Dan and Kathy Kulkoski totally dominated the Wave Nationals in conditions
that were all over the place (light and fluky the first day, blowing dogs
of their chains the second day, and the final day of 15 mph and chilly)
Dan took bullets in 8 out of 15 races to finish 21 points ahead of the
second place sailor, Jim Glanden.
Kathy Kulkoski took 3rd place, followed by Bob Bergstedt and Stan Woodruff.
See the pictures at the end
Women's Class
Wife, Kathy Kulkoski, was the only woman that raced in the heavy winds
the second day, so there was no one that was going to catch her for the
Womens Class. But that was not good enough for this tough, tenacious lady.
In the last five races she took 3 bullets, a 2nd and a 3rd to move up
to 3rd in the overall Open Class standings.
And all through the tough sailing on the second day, Kathy was always
grinning from ear to ear as she crossed the finish line. It is really
wonderful to have competitors like this out there on the water.
See the pictures at the end
Masters
In the Masters Class it was Jim Glanden all the way, who also finished 2nd in the Open Class. Defending Champ, Stan Woodruff, was second in the Masters, followed by Hollis Caffee.
This year we had two youngster that were 11 and 12 years old. Zach Grant
of Ft Walton Beach, Florida has come up through the typical Opti circuit
and really knows all the skills it takes to be a winner.
He is new to catamarans so wasn't really able to get the boat moving early
in the series -- seemingly only able to get up to 12th place.
And then the RC Officials hampered his cause by not letting either youngster
sail by themselves on Saturday during the blow. Instead of making them
stay ashore, they allowed a parent to go out on each boat in order to
be able to right the boat.
But, on the final day the winds had subsided enough that they were given
free rein. Zach really got it going in the last two races and took two
second place finishes to finish up overall in 8th place and to win the
Youth Nationals.
Could we have another Smyth or Struble in the making?
See the pictures at the end
Youth Class
The other youngster, Jason Soares of Key Largo, had never raced before
and did not have much sailing experience at all. He was all over the place
on the first day, then upside down a few times on the second day. But,
he had really learned from all his mistakes. The final day he got it all
together and took finishes of 9-8-9 to finish in 13th place overall.
It was great to see the kids do so well and have so much fun.
For Full Results Click on the following hot link:http://www.catsailor.com/Stories_Temp/WaveNtlsResults03.htm
Pictures below:
For all the pictures we took, click Here!
The following three pictures are of Norm Freeman on the last race on Saturday.
The next two are of Dan Kulkoski showing he winning ways:
Dan Takes home the Perpetual Trophy:
Kathy Kulkoski skunked the Womens Class as well. Number 41 is Kathy rounding a very crowded C Mark with Stan Woodruff.
Kathy Kulkoski looked back a lot at the entire fleet behind her.
The Winning Ladies are from l to r: Kathy Kulkoski, Kathy's sister, Pegi Villa, and Sharon Woodruff
The following shots were of Per Lofgren on a screaming reach:
In the Youth Class, Number 77 was Zach Grant, the winner and 8th place overall in the Open Class
Another youth sailor was Jason Soares (33) battling it out with veteran Stan Woodruff (55)
From l.to r: Jason Soares (12), Rick White and Zach Grant (11)
Masters Winners from l to r: Jim Glanden (1st place), Stan Woodruff (2nd place) and Hollis Caffee (3rd place), and no one checked their ID at the bar.
