Gold Star
Gold Star has been sailing on San Francisco Bay since 1965. She began as one man's dream in a Richmond cabbage patch. George Krenkel had been buying, refurbishing, and selling boats all his life when he saw the schooner's plans in a 1948 Yachting magazine. "It appeared to have everything I always wanted in a sailboat," he later said.
Krenkel spent 14 years building the schooner with blueprints purchased from naval architect J. Murray Watts. The original plans called for a working gillnetter without a bowsprit. After Watts died in '57, Krenkel received an offer to purchase the boat from Charles Wittholz, who had taken over Watts' business affairs. Krenkel declined the offer. "My building program is both recreation and hobby, and I am taking the time to do a job that will do justice to the same effort and feeling that Mr. Watts must have put into the design," he wrote. "The fairness of hull and sheer is surely a thing of beauty." At that time, Krenkel obtained blueprints to add the bowsprit. The original plans called for a gaff mainsail, which was changed to a Marconi mainsail. Today the Gold Star is outfitted with three additional sails, and the foremast is gaff-rigged.
The Gold Star was launched in 1960. When the present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence H. Cullen, purchased her in 1962, she was a bare-bones hull of 2x2 fir, with a 1937 Chevrolet transmission on a Model A rear end for the steering, and a working head. Larry and Margaret and their three children — Kathy, Jim and Bud — spent the next three years outfitting the Gold Star for Bay and ocean sailing. Larry improved the original sail plan from gaff main to Marconi main, and increased the height of the mainmast and foremast. Teak decks were salvaged from the heavy cruiser Oklahoma City. Oak bunks, a chart table, and oak drawers were removed from a navy vessel before it was put into mothballs and used in the schooner. Blocks and most stainless steel fittings were designed and built by Cullen. Ballast of approximately four tons was melted and cast to fit below the cabin. The Waukershaw gas engine installed by Krenkel was removed around 1963 and replaced with a 35 hp war surplus Buda diesel. That engine was replaced with a new diesel Yanmar in 2001.
The schooner Gold Star has logged more than 35,000 miles of ocean sailing, including trips to Mexico, Hawaii, and five trips to Alaska. The crew always comments how comfortable the vessel is on a long ocean trip, as well as sailing on San Francisco Bay. The Gold Star has participated in Master Mariner's Races and the Wooden Boat Show in Tiburon, and has been featured in calendars, books, magazines and posters, as well as several on-line Web sites. Thank you for the opportunity to share the history of the schooner Gold Star.
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