Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories
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Claire Suplizio at the 2026 C420 Open North Americans
On July 20, I flew out to Port Credit, Canada to compete in the 2026 C420 Open North Americans. This was the biggest event I had ever sailed, with nearly 180 boats, and it was my first time sailing internationally. My crew, Camryn Homer, and I flew out 2 days early to get 2 practice days in before the regatta, to make sure our boat was in good shape, and to get used to sailing on a lake. Unfortunately, it was thunderstorming on the first practice day, and blowing 40 kts, so we weren’t able to hit the water. The next day, we practiced on Lake Ontario for the first time. It took some time to get used to sailing in fresh water, and with different wind and current patterns, but we had good wind, and felt ready for the long regatta ahead of us.
The first race day had very different conditions in comparison to the practice days, with light wind and flat water. The race committee managed to get 4 quality races off for each flight on the first day. However, the next day, it was even lighter. We spent the entire morning on land postponement, which we spent hanging out with our teammates, and meeting new friends from other teams and countries. When we hit the water again, there was still no wind, so we waited in postponement for a while, until the race committee decided to send us in for the day.
The regatta was split into championship fleets for the remaining two days, and our scores qualified us for the gold fleet. The third day was even lighter than the first day, and we only managed to get three races off after another morning of postponement. The fourth day was nearly identical to the second, with on land and on the water postponement, until they decided to call the regatta and send us back in. Despite being disappointed in the number of races, and the limited chances to improve our light wind sailing in a highly competitive fleet, Camryn and I were proud to qualify for the gold fleet at our first Open North Americans, the biggest regatta we had ever sailed, and were proud of how much we learned and grew as a team. I am so grateful to the Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation for their support, this wouldn’t be possible without them!