Mirror dinghy repair

Donal94

Hi I was wondering could anyone offer me any advice on repairing a mirror dinghy. I've investigated extensively online but would like more info. Just bought the boat and picked it up yesterday, new to sailing, and due to some exuberant driving by person who towed it for me it has been left with a hole in the hull where it sat on the roller. The roller went the whole way through. I was wondering would it do in the short term to just fibreglass up the hole as I'd rather not take the whole thing apart and replace the panel. Thanks in advance.

fergal.b

Hi Donal can you post a photo of where about the hole is and what it looks like as it might give a better idea on how to fix it, it will have to be strong enough to sit on the roller again so you may need to reinforce it on the inside with a bit of plywood or if it's a fiberglass Mirror you will have to build up layers of cloth to fill the hole.

Donal94

Hi fergal thanks for the reply. Im not near the boat right now so i cant get a photo. The hole is about the size of a saucer and is a couple of feet from the back of the boat and almost touches the side. Think the best thing to do is replace panel. Is it abig job?

fergal.b

I'd say the bottom of the boat is made out of sheets of plywood 6 foot long on each side at the back



so quite a big panel to replace :eek: If all the broken bits of wood are still there you can coat them in epoxy and pull them back into place and put a bit of ply over it on the inside and it should be fine.

Donal94

Here's a pic, we decided to cut out the damaged area as the wood had fallen inside the hull, we squared it off and bevelled the edges. Plan is to glue some battons on the inside and replace the marine ply and then fibre glass over the outside and inside?

fergal.b

That's quite a hole :eek: if you are not going to be racing her and don't mind a bit more weight it might be worth covering the hole boat in fiberglass cloth to seal and strength it as there seems to be a bit of movement between the bottom and side planking.

Donal94

Hi Fergal, we glued in a few support pieces of marine ply and trimmed out a tight fitting patch of ply which we intend to epoxy in and glass over outside and inside, I'll glass more than I had intended but am reluctant to cover the whole boat we are hoping to just get it watertight and usable as quickly as possible. Thanks for the advice.

fergal.b

Happy sailing, here is a little clip to get you going it's for the 2013 Mirror world champs. http://www.afloat.ie/sail/sailing-classes/mirror/item/17520-mirrors-world-champs-come-to-ireland-in-a-song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB_t9VyN7pw