Two Sarasota young people are preparing for a big trip across the pond this week: Mack Johnson, 14, and his sailing partner Coco Claypoole, 16, are heading to the United Kingdom for the Nacra 15 Open Worlds sailing competition this week.

Every year, top young sailors from around the world compete in the international sailing competition which this year takes place from July 25 to Aug. 1. For those who do well in the championship, the competition is a pathway to the Youth Olympics. 

This is Johnson’s fifth year as a sailor, but boating was part of his life when he and his family lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, and spent time at their lakehouse in Kentucky. After they moved to Sarasota, his mother signed him up for Sarasota Youth Sailing (SYS), where he began practicing competitive sailing on the Nacra 15 boat—a high-performance, semi-foiling, 15-foot catamaran. It’s the same boat he and Coco will be competing on in the championship. 

“I am super excited and happy. I’ve been on a boat since I was at least 10 years old,” says Johnson, who will attend Sarasota High School next year. But as the youngest member of the U.S. national team, he’s also “a little bit nervous.” 

Claypoole, originally from Maryland, started sailing when she was seven and was hooked from day one. After moving to Sarasota in 2018, where she’s homeschooled, she also took up sailing competitively at SYS. 

“In 2019, I joined the beginner race team, and I just loved it,” Claypoole says. “After the pandemic, I kept coming back to sail and kept moving up through the race team.”

After learning to sail on small dinghies designed for children, she’s graduated to

more advanced boats, like the 420, a larger two-person racing dinghy, and the Nacra 15, her favorite. 

“I love how [the Nacra 15s] are really reactive boats,” Claypoole says. “You can turn them easily and they go fast compared to the 420s.”

In the upcoming Open Worlds race, Claypoole will be the skipper on the catamaran. Johnson is responsible for adjusting the jib (a triangular headsail) and spinnaker (a large lightweight, asymmetrical nylon sail) and moving around the catamaran to keep the boat flat and balance body weight. 

Nick Lovisa, the director at SYS, is Claypoole and Johnson’s main coach. He and other coaches at SYS have been training the pair to get familiar with the Nacra 15 for a year and a half. This January, they won silver in the Lauderdale Olympic Classes Regatta in the Nacra 15 class, beating out eight other boats and earning a coveted spot on the U.S. Sailing Youth National Team.  

Their prep for Open Worlds involved strategy for how close to be at the starting line, how to set up the mast and how to handle themselves around a large fleet of other boats.

“You need to understand balance. You’ve got to be able to multitask,” Lovisa says. “[You need] starting strategy and communication skills between the two partners to really take everything that's coming in at such a high rate of speed.”

Claypoole and Johnson will be sailing with about 80 other boats in Plymouth Sound, England— many more than the 13 boats they are used to sailing alongside here in Florida. According to Lovisa, the boats could be as little as an inch apart in the water. 

If they place in the competition, the pair could qualify to compete in the Youth Sailing World Championships at Marina de Vilamoura in Lolé, Portugal, on December 11-19. 

No matter what, competing in the U.K. is a big opportunity, which is why Lovisa is more focused on the pair learning and growing from the experience rather than placing. 

“It’s not necessarily all about the results,” he says. “ It's about having a fun time and gaining experience to further their commitment.”

Nacra 15 Open Worlds race days are July 28 through August 1. Get updates on Claypoole and Johnson’s performance through the Nacra 15 Instagram page.