Charles Leaf

Charles Leaf was the owner of Lalage, which won the 6-metre class at the 1936 Olympic Games. Leaf was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a contemporary of Chris Boardman who skipped Lalage at the Olympics. In 1922, Leaf captained Cambridge in their match against Oxford. He later became a member of many of the leading yacht clubs, including the Royal Corinthian at Burnham which he chose as base for the successful challenge for Olympic honors in 1936. Leaf enjoyed private means and was a distinguished amateur archaeologist; he wrote numerous papers on the subject and donated the majority of his finds to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. In 1917 he married Catherine Blanche, the fourth daughter of Lord Shuttleworth, and they maintained fine homes in London and Suffolk. In the First World War, Leaf served as a Lieutenant in The Buffs and in World War II he was initially with the RAF Balloon Command before becoming a Lieutenant in the Royal Marines at the age of 47.