Harken Official Hardware Supplier and Sponsor to US Sailing Team |
( April 29, 2005 ) Pewaukee, Wisconsin — US SAILING and Harken Yacht Equipment today announce a five-year strategic partnership naming Harken as the “Official Hardware Supplier” and sponsor to the US Sailing Team. The US Sailing Team is working with its family of sponsors to act on a newly developed 20-year strategy to make dramatic increases in the support available to American sailors who are training to represent the United States in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Harken is pleased to announce our partnership with the US Sailing Team– we are particularly excited about the prospect of playing an active roll in their new strategy that has been articulated so clearly about the team’s future,” explains Harken’s Vice President Olaf Harken.
"We are delighted to have a strategic partner such as Harken Yacht Equipment,” said US Sailing Olympic Committee Chairman Dean Brenner. “They bring the best products, the experience, the technology, and the global service network to our members of the US Sailing Team. When the team represents our country, traveling to seemingly endless regattas around the world, Harken will be there with them, providing the best hardware products.”
Since its inception, Harken has been a long term supporter of Olympic sailing worldwide. Peter and Olaf Harken started Vanguard Sailboats and Harkens Yacht Equipment in 1967. Vanguard built medal winning Olympic Class boats in the 470 and Finn ; they also built the Flying Dutchman through the 1984 Games held in Los Angeles . Concurrently, Harken Yacht Equipment was engineering and developing leading edge innovations in sailboat hardware. “Harken’s first real experience in the sailing world was at the Olympics,” explains founder and President Peter Harken. “I invented these blocks with plastic ball bearings that were used on a few boats in the 1968 Mexico Summer Games,” Harken said.
The timing was right, and things fell into place for Harken, because
Harken blocks were onboard Star Class gold medallist Lowell
North’s
boat and Dragon Class gold medallist Buddy Friedrichs’ boat.
After the Games, Peter and his brother Olaf were in business. Then
editor of One-Design and Offshore Yachting Magazine Bruce Kirby wrote
in an editorial that “Harken blocks are so friction free, that
they release too fast – they’re almost dangerous!” This
fun controversy helped Harken make its mark.
Today, Harken remains the category leader in sailboat hardware for the Olympic classes and beyond. Since its inception, Harken Yacht Equipment has been dedicated to Innovation, Reliability, Technology and Service – the cornerstone to what all Olympic sailors seek in technical partners when outfitting their campaigns. Harken’s breakthrough Carbo AirBlocks® and other leading products help athletes get to the medal stands around the world.
The US Sailing Team is managed by US SAILING, national governing body of the sport. Headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US SAILING’s mission is to encourage participation and promote excellence in sailing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including the US Sailing Teams and the US Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit
www.ussailing.org.
Contacts:
Bill Goggins
Harken Yacht Equipment
Email: billg@harken.com
Tel: 1.262.691.3320
Marlieke de Lange Eaton
US SAILING
Email: MarliekeEaton@ussailing.org
Tel: 1.401.683.0800 x 630
Copyright© 2008 Harken, Inc. All rights reserved
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