Leo Boucher: Croatian Nationals and ILCA European Championship

Recently, Leo Boucher completed two regattas and a training block in Croatia, where he competed in the Croatian ILCA 7 Nationals hosted in Split, Croatia, followed by several days of training in Kaštela, Croatia, the venue for the ILCA European Championship.

Leo Boucher sailing an ILCA dinghy, originally known as the Laser. The ILCA is a single-handed racing dinghy that it is protected by strict one-design class rules.

The venues provided a mix of excellent sea breeze racing along with very shifty and strong offshore breeze caused by the mountain range directly behind the racecourse, making for some tricky and challenging sailing conditions.

When Leo arrived in Croatia, he went straight into racing. The Croatian Nationals began on May 7th, and they raced for three days. With 75 boats on a single starting line, they gained a tremendous amount of starting practice along with valuable racecourse management experience.

Knowing this event was primarily part of a training block allowed Leo to take some different kinds of risks during racing that he would not normally take. Some of those decisions paid off, while others did not. One of the biggest takeaways from the Croatian Nationals was how important the pressure game became. It often paid to let boats cross early in the race if it meant sailing toward more pressure. Leo was able to make significant gains in several races by committing to that strategy and was able to put all the pieces together in the final race of the event, finishing 3rd. That result helped secure a 13th place finish overall out of 75 boats.

Following the Croatian Nationals, the group moved to the European Championship venue in Kaštela for several days of training both on and off the water before the start of the regatta. They had a solid training day in the shifty offshore conditions, which was especially valuable for Leo to test new sails and make sure everything with the spars was set up the way he wanted.

Leo Boucher training in Croatia.

Unfortunately, on the second day of training, Leo started his morning with a bike ride that was cut short, after only four minutes, when he was hit by a car whose driver was not paying attention. Leo was forced to take the next four days off training in an effort to regain enough shoulder mobility to be able to sail.

The injury left Leo very uncertain about what to do next.

“Part of me wanted to withdraw from the event, knowing my performance would likely be limited and [I was] concerned that racing could potentially cause further damage to my shoulder. Another part of me felt there was no point in heading home early since the trip had already been paid for, and I wanted to make the most of the opportunity.”

In the end, Leo decided to compete in the European Championship and had to adapt his sailing significantly. His boat handling could not keep up with the decisions he was making on the racecourse. Accelerations off the starting line became difficult because his trimming cadence was affected, and he tried to avoid tacking whenever possible because passing the tiller behind his back was quite painful. S-turning in the waves on starboard gybe was nearly impossible because trimming with his right arm did not allow him to sheet in enough to properly connect waves downwind.

Although Leo was grateful to be a part of the racing, the result was far from what he believed he could achieve following his performance at the Croatian Nationals.

“I am hopeful that this will prove to be only a small speed bump on the journey toward the Olympics."

When Leo returns to the United States, he plans to see several doctors to make sure the injury is not more serious than he currently believes. In June, Leo will be back on the water in San Pedro, California, training on the Olympic racecourse. 

"Thank you to AYCF for their continued support. I am looking forward to better results this summer and continuing to build toward future events.”