Welcome to the July issue of At The Front, a monthly digest of top news and stories from the world of Harken.
Contents:
- Opening Thoughts by Mark Gardner, Volvo Ocean Race Service Manager
- Catching Up with David "Tiger" Megarry, Friction Fighter of Dongfeng Race Team
- How Harken Battcars Make the VO65 Safer
- Learn Gelcoat Repair 101 with Harken Blockheads
- Introducing Protexit™ Blocks
The Volvo Ocean Race...The Excitement of One-Design...And What it Takes to Assure it
It’s just about July. Only days ago as I write this, the Volvo Ocean Race, an odyssey that has been my personal Harken assignment for more than the past two years, wrapped up in Holland with its closest finish ever. Starting the last leg, any of 3 boats were in a position to win. The finish was astonishing by the fact that Dongfeng Race Team won by 15 minutes 59 seconds after 700 miles of constant side-by-side racing. That was close. But there were other, even more extraordinary finishes…two, where boats literally finished overlapped after thousands of sea miles. Indeed, after sailing 2,967 racing hours and more than 45,300 miles, Dongfeng’s total elapsed time was precisely 64 one hundredths of one percent lower than the next boat. Incredibly close racing indeed.
Racing that close doesn’t happen by accident. It is the result of commitment and hard work by a lot of talented people--both on the boats and behind the scenes.
(Finish this story at the bottom of the page.)
Friction Fighter: Speaking with David "Tiger" Megarry, Diver for Dongfeng Race Team
Hear from David "Tiger" Megarry, on his role as the team diver for Dongfeng Race Team, winners of the 2017-'18 Volvo Ocean Race. David ensures that everything below the surface is in smooth working order as the sailors push to get every inch possible out of the hull.
See more stories from Harken in the Volvo Ocean Race at:
How Harken Battcars Make the VO65 Safer
Learn about one of the lesser-known pieces of Harken equipment on board the VO65. Battcars offer a multitude of safety and usability benefits for handling the mainsail, and are developed from the same ball bearing technology used in Harken blocks.
See more stories from Harken in the Volvo Ocean Race:
Learn Gelcoat Repair 101 with Harken Blockheads
Follow along and learn how to repair common types of damage to the gel coat layer on the hull of your dinghy.
Watch Part 1:
Watch Part 2:
See new videos, learn about upcoming events, and join the club at:
Introducing Protexit™ Blocks
When you rip through as many hoists and douses as we do, you should expect to start wearing through the sideplates of your halyard exit block right? Wrong! Harken Protexit™ blocks feature all-aluminum, wear-resistant housing that carefully ushers line in and out no matter the angle. They also offer higher working loads than any small boat exit blocks we’ve ever made.
Mark Gardner on the Volvo Ocean Race, Continued:
Harken is the Official Supplier of winches, blocks, travelers, mast car systems, and deck hardware for the race. For the last two editions, we also sent the Harken Tech Team as a part of the centralized Boatyard operation, which also included teams from other component suppliers and traveled to every stop around the world. The Harken Tech Team for this edition of the Volvo Ocean Race included me, (Mark Gardner, Harken UK), Callum Cecil (Harken AU), Massimiliano (Max) Roncheti (Harken IT) and Neil Evans (Harken US).
The Volvo Ocean 65 is a one-design class, meaning that everything is designed and carefully built to be completely identical. This created unique challenges. We needed to ensure truly identical service for every boat.
Not only did the service need to be identical, how we reported to the teams had to be as well. So, we created a detailed checklist that accomplished two jobs. First, It was for the Harken technician to use and a means for each team’s shore manager and boat captain to know exactly what service was done at each stopover. Each service item received a green, amber, or red status grade depending on whether the item passed inspection, had some wear, or had been changed out. The teams got an ‘at-a-glance’ reference. Second, Harken recorded a full maintenance history, so we can look at any components that might need redesigning, or simply to be made more durable.
To keep up with the pace of the race stopovers, we had two identical containers that leapfrogged around the world. We made sure that when you opened a drawer looking for a tool in one container, it was in exactly the same place in the other container. It was a huge challenge working it out.
With The Boatyard moving from port to port, we were effectively taking an entire workshop container to each port and setting up. We spent close to six months beforehand going through the entire inventory, working out what spares we’d need, how we were going to manage maintenance, and the overall container and workshop layout. In each container, we carried three full sets of every winch component and hardware from the VO65. If there was a large problem with a piece of equipment, we were ready with a complete replacement option that could be immediately swapped out.
As we traveled with the race, we documented our experiences in videos, photos, and articles. You can see the entire story at: www.HarkenAtTheFront.com. Over the last year we learned many things. An obvious one is that if you’re looking for close finishes, there’s nothing like one-design racing. We also learned that tiny deltas don’t come by chance. They’re made with precise, hard work from a whole team that includes the sailors, shore teams, Boatyard suppliers, and the race operations staff as well. It’s bittersweet to see it end, but the Harken Tech Team is proud of the contributions we made. Best to you this July. Here’s to a summer full of more thrilling finishes!
- Mark Gardner, Volvo Ocean Race Service Manager
Credits:
Jen Edney / Volvo Ocean Race.