Courtesy of the ICSA Communications Committee:
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Courtesy of the ICSA Communications Committee:
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Sail1Design has been lucky to be part of some great moments over the years, mostly when we do our job, and take part in recognizing the very foundation of our sport: youth, high school, college, and one-design sailors. Reading nomination letters, hearing from our community about unsung heroes, sharing in the joy of the winners…… makes the whole Sail1Design project, now almost 20 years in the making, more than worth it. It is always nice to hear about people in our sport not only doing things well, but doing things the right way.
Remember, for Coach of the Year, we only choose candidates from nomination letters sent in, so we sit back, wait, and take what we get. This year, over the last month we were faced (again) with a lot of really good nominations, and we whittled that down to a small list of finalists. It was difficult to narrow this deserving field. Not easy. After going back and forth, the team decided that this years winner had to be Christian Koules. Christian is deserving on so many levels; what stood out was the sheer number of separate letters he received, and of course, what those letters described. The best thing we read, among many, was that he is not a win-at-all-costs coach; we see far too much of this today. There are things far more important than trophies. Also, despite not hailing from one of the big sailing hotbeds, Christian has really created a up-and-coming program at Park City, UT. Below are just a few excerpts from 14+ separate nomination letters that Christian received:
In many professions, the highest level of education or rank becomes the primary form of address. Doctors are no longer Mr. or Ms., but Dr. But what about coaches? Even if a coach becomes the president, they’d likely still be called “Coach.” A coach’s influence, it seems, transcends titles.
I’ve had the absolute pleasure of being mentored by one such coach: the amazing Coach Christian. He’s more than just a coach; he’s become a close friend. Throughout my youth athletics career, I’ve encountered many coaches across different sports, but Coach Christian is the one who truly impacted my life.
For nearly six years now, Coach Christian has guided me on and off the water, transforming himself from coach to confidant. He’s a perfect blend of professionalism, humor, care, and boundless enthusiasm.
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In my experience, Christian embodies all that is great in coaching, making him a truly deserving candidate.
My children have participated in Christian’s sailing program for 3 years, and during that time, I’ve witnessed firsthand his exceptional skills. Christian’s patience is unparalleled. He has a knack for explaining complex sailing concepts in a clear and understandable way, even for beginners like my kids. He never gets discouraged by mistakes, instead using them as opportunities for learning and growth.
Christian’s commitment to his students is truly admirable. He goes above and beyond to ensure their success. He creates a positive and fun learning environment, fostering a love for sailing in his students. My children always look forward to their sailing sessions, and they consistently come home brimming with excitement about what they’ve learned.
Beyond technical expertise, Christian possesses exceptional empathy. He recognizes and caters to the individual needs of each student, creating a truly inclusive environment. He has built a strong sense of camaraderie within the PC Sail Community, encouraging teamwork and support among all the sailors.
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Instructing and empowering others’ performance is a true gift: Christian Koules possesses that gift. I have personally witnessed his coaching prowess in developing my granddaughter’s progress from a less-confident junior sailor to a recent competitor at the Women’s Olympic Team Trials in Florida this past February.
His dedication to aspiring sailors — especially the high school sailing team — has been tireless. He weaves strong guidance with a very personable demeanor and humbleness, that resonates well with his kid crew. He’s found the perfect line of support as friend and a role model while always maintaining professionalism. The proof is in the accomplishments of this small sailing team based on a reservoir, pitted against some of the best teams in the US with much more open water experience (ocean and great lakes).
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My son was introduced to sailing while our family was living in New Zealand from 2016 to 2022. Upon returning to Utah, where we had previously lived, we found a very warm welcome from Christian who, as someone skilled at practising inclusivity, helped my son transition to a new set of friends and to the world of sailing in the U.S. I have watched Christian navigate large groups of unruly youth as he coaches, organizes, and encourages. He manages to instill discipline in said youth whilst maintaining a remarkable sense of fun. It is evident that this has earned him the respect of his young sailors.
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I have know Coach Christian Koules for 5 years now, and would like to nominate him for the Sail1 Coach of the Year. Not only has he been a pleasure for me and my wife to get to know personally, he has guided the Park City Youth Sailing Program from a small, almost unknown program to taking 4 sailors to Tera Worlds in Denmark this summer, among many other things. Our son started sailing at Park City Sailing as a 5 year old in week long sailing summer camps and kept coming back and improving. After competing under a number of other coaches, Christian arrived to coach the junior program as my son was headed into his freshman year of high school. The program ramped up year by year, and the conclusion of the matter is that our son is headed to the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point in the fall to sail for their dinghy program (and possibly the offshore program as well). We never anticipated that the program would gain as much traction as it has, but are grateful and proud that it has.
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My son started sailing when he was 5 years old and just fell in love with the sport, but seeing as Utah is not known for being a sailing mecca we would constantly have coaches come and go in the youth programs offered at our local sailing club. It was hard to gain traction or see progression with the constant revolving door. Christian came into our lives when my son was a teenager and he just “spoke their language”, passing on the skills and knowledge he gained in his own sailing career in a way that just made the kids want to learn. When he found out our son had dreams of collegiate sailing he jumped into action. Christian helped found the first High School Sailing program in Utah to take the fun the kids had in a local summer sailing program and give it a trajectory towards college sailing. With countless hours road tripping to California and sleeping on couches on the weekends for ISSA regattas and pouring his time into our kids on and off the water, often donating his coaching time just to see a kid succeed, the team was launched. Just a few short years later he’s overseeing several high schools around the state with our son being the first to make it to the collegiate world. Our son will be sailing for the Merchant Marine Academy this fall and Christian was the first phone call he made to share the news. Christian has become a pivotal figure in the lives of not just my son but all of those involved at Park City Sailing. He’s been coaching and mentoring the younger kids in the Tera fleet and even facilitating the Tera nationals as a means of development. He truly does his job for a love of the kids and helping them succeed.
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In 2021, PCSA had a junior race team, in the loosest sense of the term. There were a handful of kids that would practice in the afternoons during the summer. The team’s only race participation for years had been PCSA’s annual fall regatta. One of Christian’s goals the first year as Junior Program Director was to have the junior race team to participate in one travel regatta. As you might imagine, being in the mountain west, it was actually quite a lofty goal. The closest option for a regatta for the team was a 7-hour drive to the 2021 US Sailing Rocky Mountain Junior Olympics at the Dillon Yacht Club in Colorado. He rallied 5 kids (2 of the kids were mine!) and their parents to make the trek. He even transported the boats to Colorado to make it work. He reached his one travel regatta goal and the fire was lit. Under Christian’s guidance, PCSA’s junior race team went from a handful of kids participating in one travel regatta in 2021, to a team with 25 RS Tera sailors and 8 ILCA and double handed sailors that attended 16 regattas in 2023. He has coached the junior race team at the Orange Bowl, ILCA Midwinters, ILCA Nationals, RS Tera North Americans, and RS Tera Pacific Coast Championships (PCC). At the 2022 RS Tera PCC, Christian coached 6 of the 12 RS Tera Sport sailors, including the 1st and 3rd place winners. He also coached PCSA’s crew representing Area J in the 2022 U.S. Youth Triplehanded Championship for the Sears Cup. In 2024, Christian coached the first sailor from PCSA to participate in 2024 Women’s US Olympic Team Trials. He will also be coaching several PCSA sailors at the 2024 RS Tera World Championships.
To be held in Annapolis, Maryland, August 15-18
US Sailing Membership- Join/Renew here – All competitors must have a current USSA membership valid through end of racing to be legible to complete. International athletes may show proof of current membership with MNA as an alternative.
Timeline
We are happy once again to announce that nominations for the 11th annual S1D Coach of the Year Award are now being accepted!
There are SO many deserving coaches out there, and so much of this past year to use to choose a new winner. Here is your chance to reflect on your last year of sailing, and nominate a coach that made a difference for you. If you read through some excerpts from past nomination letters (see links below), you will find inspiring and heartfelt words to all these great coaches. It is absolutely vital to remember that if you don’t nominate, you don’t have a voice! Now is YOUR time to speak your mind! In true grass-roots fashion, we pick the ultimate winner only from nominees supplied by you, our readers.
This can be a youth coach, high school coach, college coach, Olympic coach….. you name it!
Sail1Design annually seeks your nominations for the S1D Coach of the Year, for a coach that embodies all that is great in coaching: experience, resilience, humility, empathy and expertise. Sailors, this is your award!
The Sail1Design staff chooses the winner only from our readers nominations! This is a great opportunity to recognize a coach that you feel makes a difference! Take a look below at our past winners.
Please write a detailed nomination letter and send to editor@sail1design.com . SEND IN SOON!!!
Past S1D Coach of the Year Winners
2023- Nick Kaschak
2022- Chris Klevan/Erik Bowers
2021- Maru Urban/Bobby Lippincott
2020- John Mollicone
2019- Jon Faudree
2018- Scott Ikle
2017- Bill Healy
2016- Bill Ward
2015- Frank Pizzo
2014- Chris Dold
International Lightning Class Association
May 3, 2024
Tarpon Springs, FL
Since the inception of the International Lightning Class Boat Grant Program in 2007, over 45 young teams have enjoyed the incredible level of racing and camaraderie the Lightning Class offers. 10 of these teams continue to actively race in the class today.
The Lightning Class is proud to announce three 2024 Boat Grant Teams!
“Our 2024 teams are recent graduates of strong collegiate sailing teams, underscoring the Class’s focus on encouraging young sailors to continue their involvement in one design racing after college,” explains program Co-Chair Greg Fisher. “We are especially enthused that all three teams are geographically spread out over the east coast, New England and mid-west.”
Aidan Naughton and his teammates Marina Barzaghi and Kaleigh Morgan have all been competitive college sailors. Aidan, of North Kingstown, RI, sailed for University of Rhode Island, Marina, also from Rhode Island, sailed at University of South Florida and Kaleigh sailed for George Washington. Aidan, with teammates Marina and Adrian Van Der Wal sailed the Midwinter circuit where they finished in an impressive 11th overall in their first regattas together! Team Naughton is enthusiastic to continue to sail the regatta circuit including the North Americans at the Buffalo Canoe Club. A future Pan Am Games campaign is also on their list! They will be based out of Rhode Island and mentored by longtime Lightning sailor, PJ Schaffer. In his application, Aidan said: “I have shaped my life around our sport of sailing, but I have recently been lacking in the simple pleasure of sailing with friends and trying your best to achieve a good result against respected competitors. There is no better way to do this than to head to the next Lightning Regatta!”
Clearly 2022 and 2023 Boat Grant Alumni, Emma Hawko can’t get enough Lightning sailing! The Lightning Class is excited to see Emma back this year as skipper and with an all-woman team! Emma, from Shelburne, Vermont and a sailor for McGill University will sail with Kim Roswell, from Boston and Northeastern University and Caitlin Derby originally from Detroit, and presently a member of the sailing team at University of Vermont. They will be based out of Vermont and mentored by multi-class champion and Lightning guru Ched Proctor. Emma has already immersed herself in the Lightning class and was elected New England District secretary in 2023. Certainly, there’s even more on the horizon for Emma, Kim, and Caitlin as they look forward to participating in Fleet 332’s weekly racing and the larger events, including the North Americans in Buffalo.
Ian Beckley, from Madison, Wisconsin, was captain of the Hobart William Smith team and now is Head Coach at Wisconsin. His teammates, Noah Hallerman and Sophie Lusty are both members of the Wisconsin Sailing team. They will be based out of Madison and mentored by long time Lightning champion and Boat Grant Committee member, Bill Faude.
Sophie stated: “The skill emphasis, competitiveness, opportunities for development, fairness, and community aspects are just a few of the reasons why I prefer One-design dinghy racing. From my experience racing Lightnings in the past, the class is a perfect opportunity to continue sailing in a competitive boat for years to come!”
Boat Grant Program Co-Chair, Ryan Davidson is excited to help announce these great teams. As Boat Grant Alumni himself (2018) this program has expanded his sailing experiences over the past 5 years with highlights including a second-place finish at the 2019 South American Championship in Peru and officially becoming a Lightning boat owner in 2022. At the 2024 Winter Championships Ryan finished a strong 3rd overall! “I am excited to pass along the knowledge I’ve learned and welcome new sailors into the Class.”
More information about the Lightning Class Boat Grant Program can be found on the Lightning Class website www.lightningclass.org or by contacting the Class Office at office@lightningclass.org or 727-942-7969.
Remember to click on the team’s ranking link to read Coach Panel Comments. Thanks to our panel: Chris Klevan (Stanford), Ken Legler (Emeritus), John Mollicone (Brown), Isaac Clark (U Penn), and Johnny Norfleet (Tufts).
By Ken Legler
Practice Drills for Team Racing
Most team racing drills fall into two categories; race and re-set and forced rounding combinations. There are plenty more but let’s start with these two.
In race and re-set simply start a team race until one team has a big lead. The boat in first can sail all the way to last if that changes the score enough to make it a close race once again. When someone asks who won, you can say they did, but we reset three times with our team leading big each time.
Forced roundings, just like rabbit starts, take a little bit of practice to set up efficiently. You can line up between marks three and four or between marks one and two. Round the marks in the desired order, such as 1-3-6 v. 2-4-5, without mark traps and go into your covering and passback schemes.
A really big team with 18 boats (six teams of three boats) could have drills starting at the leeward mark, at the windward mark and at the start. After twenty minutes they can rotate to another part of the course.
The most classic team racing combinations are the 1-4-5 v. the 2-3-6. You could practice this all season and never master it as it can be quite tricky with all six boats in on the action. Let me know when you master play 2 from a 2-3-6 against a champion opponent.
Team Racing Communication
Maximize communication among teammates in between races but minimize talk during a race. The problem with talking to teammates during a race is that up to all three opponents can hear you. You could instead speak in code, or in a foreign language if you all know it. Best example of how speaking backfires: During a B-level race between Tufts and URI at Roger Williams, Tufts held a 2-3-5 going up the last beat while URI was in a 1-4-6. Both teams were hesitant to attack until…a Tufts skipper yelled out “Play two.” The idea was that he wanted his teammates to pass back the opponent in 4th to create a stable 2-3-4 combo known as play two. The moment that hail was made, all three URI team knew two things; that they needed to execute their own play four (1-4-5 combo) and more important, they had to execute immediately, which they did, for the win.
Here is another losing example, 1996 college tr nationals approaching the finish against Old Dominion and we are close to executing a 1-4-5 from a 1-4-6 just before the finish. Our boat in 4th reaches down to pin the opponent from tacking. That’s when they hailed “Tack.” Thinking the pin was solid the 6th boat attempted to tack but tagged the opponent in 5th right near the transom upon tacking out. The subsequent penalty turn gave the win to ODU. How did that happen? The ODU heard the Tufts boat hail “Tack” and knowing the leeward boat would tack, they instantly slammed the brakes on by heeling with tiller pulled up to windward.
The short story is one should never tell their teammates what to do during a race since the other team will simply exeute the counter-move. I know it is tempting to tell a less experienced team racer what to do but that is what practice is for.
If there are certain things you must communicate in a race then do so in code. As a team invent a bunch of silly names for the following: play one, play two, play four, we need help, we’re at the layline, big puff or shift over here, I got my guy, etc.
Sail1Design is pleased to bring you our coach panel’s ICSA Team Race Rankings Update #2. LOTS of data to digest and update!!! Remember to click on the team’s ranking link to read Coach Panel Comments! Thanks to our panel: Chris Klevan (Stanford), Ken Legler (Emeritus), John Mollicone (Brown), Isaac Clark (U Penn), and Johnny Norfleet (Tufts).
For Open Rankings #2, CLICK HERE
For Women’s Rankings #2, CLICK HERE