International Mirror Class Association of Tasmania.

Toll Tasmania: Supporting Tasmanian Mirror Sailors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL MIRROR CLASS ASSOCIATION OF TASMANIA

PRESIDENT’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING MARCH 2004

As could be expected following the previous year, in which the National and World Championships were held in Tasmania, the year has been somewhat of an anticlimax. The recent Nationals in Queensland were a non-world selection championship, which are traditionally smaller than in world team selection years.

The Nationals included a forum on the need for a uniform strategy to promote the Mirror class across regions, states and the nation to arrest a slow decline in interest. Locally we had people coming into the class for several years leading up to the World Championships and then moving out of the class again, as could be expected. We also had many parent & child crews who have moved on as the children outgrew the forward hand position with such a large helm.

Numbers at the Macintyre Cup and State Championships have also reduced this year reflecting a reduction of interest in training and racing. In recent years these have been keenly contested to judge form and maximise practice leading up to the Nationals and Worlds.

While I wholeheartedly agree with the need to promote the Mirror as an attractive class, we need to look at Mirror sailing the in context of the overall picture in sailing and in sport in general. Across the board participation in sailing and other sports are reducing as more and more leisure time is spent (wasted?) on computers, Gameboys and the like. While Yachting Australia’s OnBoard program has been formulated to help address the declining participation rates, other sports are also attempting to address the issue.

Three of the positives from hosting the Nationals and Worlds are:

  • IMCAT is now in a strong financial position with funds available to benefit the current and future Mirror sailors;
  • With lots of help from Laura Skillen, we now have a high class web site which is not only good for our own use but has brought compliments from others and reflects well on the class;
  • The finalisation of the Mirror Sailing Book was a major achievement and one that seems rare in the Tasmanian context, as often class specific knowledge is kept in the memories of coaches or parents.

Although many of you would have thought the Worlds and Nationals were well and truly over by last March, the reality is that issues were needing attention for months afterward – I would particularly like to thank our long serving Treasurer John Behrens and Secretary Jenny Graney for their efforts in resolving the many issues that surfaced long after the events were over.

Thanks are due to both John Behrens and John Sherriff for their continued assistance with Macintyre Cups and State Titles. Their efforts include arranging trophies, collecting entries and sending out Sailing Instructions to start boat duties, with John Behrens’ lovely yacht Yleena being used for the current titles.

Even before the Mirror Promotion Plan call from the Queenslanders, we had been working slowly on ways to promote the Mirror to a wider potential user group.

  • At the Royal Hobart Regatta we had a display board and brochure available for the public together with information provided to the commentator for the Mirror Heron Cadet Challenge. After seeing my name in the action column or the Minutes for the last couple of years against the challenge, it was satisfying to see it come to fruition as the previously scheduled one at MBYC was cancelled due to strong winds. It was even more satisfying to receive the Shield as a representative of the Mirror Class at the Regatta Presentation Night.
  • KBSC has an under 18 helm race (actually 2) in which Mirror owners volunteered their boats for some of the Junior sailors (mostly current Sabot sailors) to try out helming a Mirror. Many of these had previously crewed in a Mirror and really enjoyed the opportunity to take the helm.
  • We also had a day at RYCT/DSS combined dinghy group where we again made the Mirrors available for younger sailors to experience a different class. While our aim of getting the senior kids to helm was thwarted by circumstances beyond our control, there was some interest in the class on the day and questions about whether we would be back again.

These last two events have convinced me that the task of promoting the Mirror class is really about getting kids in boats. This needs the support of current Mirror sailors to both make their boats available and also to offer advice and motivation to the “students”. While kids are not our only target audience, I consider that often the parents will follow the kids. What we need to promote is the benefits of sailing a Mirror to teenagers, the boat can either be a stepping stone to other senior classes or it can be a long term option with Australia’s best Mirror sailors well represented in this state to judge their progress against. The Association congratulates David Moore for successfully defending his National title with new crew Stuart Grant, and to Quentin and Alexander Hunt for winning the Frank Buxton Trophy for best parent/child combination.

Promotion through schools, scouts, and similar groups could be a worthwhile strategy however it seems that the sailing schools are training a lot of kids (and adults) who are never seen again.

We all have a role to play in promotion of the Mirror, it has many strengths but one of the best ways to strengthen the class is to openly accept newcomers and offer them all the assistance we can with out being too pushy. The experiences off the water are just as important as those on the water in forming an opinion on a class. The Mirror class has always been family oriented with lots of help available, this approach needs to be maintained as it is one of the things that differentiate our class from the others.

It appears that the most important challenge facing the Association in the short term is the promotion of the class. This may at times require additional effort from our members and it recognised that today’s lifestyle places changing demands on us, such as more activities being undertaken by children, more frequent work commitments on weekends etc. I thank the Committee for their efforts over the last year, and for the many other volunteers that assist the Association in its endeavours.

Grant Atherton (President)