2015 Mirror Worlds to be held at Theewater Sports Club

The International Mirror Class has awarded the 2015 World Championships to Theewater Sports Club, Cape Town, South Africa. This ISAF event will take place from 28th December, 2014 to 9th January, 2015.  In total there will be about 100 boats, with competitors shipping their own dinghies in. In total we expect to have in the region of five hundred people at the event. We at TSC are all very excited and have started with the organising of this prestigious event.

The Mirror Dinghy was designed in 1962, as a result of a competition run by the Daily Mirror News paper in the UK. The design criteria was that one could build it at home, without too much skill, it had to fit on top of a Morris Minor, it had to be able to sail, be rowed and take a small outboard, as well as carry 2 people. The class mushroomed, and now there are over 70700 Mirrors in the world.

There is a World Championships every two years TSC has two boats in the SA Team sailing in the Worlds in Ireland later this month and one as a wild card entry. The following nations are represented at these Worlds; Ireland, UK, Canada, Sweden, Holland, Australia, Philippines and South Africa.

Please see an excerpt out of our bid application:

?We at Theewater Sports Club believe that we have the most suitable venue in the Western Cape for hosting a regatta of this size. The sailing water is superb and the infrastructure is in place and ever improving. The dam provides the best ?fresh water? sailing facilities in the Western Cape and there is ample beach area surrounding TSC from which to launch boats on the envisaged scale with comfort.

We will respond positively and proactively to competitors accommodation preferences, which were articulated at a previous Mirror World event. A previous unanimous appeal in favour of camp style accommodation situated at the Regatta venue, in keeping with an outdoor, rustic South African lifestyle will be offered for the 2015 event.

With this in mind, TSC has embraced the ?outdoor adventure? theme to render a total and holistic memorable experiences for visiting participants and local communities. TSC plays an active role in providing sail training and education programmes for our previously disadvantaged communities. An event such as the Mirror Worlds will provide42much needed encouragement to our local youth to achieve National colours and to have the goal of representing their country.

Sailing nestles well within the outdoor lifestyle and an eco-tourist disposition towards travelling. TSC provides an appropriate, adequate and convenient home base to satisfy a diverse range of outdoor, quality of life experiences. Villiersdorp, situated 4km from TSC is itself an ample tourist attraction endowed with historical buildings, quaint restaurants, wine tasting venues, a tractor museum, home of the historic Alwyn Vintcent Tug boat to mention a few. There are numerous fascinating mountain hiking and mountain trials to explore, as well as a land rover and quad bike trails.

Often overseas visitors have concern about security and safety. TSC provides a peaceful, secure and safe environment away from the hustle and bustle of a busy city environment.

With the manpower and support from the Western Cape sailing fraternity, local and Provincial government, we are confident that we can organize and host a regatta which would do our region proud and would also make the 2015 Mirror Championships a good holiday experience for competitors and spectators alike.