Viktor Steimle

March 2024. There is a comment to this effect in the Google photo account of the SR20 build of Craig Gallenbach. It reads: "I greatly enjoyed building this boat, but I’ve found I am not a very enthusiastic sailor. It has been in the water only three times since February of 2022. If anyone is interested in buying this boat, I’m willing to consider a reasonable offer."

Hello all, I just wanted to post a a follow up on this and re-iterate my interest in a CS SR17. There is currently a great deal of interest in the Old Salt 15 from Turn point design and in general in a boat geared towards the older sailor. I fit into the target group for the OS15 and have looked very closely at the design as a possible project for me. I have also tried to think about possible alternatives. It seems to me that as CS SR17 would tick pretty much all the boxes of the design brief of the OS15 (I think the SR20 would be too big as an ideal competitor, it would definitely be too big for me to build in the space that I have). For me, the fact that the boat is a 2-master would be a considerable advantage over the OS15. My current ride is a balanced lug Caledonia Yawl and I love my mizzen. I think it is an important safety feature. People might think a two master will make single handing more complicated, but in my experience the opposite is true (not trying to preach to the choir here). I have no experience with a ketch, but I am pretty certain that most of the handling features of a yawl will also apply to a ketch. In short, I think a CS SR17 could be a very viable alternative to the OS15. So my question is are there any news on the this front? I haven't found anything new on the SR20 #1, other than C. Gallenbach offered it for sale (he says he found that he does like sailing less than building, fair enough). Has the SR20 been put through its paces, in bigger wind, with and without waterballast, etc? What about capsize testing? So I would like to revive this topic. Cheers, Viktor Just to put a photo in here (people love photos). The CY is a pretty good old geezer boat, but I like boat building and sailing (I did not build this one).

Super impressive work and rapid progress! Thanks for posting this. Cheers, Viktor

Thanks Andy and Bob, Andy, I am aware of the third mast step in the Coresounds, thank you. Bob, on my CY the mizzen sheet leads to a cleat at the aft end of the cockpit, so it is within easy reach for adjustment. I would dearly love to test-drive a Coresound, or even get to see one close up. However, there just does not seem to be one around me (I live in Quebec, close to the Vermont border). Anyway, I am planning to enjoy my CY for quite a few more years as my main ride ("the family saloon" if you want, although I am mostly single handing). But since I seem to have caught the boat building bug, there will probably be some smaller projects in the nearer future, before I get to my "last boat". I am hoping that by then there will be a CS17-SR (or Mk2, or whatever it is going to be called). Cheers, Viktor

Hello, Bob, Thanks a lot, this is great! I just read the whole thread. I very much like the look of your boat and I think it was a great idea, especially since it seems to have worked out very well for you. I answered in the "CS15 lug yawl" thread since that seemed to be the more suitable place. Cheers, Viktor

Hello Bob, Thanks a lot for pointing me towards this thread. I actually don't know how I missed it completely. I hang out much more in the Woodenboat Forum, but I occasionally check this forum, just because I like the B&B boats (especially the CS15 and CS17Mk.1). I currently sail a Caledonia Yawl with the BL main and sprit mizzen for the third season and I love her. I love my mizzen and think it is exceedingly useful for single handing. I see it as a great safety feature. I never had a problem going downwind in the CY, even in fairly big winds, and gybing, even in "sporty" (somewhat unplanned") conditions has always been very benign. By the way, I don't quite understand Don's comment above that you have to move around to tend to the mizzen. The mizzen normally has a single sheet and is self tending. The mizzen sheet is led forward and is in easy reach of the helm. Very simple and effective. I would like to build at some point a boat myself and one of the Coresounds is somewhere near the top of the list of possibles. However, I always was a little bit leery of the ketch rig. The main reason for this is, that it seems to me the mizzen mast and sail is just in the way in the cockpit and makes it a much less useful space, be it for sailing, rowing, or for camping. You obviously seem very happy with your boat and I have to say it looks very good. Are you, or is anybody else here aware of a Coresound that is yawl-rigged with Coresound-style sprit sails? Naively I would think that this should work quite nicely and also, at least in part, be in keeping with the classic Coresound look. I imagine one would choose the mainsail from the next bigger model, move the mast step a bit further back and go with the mizzen quite a bit smaller, maybe form one of the Spindrifts. Again, I freely admit to my almost complete ignorance, but somehow I think it might work quite nicely, if done properly. Cheers, Viktor

So, I have measured my caledonia yawl and I would definitively have space for an 11-foot boat between the two mast steps. So far so good. However, I am still hesitating whether to go for an S-10 or an S-11. The S-10 would be lighter by about 20-25 lbs, but the S-11 would have about 4 1/2" more beam, which I would hope would be mostly in the cockpit width. Both are important to me. I can't make up my mind right now. Graham, I'll be in touch via the B&B contact site about the practical side of this. Cheers, Viktor

Hi Graham, Thanks again, this sounds super. An adjustable dagger board slot sounds great. It would be very easy to build and it would allow easy fine tuning of the helm balance. Much easier than alternative mast positions. I would definitely do this. In fact, I would in this case probably start with the Amanda rig as a first rig and see whether I am content with that or whether I would want also the cat-rig for the days when I feel sportier. I am as such not a very competitive sailor, but hey, who does not want to go fast? Unfortunately I don't have the plans for the CY, they did not come with the boat, when I bought it. I'll be travelling for a while, but I'll unpack and measure when I am back, I am too impatient to wait until spring. Thanks so much again, this is all great, Viktor

Dear Graham, Thank you so much, this is great. It is much more than I had hoped for. The thwart arrangement in the Kendrift is exactly as I had hoped. I missed that thread, although I searched pretty diligently in the B&B Forum, but of course it does not come up in a “Spindrift” search. Now I have to decide whether I want a S10 or S11. The S10 would be lighter, but the S11 has a bit wider beam, which would be interesting for cruising. I would hope that it would make the experience of sleeping on the cockpit floor a bit less “coffin-like”. Another consideration is trailering the dinghy on top of my Caledonia Yawl, if I want to use it as a tender. I have to measure the distance between the two mast steps for main and mizzen on the CY, which serve as mast crutches for trailering. I am pretty sure I have more than 10’, but I am not sure I have 11’. The boat is all packed up for winter, so either I unpack it, or I wait until spring. There is no rush anyway, this build will not happen before next winter, since I have a project already going for this winter (it is snowing outside at the moment). Since you have been so positive about my ideas, I dare come out with a second idea for a modification. The dinghy would be used mainly for rowing and daysailing at my local lakes. For this, the standard Cat-rig would be ideal and I would initially go with this. However, if I want to seriously consider cruising, I would be concerned about the difficulty in striking the rig on the water (see Pete McCrary’s “Seabiscuit” thread). Incidentally, the problem is the same for the DW Scout, as has been discussed on the relevant thread on the Wooden Boat Forum. On my Caledonia Yawl I have a balanced lug main and I like it very much. So, my question is: would it be possible to use the Amanda lug rig as an alternative rig on the modified S11 (it would probably have to be the 11, otherwise the size difference of the two hulls would be too big)? Could the lug rig go into the mast step and partner of the S11, or would it be possible to build in a second, alternative mast step and partner? I have no clue whether this is a crazy idea, or whether this is quite feasible. Clearly this needs the input of an expert. Thanks so much, Viktor

Thanks Don, I think in the Scout the thwarts are screwed into longitudinal cleats of the side benches. Concerning the torsional rigidity there is the point that the Scout has a flat bottom whereas the Spindrift has a Vee. Naïvely I would think that the Vee has more stability than the flat bottom, which I would expect to flex more. Cheers, Viktor

Amazing workmanship! Just how long is this thing?

My apologies for the long post. I have been thinking about building a Spindrift (10 or 11, non-nesting) with a few modifications. Background and intended use: I live in southern Quebec and am freshly retired, so I have lots of plans for sailing in summer and boat building in winter. We have recently moved to a house with lake access with a hand cart/dolly at about 200-300 yards distance. There is a little hill on the way and testing with a weighted canoe on a cart showed me that I should not go over a total all-up weight of about 60-70 kg (130-155 lbs). I want a sailing/rowing dinghy that rows well with one passenger in the stern and also sails well (mostly single handedly). I am also thinking about possible camp cruising with the possibility to sleep aboard. The boat should also be very easy and quick to set up for a quick sail, when I don’t want to go to the trouble of trailering my main ride (an Iain Oughtred Caledonia Yawl) to the sailing club and rigging her, which takes me about an hour all told. I am also dreaming of cruising in Maine and using the dinghy as a tender for my CY would be very practical. I have looked at many different designs and on my shortest of shortlists it comes down to the new Duckworks Scout and the B&B Spindrift 10 or 11. First, what I like about the Scout: It’s featherlike weight of 75 lb (empty hull?). I would probably be able to single handedly cartop this weight, but it's at the limit. Mobile thwarts that can be positioned at will to balance the boat for rowing with or without a passenger. Offcenter daggerboard Due to the mobile thwarts and the offcenter DB, the cockpit is open and it is possible to sleep in the open footwell. What I don’t like about the Scout is the fact that there is an awful lot of fiberglassing in the construction that uses ply and foam to keep the weight down. I have watched the “Magic Carpet” Youtube videos documenting a Scout build and I don’t think I would enjoy it very much. I have to admit that so far, my fiberglassing experience is very limited. However, this winter I am going to build a CLC S&G kayak, so we shall see how the fiberglassing goes. Now to the Spindrift What I like about the Spindrift: It is a very well-proven design with an impeccable reputation as a tender/sailing dinghy. It is still fairly light. The B&B website gives the weight (again, is this bare hull weight?) for the S-10 with 90-110 lb and for the S-11 with 110-130 lb. This would still be in the weight range I would consider acceptable for towing on a handcart/dolly to the ramp. Single-handed cartopping would only be possible with a contraption that takes half of the load during loading I have seen such a thing somewhere, can't remember where). This adds some complexity. The build looks also fairly easy and I am interested to try the B&B “butterfly” method because I am considering a Coresound in the more distant future. The problem is of course that the fixed thwart does not permit longitudinal mobility of the rower to balance the boat and thwart and daggerboard prevent sleeping on the cockpit sole. By now you’ll be able to see where this is going. Looking at the plans and pictures for the Scout and Spindrift, it is evident that it would be relatively easy to do a “Scout treatment” on the Spindrifts. That is, have the longitudinal bulkheads run parallel and straight and move the daggerboard offcenter into a side bench. This would free up the footwell for eventual onboard sleeping and allow free positioning of the thwart to balance a passenger in the stern. I don’t think these modifications should have any impact on the weight of the boat. Offcenter boards are standard in the mk3 series of B&B boats and are found in many other designs (SCAMP, to name one). I saw parallel bulkheads on a Spindrift in an older thread here on the forum (Greg Luckett). Maybe they were a standard feature in older versions of the plans, I don’t know. So I would like to consult the wisdom of this forum to see what you think of these modifications. I think they are both quite conservative and should not negatively affect the stellar performance of this design. It is of course quite brazen for a complete newbie to want to outthink an extremely experienced designer, and I apologize in advance. On the other hand, building your own boat gives you the possibility to get what you want (within reason). Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Viktor

Looks very nice! Will there be plans/kit for a CS17 SR also? A 20-footer would not fit in my workshop.