Account | Login Cart: 0 Items Contacts and Sales Network PRODUCTS SPORT WEAR PRODUCT SUPPORT COMMUNITY HOME > COMPANY > WHO IS HARKEN Find a reseller Who is Harken Year 1967: thanks to an ingenious invention of President Peter Harken (on the right in the photo with his brother Olaf) the first Harken ball block is born. To tell the truth, Peter's intuition was not to invent ball-bearing blocks (they already existed, but were based on steel ball bearings that worked little or nothing in the marine environment and were extremely heavy), but rather the blocks. with plastic spheres that were light and reliable in all conditions. In those years, Peter Harken (a great sailing enthusiast) worked part time, to pay for his studies, in the electromedical company Gilson Medical Electronics which made extensive use of Delrin spheres. Peter came up with the idea that these plastic balls could be used to produce the ball blocks and began designing and building the blocks for his own use. Peter and his brother Olaf certainly did not intend to produce blocks and deck equipment on an industrial scale, but simply a light block with maximum smoothness that allowed them to quickly release the mainsheet of their iceboats (the only way to stop these sailing monsters that they travel at over 100 km / h on the frozen lakes of Wisconsin) and Scow (flat boats very common in the USA in the Great Lakes region). But the story of the brothers Peter and Olaf Harken does not begin with blocks and iceboats, but originates in Indonesia: 1937 for Peter and 1939 for Olaf who are born from a mother, Ulla, Swedish and father, Joe, Dutch. The Harken family had recently moved to the Philippines (their father was a Caterpillar executive) when the winds of war began to blow with the invasion by the Japanese army. The mother manages to repair with the young Peter and Olaf first in the Borneo region, then in New Zealand and Australia to arrive in San Francisco in 1945. In the meantime, no news of his father fallen prisoner of the Japanese until 1946 when he manages to re-embrace the family in the USA. Years pass and after first moving to Peoria (Illinois), having lived a few years in Larchmont (NY headquarters of Caterpillar) and again in the Philippines, it is time for the Harken brothers to decide which university studies to undertake and where. Peter's choice falls on Madison, the capital of Wisconsin and still an active university city, while Olaf chooses Georgia Tech. At the end of his studies, Peter graduates in economics and Olaf in engineering, then in the company Peter will become the technical soul while Olaf the commercial one. After the university phase, the time has come to serve the homeland: Peter sergeant in the army taking leave shortly before the start of the Vietnam War, Olaf naval officer embarked on a unit in service in the Pacific at the beginning of the Vietnam War. But let's go back to the first block: once the first prototypes have been built some friends of the two brothers (one name among all: Lowel North) want them for their boats with which they are about to participate in the Olympics in Mexico City, 1968. It was immediately a success: a shower of medals for the crews who used those strange blocks with plastic balls! Despite their successes, Peter and Olaf still don't think about building deck equipment and set up the Vanguard shipyard in a small garage in Waukesha (Wisconsin) to build Olympic classes like 470, Finn, FD. The successes follow one another and crews from all over the world lead the Vanguard dinghies to victory in the World Championships and Olympics; the small garage in Waukesha gives way to the new headquarters in Pewaukee, a few kilometers from Waukesha. After the construction of the first ball block (H001), Gary Comer (friend of the Harkens and owner of the Lands' End clothing company) promotes the 001 in his catalog and begins the development of Harken inc. which will soon become, all over the world, synonymous with deck equipment for sailing boats. The commitments and the strong growth of Harken Inc. no longer allowed the company to follow the Vanguard shipyard, which was sold in 1986. Con l'acquisizione dell'azienda italiana Barbarossa, che produceva winch, Harken diventa ben presto una azienda in grado di fornire tutto ciò che serve per l'attrezzatura di coperta di una imbarcazione a vela fino a diventare uno dei pochi gruppi internazionali nel settore dell'industria velica mondiale e le vittorie non si contano più: Optimist, Olimpiadi, Coppa America, Regate intorno al Mondo, One Design e mille altre ancora! La capogruppo ha sede a Pewaukee, nello stato americano del Wisconsin, nella regione dei Grandi Laghi a due ore di auto da Chicago e ad una ventina di minuti da Milwaukee. Nella sede centrale statunitense, che si estende su un'area di 35.000 mq dei quali 17.000 coperti, vengono progettati e prodotti i bozzelli, i carrelli, gli avvolgifiocco e i sistemi Battcar per rande steccate mentre Harken Italy, che ha sede a Limido Comasco (11.500 mq dei quali 8.000 coperti), in provincia di Como, si occupa della progettazione, della produzione e della commercializzazione della linea di winch per tutto il mondo. Oltre a queste due unita' produttive, fanno parte del gruppo anche Harken France, Harken UK, Harken Sweden, Harken Australia, Harken Poland e Harken New Zealand che hanno funzioni prettamente commerciali e di assistenza. Harken è presente con i propri prodotti in tutto il mondo attraverso uno delle piu' capillari reti di vendita e assistenza presenti nel mercato velico. AZIENDA Chi è Harken News ed Eventi Utilizzo Marchi Lavora con noi Harken nel Mondo SERVIZIO CLIENTI Condizioni Generali di Vendita Reso Merce Privacy Policy Avvisi e Istruzioni Generali Garanzia Limitata Mondiale RISORSE Seleziona la Nazione Sfoglia il Catalogo Listino Prezzi Mappa del Sito Facebook Twitter YouTube Via Marco Biagi, 14 22070 Limido Comasco (CO) Tel: +39 031 3523511 Fax: +39 0313520031 Email: info@harken.it Subscribe to the newsletter © 2016 Copyright Harken Italy SpA - All rights reserved - info@harken.it - Tel: +39 031 3523511 - PI: 01993580131 We use cookies for the proper functioning of the site. To continue using the site accept cookies. To learn more, view the Privacy Policy . I accept cookies from this site.