then move on to the 420 to sail in the Youth Worlds and then the 470 for the Olympics. The UK LOTTO has put more than a million GBP a year into sailing development classes of which the Mirror is one. Look at their results.

Other countries do the same. The last 3 Mirror World Champions were Irish and all of them were youth sailors, under 19 years of age.

The Mirror Class in South Africa was criticized for not commenting/promoting the class when the discussion regarding the 420 was circulated recently, but we do not see that as opposition, rather as the future. Our objective is to get bums on boats and to make juniors, and others, competent sailors by sailing with other competent sailors. Too many prospective sailors come through sailing schools where they have to sit on their own on an Optimist/09’r, not knowing why they do what when. They get a scare, never to be seen on a dinghy again. My daughter is a prime example of that and there are many others.

Conclusion.

After all this, what am I actually saying?

We need to open our eyes to the bigger world of sailing and work together through whatever means to promote sailing and provide the best possible opportunity for people to learn to sail. The Mirror Class in not a threat to any one, we are there to develop sailors. Once we have the numbers to justify an independent Mirror junior national championship, we will be the first to promote it.

In 1997 at Wriggleswade, there were 83 Optimists plus 11 Novices at the Optimist National Championship alone. On the current ranking of the optimists there are only 80 boats that took part in major regattas the whole year. Where are the new sailors?

The motto of the company I work for is “Through united co-operation we all will prosper”. If this works successfully in business, why will it not work in our sport?

The Mirror is the cheapest International Dinghy in South Africa that gives you the opportunity to learn to sail and also to compete at international level at world championships every two years. We have the Mirror World Championship in South Africa in 2007; let’s do something positive towards it.

Finally, I sincerely hope that we will eventually have people with the big picture in mind at the helm of the different organizations and classes that look after and have to promote sailing.

Have a fantastic festive season and travel safely.

Willie Zevenster.