Precise and active sail trim is the final-percentage difference in maximizing your boatspeed advantage on the racecourse. Harken’s new Zircon range of blocks use a ceramic race and ceramic ball bearings to achieve a better feel for a light-air trim and heavy-air efficiency. This is a true trimmer’s block, says Matt Schmidt, of Harken Inc., the global leader in performance sailboat hardware. After months of R&D, world champion sailor Ravi Parent confirms his Zircons make him faster and shares how he integrates Zircon blocks into the precision sail-trim systems of his high-performance crafts. For more information about the Zircon blocks, visit harken.com/zircon.

About Harken

The real fuel behind a company’s success is its people.

Peter and Olaf Harken recognized this basic business principle over 50 years ago when starting Harken/Vanguard in the snow and corn country of southeastern Wisconsin. Since those early days, Harken has grown from a backyard dream of two brothers to a global reality with offices and distributors around the world. Harken gear dominates events like the America’s Cup, the Ocean Race, the Maxi Worlds, Super Yacht events worldwide, the Olympics and one-design championships everywhere, with blocks, travelers, deck hardware, winches, and hydraulics.

The Harken story has been full of twists, turns, successes, and reinventions, but through it all the goal of challenging the status quo and commitment to excellence has always remained the same.

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Customers were asking for an assortment of through-decks in aluminum, says Harken’s Bill Faude. “Really, customers ask for lots of that stuff that lives between blocks and cleats and protects decks and line. There is a lot of development going on in this rigging space. We’ll do more Gizmos as people ask for quantities of them that make doing them possible, and we will participate with others where we can supply components they need.”

Initially, Harken will offer single-sided through-deck bushings to protect decks and lines from chafing when used in through-deck applications. Double-sided through-deck bushings are also available, engineered for installing soft attachment loops to protect lines from wear.

Padeye kits include a cross pin, waterproof cap and O-ring to convert a double-sided bushing into a through-deck, watertight padeye. The cross pin attaches the loop and the cap snaps over the top to keep water out. Bushings and loops are sold separately.

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Olaf Harken and his older brother, Peter, created the hugely successful rope handling business that bears their name, by working hard, delivering excellence, and having fun every day.

Harken, Inc. makes marine hardware, hydraulics and winch systems for racing and cruising sailboats of all types and sizes. Industrial hardware applications include the commercial marine, architectural, and rope access and rescue industries.

The brothers took a lot of chances over the years – and employees are encouraged to do the same.

When Olaf Harken was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2014 along with Peter, he explained the brothers’ business philosophy: “When trying new stuff our rule is to ask, ‘if it all goes bad, can we survive?’ Then we go to the bar and forget what we just said and do it anyway!”

Olaf and Peter quickly learned that the real fuel behind a company’s success is its people.

“Peter and I were not very smart,” Olaf said in his 2015 memoir Fun Times in Boats, Blocks & Business, “but we did know that success is linked directly to trust and treating people with dignity, and maybe a little sprinkling of humor.”

The Harken story has been full of twists, turns, successes, and reinventions, but through it all the goal of challenging the status quo and commitment to being at the front remains.

At Harken headquarters in Pewaukee, Peter Harken told an assembly of Harken members:

“My brother did all the hard work so I could have all the fun.

“During the days when the company was just getting going, Olaf was in charge of the money. He kept us in business. If I had been in charge of that we would have been in big trouble.”

“His legacy is in this culture. So, let’s just keep doing what we do. Just keep getting better. You are a great family. Thanks a lot. He’ll be watching you, so no sloughing off!”

Bill Goggins, CEO Harken read this passage from Olaf’s autobiography in remembrance:

“Peter and I have long believed there is a word that should apply to almost every action and decision. That word is honesty. I got my first lesson in honesty shortly after we started the business—back when we were building those first six boats for Ohio State University. Like almost every boatbuilder, we were behind by quite a few weeks. When our customers called and wanted to know when we were going to deliver, I lied. I said they would be ready in about a week. Peter overheard me and was furious. He made me call them back and tell them I was wrong, that we were further behind and would not be able to deliver for a few more weeks. This was very embarrassing, but it taught me a good lesson. For one thing, I didn’t have to keep on lying each week. Taking the beating once is a lot easier than building one lie on top of another. It’s not easy to do and the customer is going to be angry or disappointed, but that’s the end of it.”

Goggins also said, “You couldn’t have scripted a nicer weekend for Olaf than the one just past. Pewaukee Yacht Club honored Olaf on Saturday night with a Lifetime Achievement Award to a full house standing ovation. He rose, walked to the front and accepted the award with his usual grace and dignity. The evening was highlighted by Olaf and Ruth on the dance floor. Sunday was a simple Packer game with his family and then, a remarkable chance 30-minute walk with his brother in the sunshine. He died peacefully in his sleep with his loved ones nearby. The company mourns his loss; however the company celebrates his life by doing what we do…every day…into a bright future.”

Olaf Harken was born of Dutch and Swedish parents in Indonesia at the beginning of World War II. In 1941 the Japanese attacked Indonesia. During the fighting and nightly bombings, Peter, Olaf, and their Swedish mother managed to escape to Borneo. Their Dutch father, Joe joined the very small Dutch army and helped fight the Japanese until his capture. Joe was imprisoned for five years and was not liberated until the end of the war. Meanwhile, Peter, Olaf, and mother Ulla lived first in Borneo, were then troop-shipped to New Zealand for a year, to Australia for another year, and finally shipped to San Francisco in 1944. Here they were miraculously reunited with their father in 1946 after the war was over.

After studying at Georgia Tech, Olaf Harken took an engineering job in New York City, but in 1967 he returned to Wisconsin to help Peter build boats for the college market. “Why I made that decision then I’ll never know,” said Olaf.

Inside the office were a couple of doors on saw horses used as desktops, an old typewriter, a telephone, and a file cabinet. A plastic sheet separated the offices from the fiberglass and assembly area. Marketing consisted of all-night drives with Peter at the wheel and Olaf typing brochures in the back seat of an old Chevy wagon. That first year they made $3,800-together.

The Harkens aren’t sure exactly when the turnabout happened, but Olaf the engineer ended up running the business side of Harken Inc., with Peter the economist handling design and production. “Peter designed the blocks, and knew more about manufacturing than me,” Olaf said. “Olaf was more patient, better at the business than me,” Peter said. “Each of us was better at the other guys’ education. We kept it quiet, figuring people wouldn’t want blocks designed by an economist.”

Harken is survived by his wife of 47 years Ruth, three daughters, four granddaughters and one grandson. Preliminary plans include a visitation and service Saturday morning, October 26 at Galilee Lutheran Church in Pewaukee, followed immediately by a celebration at Harken corporate headquarters. For overseas friends, another celebration of Olaf’s life will be held during the annual METS show in Amsterdam in November.

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E Scow Blue Chip Regatta

Art Mitchel is old school, in a never-take-the-easy-way-out sort of way. Art, the “­corporate navigator” of Harken (yes, it’s on his business card), is the third member of the company’s original afterguard. While Peter Harken covered product development and Olaf Harken covered marketing, Art kept the business on track, making the Harken brothers the success they are today. This required the honest hard work that builds a business. He has never been afraid of work.

Art, a longtime Wisconsinite, traces his family roots back to Finland, where sisu translates to “endurance.” My first introduction to him outside the Harken office was in the Laser class, 20 years ago, when I had just started at the company. There were many sunset evenings when I would see the name of his Laser, Sisu, on the transom and wonder what it meant. In his understated style, Art didn’t disclose much about it.

I think the most I got once was, “It’s a Finnish word that I like the sound of.”

Sisu is a fitting ­illustration for everything he does. He’s raced sailboats his whole life — and always put in more effort than the people on the starting line with him. He skied 34 sequential American Birkebeiners, the largest, and one of the longest (at 50 km), cross-country ski races in North America. To stay fit, he constantly ran, biked and paddled his carbon-fiber canoes. He ran more than a dozen marathons. For fun, he once joined a group that cross-country skied across the entire width of Finland — yes, the entire country. Never take the easy way out. That’s sisu.

Sisu also describes his ­ability to endure the ugliest parts of running a business in the marine industry. We Pewaukee youngsters have freed him of this burden lately, and while we’re managing just fine, we still rely on his guidance. No one will ever be better than Art.

Art grew up with a remarkable window into ­modern sailing. In Huntington Beach, California, he raced Stars against the likes of Lowell North before shipping off to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. As luck would have it, he met Peter Harken, and the two were roommates all four years. As a sidekick to Peter, you can bet he earned a minor in good times too. Harken always smiles when describing his sense of humor: “Oftentimes, I’m the butt of the jokes from him, or I’m caught for something he thought up. Only Mitch could get away with that.”

Art also went to school with Peter Barrett, a two-time Olympic medalist (1968 gold in the Star with North, and ’64 silver in the Finn), and he was the first manager hired by North to run North Sails, along with another close friend and confidant, Charlie Miller. As a sidekick to Barrett and Miller, Art learned a lot about hard work and doing the right thing.

It was Art’s law degree from the University of Wisconsin that landed him the rank of judge advocate in the U.S. Air Force, at the Strategic Air Command Base in Michigan. A successful career at First Wisconsin Trust Co. followed, but a suit and tie would only last so long.

“Olaf and I had been begging him to come help us at Harken,” says Peter Harken. “We’d show up at his bank office in our grubby clothes and tell him he didn’t belong there. He had a great job ready for him, and took a huge pay cut to come work for us and help us with the dirty work. On his first day, he said, ‘I know where to start,’ before picking up a broom.”

Art today could pen ­volumes on the brothers Harken, and they could do the same of him. “Because of our family name, Peter and I get all the hoopla and recognition,” writes Olaf in his memoirs, “but Mitch has spent his career in the trenches, keeping us out of real trouble (though somehow we still always manage to find some).”

There are a few words that define his impeccable character and his simple Midwestern traits: smart, honest and hardworking. Values grown right out of the Pewaukee soils. I lost my father when I was 18, and his passing forced me to grow up and seek advice from other role models. As a young and impressionable individual, I was forced to learn a lot from the people with whom I spent time. Fortunately for me, that time was spent with him. He has uncommon sisu, and he invested a lot to put me, and Harken, in a better place. That is the art of Art.

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The America’s Cup grinder’s job has been transformed over the last two Cup cycles whereas the grinding is now virtually nonstop. What’s up with that? Two words: hydraulic pressure.

Eighty-percent or more of the energy spent grinding is invested in moving hydraulic fluid around the boat. The need for hydraulic pressure has been driven by the increasing sophistication of the boats, specifically by the number of controls that need adjustment, above and below the water, ­sometimes under extreme loads.

Every team sails its boat ­differently. Harken has developed and supplied solutions based upon specific design briefs the teams issue. Generally speaking, on the AC50 the functions controlled by hydraulic cylinders include: the two foils (height, cant, rake), the two rudders (rake), and wing control (twist, camber, invert).

The foil-pitch solution is used most frequently. This ­hydraulic control’s stroke is short, and flow requirement is minimal, but it’s used by the helmsman to balance the boat’s fore and aft trim, so it has to react quickly. The foil-height solution typically requires the highest actuation speed. The windward foil towers above the deck, revealing a cylinder with an extraordinarily long stroke. As a result, this system requires the largest oil flow and highest ­actuation speed.

It’s no coincidence then that the most sophisticated hydraulic component Harken sells for AC application is the AC35 Radial Pump, pictured above. It’s a three-speed 20-piston pump that bears a striking similarity to a radial piston-driven aircraft engine, though in a much smaller size. There are four of these “hearts” onboard the boats – mounted to the outside of the Harken MX Pedestals in each hull. This is the core of the system, and just like the heart of the grinder at the pedestal, the Radial Pump is the muscle pumping blood to a champion racehorse.

– Bill Faude and Mark Wiss, of Harken

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While touring Harken’s bustling factory in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, in June we spotted a small crate immaculately packed with gleaming new blocks. The blocks, with injection-molded red-and-black sideplates were nestled like jewels in foam packaging. Come to find out they were the first finished outbound batch of Harken’s new V block series, which they say is the company’s “highest performing, most efficient block” they’ve ever produced. They’re bound for AC and grand-prix boats, but they’re good for your one-design or crossover, too.

The carbon sideplates (also available in anodized aluminum) are 3D molded and the races are titanium holding captive titanium roller bearings. By “combining the axial and thrust loads into a single bearing set of angled titanium rollers,” says Harken, they’ve reduced the number of components in the block to reduce weight and simplify disassembly for inspection and maintenance. They are available in four sizes with maximum working loads of 1,500, 3,000, 5,000 and 6,500 kgf.

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