As sailors we all share the same fundamental belief: ‘Do right by the boat and it will do right by you.’ Most of the time, routine maintenance is what’s required. But then, there are the times when it’s time for something more…a rethink and a bigger project—The Refit. That’s what the latest issue of Harken’s quarterly digital digest, “At The Front” is all about.

Year after year we ask…how can we make this boat easier or safer to sail? How can we keep up with the way the leaders sail them today? How can we make what’s not quite right…right? Just because it wasn’t launched that way, doesn’t mean we can’t rig it that way. This fall, “At The Front” dives deep into refits. In this issue you’ll find detailed content with video about:

• A 1926 Herreshoff S Class renewal
• A racer-cruiser gets electric winches—on the mooring
• The entire RC44 Class refit at once
• Two all-out off-shore race boats renewed
• An International 505 pre-regatta refit
• A safer reefing alternative for Warrior Sailors

Check out At The Front—The Refit Issue.

Harken’s Engineering Manager in Pewaukee, Steve Orlebeke has this to say about the role Harken often plays in refit projects. “In my 20+ years at Harken, I’ve followed a large number of refits. I’ve helped design a lot of custom equipment fueled by the objectives of those refits to both cruising and racing boats. At Harken, some of our most successful catalog products began out of a design brief from a naval architect or project manager looking to improve ease of use or performance. New thinking regularly results in new solutions. What comes out of those refit projects is some of the most creative, most enjoyable work we do in the Harken Engineering team. Refits…I say if you’ve got a project, we’re happy to wade into it with you. Just get in touch!”

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As sailors we all share the same fundamental belief: Do right by the boat and it will do right by you. Most of the time, routine maintenance is what’s required. But then, there are the times when we need something more…a rethink and a bigger project—The Refit. That’s what the latest issue of “At The Front” is all about.

Year after year we ask…how can we make this boat easier or safer to sail? How can we keep up with the way the leaders sail them today? How can we make what’s not quite right…right? Just because it wasn’t launched that way, doesn’t mean we can’t rig it that way. This fall, we dedicate our issue of At The Front to refits. In this issue you’ll find detailed content with video about:

• Two all-out race boats
• A racer/cruiser refit while on the water
• The entire RC44 Class refit at once 
• An International 505
• A safer alternative for Warrior Sailors
• And a Herreshoff S Class design from 1926. 

Check out At The Front—The Refit Issue

Harken’s Engineering Manager in Pewaukee, Steve Orlebeke, has this to say about the role Harken often plays in refit projects: “In my 20+ years at Harken, I’ve followed a large number of refits. I’ve helped design a lot of custom equipment fueled by the objectives of those refits to both cruising and racing boats. At Harken, some of our most successful catalog products began out of a design brief from a naval architect or project manager looking to improve ease of use or performance. New thinking regularly results in new solutions. What comes out of those refit projects is some of the most creative, most enjoyable work we do in the Harken Engineering department. Refits…I say if you’ve got a project, we’re happy to wade into it with you. Just get in touch!”

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Sailing enthusiast Scott Herman was looking for a sailing program in Charleston, South Carolina, for his son who is on the autism spectrum. Upon learning that none of the sailing programs in his area were equipped to provide his son instruction, Herman decided to start his own camp.

Born modestly out of necessity, Spectrum Sailing became the first sailing camp specifically created to serve people on the autism spectrum. The first camp was held in 2017 with a maximum capacity for ten sailors. When seventy applied, Herman quickly realized the impact that his new endeavor might have on the community of kids on the autism spectrum. 

“From the very start, I wanted to build a program where we really do hold a camp,” Herman says. “These kids aren’t the ones who get picked to be on the school team. They don’t have drawers full of team shirts. These kids spend almost every day with their parents, who are constantly looking for new things for them to try. So, for three days, these kids get to spend time with camp friends. They tie knots. They laugh at silly camp jokes. And while they’re doing that, maybe their parents get a break as well.” 

The camps are staffed by a combination of Spectrum Sailing leadership and sailing instructors from the host clubs, who receive advanced training in working with kids on the spectrum. On each boat, there’s a second adult volunteer—some of whom travel long distances to provide the help. Local sailors sometimes lend their boats to take parents out to watch. By the end of the third day, it’s more than a boat ride. The kids are sailing the boats, and the instructors are just riding along. 

This year alone, ten camps have been held from Newport Beach, California, to Portland, Maine, and from Holland, Michigan, to Houston, Texas. Each camp was fully attended, giving more than 400 campers the confidence-building experience of learning to sail this year. More than 100 volunteers gave their time and effort to make it all happen, and even more growth is planned for 2025. 

According to Herman, the biggest challenge remains how to scale the camp initiative to meet the demand. Unfortunately, for every camper accommodated, currently, at least three must be turned away. 

“Harken joined as a national sponsor of Spectrum Sailing in 2023,” said Harken CEO Bill Goggins. “We watched how Spectrum Sailing campers would come in on Day One as halting first-timers—sometimes not wanting to leave their parents—and leave after the camp picture on Day Three feeling like they’ve discovered something that they didn’t know they had inside. The expressions on their faces are the same ones you see from any first-time sailor, old or young, who first experiences sailing’s magic. ‘I can do this. I got in a boat. I did this and it was really fun.’ And that just goes to show how being exposed to sailing can be life-changing for these kids.

“It teaches self-reliance in a way that sports with lots out-of-bounds lines can’t,” added Goggins. “We started Harken Blockheads to help pass that along to the next generation of sailors. Scott’s concept for Spectrum Sailing felt like it might work similarly. Then we went to a camp, and we saw how they did it. And they do it well. 

“They bring specialists to teach the local sailing instructors who host the camps how to instruct kids who are differently enabled. They bring a curriculum that is tested and tweaked and proven to work. Then they watch the power of sailing work in these people’s lives. And in that incredibly loving and organized environment, sailing delivers. You can see it on their faces. You can see it in the way the kids run to camp on Day Three where they might have held back on Day One. And then there are the stories you don’t always get to see in what sailing does for these kids days and weeks later. Those things are sometimes even more incredible.”

For more on Spectrum Sailing, visit their website. 

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Harken REFLEX furling has proven its value to recreational racers and shorthanded cruisers delivering very reliable, very tight top-to-bottom spinnaker furls. This is great news for sailors itching to get their free-flying sails out of the forepeak and into the air. After all, downwind sailing is supposed to be the best sailing of all. Even if you’re sailing shorthanded, with a Reflex, you can furl up the kite and leave the halyard hoisted until you drop anchor or get back to your slip. So why are so many people motoring?!

Here’s how Reflex works so reliably where other systems can disappoint: the Reflex torsion cable is the secret. Using a unique stainless mesh cage around a rope core, the cable is amazingly ‘twist-rigid’. It transfers rotational torque from the deck where you are pulling the furling line, to top swivel where complete furls must start. Why do complete furls have to start up there? Spinnakers have much more area up top. That’s just the opposite of a jib which has much more area down at the deck.

Complete ‘top-down’ furls require all that area be furled before the foot finishes—just the opposite of what’s required of your more common headsail furler. The Reflex cable acts more reflexively to start the top spinning more than anything we’ve ever tested. The cable executes this while being easy to manage as you move it in and out of the sail bag. You use one cable per kite. Then a single large diameter bottom unit you use for all your kites helps make the furling process itself less of a strain.  Reflex comes boxed with everything—no power tools needed. There’s still time to get Harken Reflex furling sorted and get out there before the season is in full swing. Watch Reflex at work.

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For years, Harken Battcars have been so low in friction, sailors reef easily–even in a blow. Shortening sail safely is often the difference between having to scramble extra crewmembers out of the cockpit, and a safe, uneventful reef. Battcars make reefing quite manageable—especially shorthanded. Halyard eased, it takes surprisingly little to pull down the luff—which remains permanently attached to the track and unchaotic. Battcars add the shortened sail safety factor we want for more sailors.

Harken Battcars continue to advance. So, if you haven’t evaluated them in some time, look at ‘em again. Today’s Battcars are ‘captive bearing’ so our famous Harken bearing balls stay in their races and off your deck. Our newly available mast slugs and slug track make retrofitting your grooved spar with a Battcar system a realistic DIY project. It might sound crazy, but that retrofit can be done mast-up…with the boat still in the water. Recently, we began installing the slug track system on a 40-footer in the morning. The owners had previously had their sails modified to fit Battcars. We went sailing that evening! If you don’t believe it, check out this video.

These days, there are more Harken Battcar options than ever. The split-track option cuts mainsail stack height in half by cueing each car to take an alternate path as the halyard is lowered. See that feature here. This system has an optional storm trysail track that allows crews to deploy from below the boom around the mainsail stack.

As always, Battcar systems cost a fraction of in-boom or in-mast furling–for which you need a whole new spar. If you’re doing more shorthanded sailing…or if you’re fighting back against downsizing, Harken Battcars can be a solution. So much safety, so simply added.

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At Cruising World, we love a good DIY project. So we were thrilled when our friends at Harken invited us to Narragansett Bay to come aboard as they installed their Electric Winch System on a Sabre 36 that is currently undergoing a complete refit. Check out the video to see how it’s done.

To learn more about Harken’s Electric Winch System, visit harken.com or view this handy FAQ on the product line.

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On a recent windy romp through the British Virgin Islands, I found myself aboard a 45-foot charter cat, caught up in one of those moments that fellow sailors know only too well: All was going perfectly until it wasn’t. One minute we were successfully shaking a reef out of the main in anticipation of a long reach down Sir Francis Drake Channel to the Bight on Norman Island, and the next, the reef lines were incredibly tangled and the flogging sail was stuck in the mast track, unable to go up and unwilling to come down.

Instantly, a relaxing afternoon voyage became a lot like work as I scrambled up onto the cabin top and climbed up mast steps, hanging on with one arm, and clawing frantically with a boat hook in the other to pull down the sail so we could straighten out the mess. A tense few minutes ended well enough, but it was a good reminder of the forces at play when wind—lots of it—meets boat.

The engineers at Harken had similar—though larger-scale—scenarios in mind back in the 1980s when they created the first Battcar System for use on supersize record-chasing multihulls. The solution: affix sections of tracks to the mast and install cars with ball bearings to replace the main’s sail slides. This let the crew manage the enormous spreads of battens and cloth used to drive the powerful cats.

It didn’t take long for sailors aboard other top race boats to see the advantages of being able to safely raise and reef sails from the security of the cockpit, and today, Battcars are basic gear aboard pretty much all of the sailboats taking high-speed laps around the planet—or rounding the buoys in local waters, for that matter.

But what’s good for going fast can also be a welcome addition on cruising boats, where owners want to keep things safe and enjoyable, and where shorthanded crews might encounter a wide range of conditions to which they’ll need to react quickly.

There are other options, of course. Many boats today have in-mast furling, but their mainsails can’t carry battens and therefore have a hollow leach, which means less power. Or they rely on vertical battens that can be troublesome to remove should the sail need to come down in a hurry. In-boom furling is also available, and while these systems allow for full-cut sails with battens, they tend to be expensive, and they too require care when furling. And what do you do if you buy a boat without such systems?

Call me old-fashioned, but a traditional full-batten main not only looks good and performs well, but it also can be dropped easily—so long as you point the bow into the wind. Add a Battcar System, and it can be doused with control or reefed no matter the wind direction, thanks to the ball bearings in the cars that attach it to the mast.

Harken has designed its systems so that retrofitting them is a relatively approachable project for the do-it-yourselfer, and one that will be a lot less costly than buying a new furling mast or boom.

Since their introduction in the 1980s, Harken’s Battcars have evolved, though the basic concept is pretty much the same. Ball-bearing cars are loaded onto a track that runs up the mast. Instead of a boltrope or slugs, the sail is attached to a vertical pin on each car with a loop of webbing sewn onto the luff. On early cars, a cotter pin or ring was used to secure each pin, but current design employs a pushpin that locks itself into place. Older cars also relied on end caps to secure the ball bearings, and if those caps were damaged, the bearings could come loose and quickly disappear overboard. To prevent this, Harken developed captive ball bearings that are locked into place with retaining rings that can’t accidentally come undone.

Harken initially offered three systems—dubbed A, B and C—for boats from 35 feet up to about 60 feet. They’ve since added an AA line for boats down to 21 feet, and custom Battcar systems are available for larger yachts of 100 feet and more.

As a DIY refit project, installing the track appears fairly straightforward. On a smooth extrusion, holes can be drilled and tapped, and the track screwed into place. The ideal time to do this, of course, would be when the mast is down for winter storage, but it can also be done with the mast stepped, and in the case of a mast with a groove, it would require just one trip aloft using what Harken calls ‘Slug Track’ and a compliment of slugs. The required tools are fairly basic: hacksaw, file, drill and a couple of bits, Phillips head screwdriver, putty knife, crescent wrench, Allen wrenches, and a tape measure.

The slotted-mast installation kits include slugs that are fed into the sail slot. Then sections of the track get screwed loosely to the slugs and are pushed up the mast. The final piece of track gets cut to fit, and then an end piece is installed and tightened down. Once that’s done, someone takes a ride up the mast, tightening all the remaining screws as they go.

The system uses three different types of cars: one designed to hold the sail’s headboard, another to accommodate the battens, and intermediate luff cars that go between the batten cars. Installation-kit details are available in Harken’s online catalog. Select the number of cars and track sections you’ll need, install the track, slide on the cars, and you’re good to go. 

To adapt a sail for the system, all that’s required is to have a sailmaker replace the existing slugs with loops of webbing to attach to the Battcars’ pins.

With lazy jacks installed, dousing the main, even when sailing downwind in breezy conditions, means just letting go with the halyard, and reefing can be done from the cockpit, meaning no one has to go forward on deck. Safe and simple, right?   

To learn more about Harken’s Battcar System visit https://bit.ly/HarkenBattcarVideo

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“Throughout the years, Olaf and I have been approached by lots of good people interested in acquiring our business. The way we decided was simple. We turned down every offer that didn’t present a brighter future for our people than we could create on our own. We started this company to build the best sailing products we could at a fair price. We’ve had good success doing it, and that makes us proud.

What we might not have anticipated was how much the culture of this place means to its success. My brother Olaf, Art Mitchel, and I tried to build a place where people could take chances and not be afraid to fail. More and more it’s our people who have made this place the leader it is. Today, we’re acknowledging an ownership change. It’s time for those who have worked with us to own Harken.

I’ve got all the faith in the world in Bill Goggins, who is now CEO; Matt Malec, COO; and John Jensen, our CFO—along with the members of our Executive Committee made up of Andrea Merello, Managing Director at Harken Italy; Adriano Rubinaccio, Director of Operations at Harken Italy; and Stefano Castagna, Director of Global HR. These people we hired and developed have had their hands on the wheel for a while now, and I look forward to seeing them make their marks. I’ve always said the company is its people, and it’s all 400 worldwide that make this place great.

Three years ago when Harken turned 50, someone asked what we wanted Harken to be like when it turned 100. In 2067, we want it to be stronger than it is today. We hope it will still feel like Harken, but it needs to be doing more than we can even dream of today. This transaction is to help make that happen.

To our customers and collaborators: Take nothing about this news based on faith. These corporate announcements always sound like snow jobs. So, don’t believe anything about this based on anything I or anyone else says. Just keep checking out Harken products and buy from us until the second you find someone who can do it better—we won’t forget how to compete.

As for me…I’m not going anywhere! While the terms of this acquisition allow me to pretty much do whatever I’d like (who are we kidding, I’ve been doing that for years!), I’ll keep coming in because I want to. I like being with the people here…to see what’s going on every day, contributing where I can, and serving as a communication and sales ambassador in the field.

To the new owners: Olaf would be very happy today. I wish he was here to see this. But as I told you the day he passed away: no screwing around, he’ll be watching. So will I. It’s your watch now. Let’s roll!”

Bill Goggins, Harken CEO, said, “We have been preparing for a day like this for our whole careers. We have so much gratitude for Peter, Olaf, and Art for the trust they have shown in all of us. Today we raise our glasses to Peter Harken, Olaf Harken’s family, Rose Sorensen, and Art Mitchel. This company will always owe so much to them as our founders. It will always be Peter & Olaf Harken’s company, but starting today, it is in our care and custody.”

Matt Malec, Harken COO, said, “Historically, Harken has been a place where big things happen in uncertain economic times. We invested in a majority of our production capacity and built our headquarters and major centers of production during the Great Recession of the early 2000s. We’ve had strategic acquisitions as part of our goals for the last several years. Today, in the middle of this challenging year, we completed our most significant acquisition thus far. We hope there will be more. But today, Harken bought Harken.”

John Jensen, Harken CFO, said, “Over the last several years, we’ve prepared the company financially for a transaction that would shift its ownership. As a finance person, I’m very pleased with what we’ve done. First as an employee, and now employee-owner, I’m even happier we found a way to assure that as we grow this company it will continue to live its values.”

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Olaf Theodore Harken passed away peacefully at his home in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, on October 21, 2019. He was born on May 6, 1939, in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia, and is survived by his wife of 47 years, Ruth, their 3 daughters, 4 granddaughters and 1 grandson.

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.

Today at Harken, 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!”

Today at Harken, 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.”

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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