![]() "The less mass, the faster things accelerate. "I was amazed at how high they bounced," he recalled. One night some of the plastic ball bearings rolled off his bench and onto the floor. To pay for his education after his return to Wisconsin, Peter worked part-time at Gilson Medical Electronics, staying after hours to design and build his own sailing hardware for his E-Scow and iceboats. After squandering his father's college money on sailing, skiing, girls, and other non-academic adventures, his father pulled the plug saying, "You're on your own I'm not going to pay for your playing." So Peter, with $50 to his name, packed up his 1951 Chevy jalopy with his skis, his dog, about 30 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and ski-bummed in Colorado for a semester instead. Sailing on both water and ice quickly distracted him from more studious pursuits. Peter joined the UW Hoofers Sailing, Skiing, Whitewater Canoeing, and Mountain Climbing clubs. "It was a faster way to get out of school and get on with real life," he said. Peter enrolled at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he first majored in engineering but finally graduated in International Economics. "We both received swimming scholarships due to the many years we swam competitively in the Philippines," said Olaf, who majored in industrial engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Peter and Olaf lived in the Philippines all through their school years, attending the American International School in Manila until they left for college in the United States. Joe then had an offer to move to the Philippines where he would develop and supply heavy-duty, earth moving equipment to be used in the reconstruction of the badly damaged, war-torn nation. The family traveled to Peoria, Illinois, home of Caterpillar, and subsequently lived a few years in Larchmont, New York. Here they were miraculously reunited with their father in 1946 after the war was over. In the meantime, Peter, Olaf, and mother Ulla lived first in Borneo, then were troop-shipped to New Zealand for a year, to Australia for another year, and finally shipped to San Francisco in 1944. Joe was imprisoned for five years and was not liberated until the end of the war. Their Dutch father, Joe, who represented the Caterpillar Tractor Company in Asia, joined the very small Dutch army and helped fight the Japanese until his capture. ![]() During the fighting and nightly bombings, Peter, Olaf, and their Swedish mother managed to escape to Borneo. Peter Harken and his brother Olaf were born of Dutch and Swedish parents in Indonesia at the beginning of World War II. 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. ![]() 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. 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. 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. The real fuel behind a company's success is its people. Crossbow Pivoting Self-Tacking Jib Traveler
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |