Kulkoskis Dominate the 6th Annual Hobie Wave Nationals.
Dan and Kathy Kulkoski totally dominated the Hobie 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.
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
Women’s 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.
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.
Youth Class
This year we had two youngsters 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?
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