Sail1Design Editor

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 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.