How it all Began
The Mirror Fleet is Born
Eric Twiname
Commodores
Club Champions
Other Achievements
Hosted Events
Morgan’s Memoirs!?
In the early 1960’s , when Gordon Bessey was Cumberland Education Officer, he decided that he would start a club for Cumberland teachers to learn to sail. So each Friday evening, Pat Smith’s dad and friends – ‘Dangle’ (Don Williamson) from Workington Grammar school, Ron Morgan ( Pat’s Dad ) and ‘Scottie’ from Nelson Tomlinson School at Wigton, would meet at Bass. They would then borrow Bessey’s and Banner- Mendus’s boats and sail them from Bass to Scarness. So the Cumberland schools sailing was started at Scarness (Herb and others joined at a later date)
Over one winter, this Scottie (his real will be remembered at some point) and boys from the woodwork class at Nelson Tomlinson School built a Mirror from a kit. They took it to Bass and Ron was asked to try it out. So he claims to have sailed the 1st mirror on Bass!!. At the time Gerald Powell was about. He saw this Mirror and thought it would be a better class to sail than the Cadets. The rest is history – the Mirror fleet came to Bass
More from Morgan’s memoirs to follow – perhaps !!!