NEW ORLEANS, La. – Junior skipper Leo Boucher (West River, Md./South River) was one of eight collegiate sailors picked to represent the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) in the bi-annual ICSA – British Universities Sailing Association (BUSA) Tour this upcoming summer (July 15-August 9) in England as announced late Monday night.
Since 1959, the ICSA and the BUSA have taken part in a bi-annual competition where each organization sends a team of outstanding student-athletes across the Atlantic to compete against one another. The ICSA (US) Tour to the United Kingdom only happens once every four years while the BUSA Tour comes to the United States once every four years on opposite two-year cycles.
The two-time ICSA Men’s Singlehanded National Champion (2019 and 2021), Boucher is the eighth Seahawk sailor to be selected for the ICSA-BUSA Tour as sailor. He joins Mark Ivey ’99 (1997), Justin Law ’08 (2005), Jesse Kirkland ’10 (2009), Joshua Greenslade ’13 (2013), Mayumi ‘Mimi’ Roller ’13 (2013), Mackenzie Cooper ’17 (2017), and Carolyn Smith ’17 (2017).
In addition, St. Mary’s College Director of Sailing Bill Ward (2005) and Nick Ewenson ’04 (2009) have served as head coach/team leader of the ICSA team.
Along with winning his second ICSA Men’s Singlehanded National Championship, Boucher represented Team USA at the first-ever Junior Pan American Games in Cali, Colombia, this past December. Team USA collected two silver medals and one bronze while he just missed the podium by two points, finishing fourth. In his first two seasons of collegiate sailing, Boucher was named an ICSA Honorable Mention All-American.
Roughly two dozen collegiate sailors applied for a spot on the ICSA team. Joining Boucher to represent the ICSA on the Tour will be Olivia Belda of Brown University, Boyd Bragg of Dartmouth College, Spencer Cartwright of Roger Williams University, Patricia Gerli of Stanford University, Connor Nelson of Brown University, Noelle Owen of the College of Charleston, and Ciara Rodriguez-Horan of Tulane University. Tulane’s head sailing coach, Charles Higgins, will serve as the head coach/team leader.
The Tour consists of five primary trophy events featuring 3v3 Team Racing in Fireflies and ILCA 6s as well as Team and Match Racing in small keelboats. This year’s tour will feature stops in Edinburgh, West Kirby Sailing Club, Birmingham, Plymouth, Weymouth, Cowes, Lymington, and London.