Hoofer Sailing History

[Jonathan Gapen]

Ahoy, sailors! I hope that you are enjoying the spring weather which has finally arrived this fine Friday, and getting ready to sail next week. I'm kicking back with a glass of Oscar's Chocolate Oatmeal Stout from Sand Creek Brewing Company. (A fantastic, Wisconsin beer.) While sipping my brew, I just read a message sent to the Aquarius sailboats owners' group from a fellow member who sails an Aquarius 21 on the Puget Sound. He stopped into his local Goodwill location and found a small collection of large Harken blocks for $50. Quite the deal!

And it occurred to me, since a number of members I've talked to in recent times did not know the history of Spray with the club, that not everybody may recognize the Hoofer connection in the anecdote above. I guess I forget that newcomers join all the time who haven't heard all the stories. That's a shame, because the connection is kind of interesting. It is this:

Perhaps you've heard of the club's annual event, the Peter Barrett Intergalactic Tech Regatta, and wondered who he was? Well, he was a sailor, an instructor and commodore of HSC. He sailed in three Olympic Games, winning a silver medal in the Finn class in 1964 and a gold in the Star class in 1968. And he designed the Aquarius 21, and the Aquarius 23 that I own. (And also the C&C Mega 30 that the publishers of Good Old Boat magazine bought a few years ago to restore.) Peter passed away in 2000, but his son, Dr. Bruce Barrett, still sails with the club and owns the ketch, Happy Wanderer, in the mooring field.

I'm certain you've heard of Harken, Inc., the company that builds quite a lot of the hardware on our boats over in Pewaukee. Perhaps you've heard how he adapted the MIT Tech dinghy design to create the Badger Tech. (Incidentally, I've heard that the man who brought the MIT Tech to Hoofers was none other than Mr. Peter Barrett, back when they were constructed in wood.) Did you also know that Peter Harken invented his famous blocks, with their plastic ball bearings, right here in Madison? That's right--  he wanted better blocks for his Finn. The existing blocks at the time either had lots of resistance, or if they used metal ball bearings, needed lots of maintenance and frequent replacements. Peter worked at Gilson, Inc. while he was a student, and the company let him use the machine shop after hours, and he used it to construct blocks for his boat. He had the inspiration to construct blocks using plastic ball bearings because they wouldn't rust or require constant lubrication. He searched high and low, and found one company in Orange, NJ that made plastic ball bearings, and ordered a batch. His new blocks worked beautifully, and the rest is history. (Incidentally, Peter and Olaf Harken started Vanguard, Inc. in Madison to build Techs, but soon moved to Pewaukee to avoid the "distractions" in Madison. Later, they sold the company to focus on hardware, so they could supply other builders and not compete against them.) And, oh yeah, Peter also served as the club commodore.

So how about that? We may sail on an inland lake on the Midwestern prairie, but the influence of our club extends far beyond the shores of Lake Mendota.

--
Jonathan Gapen

[Mike Crane]

Thanks Jonathan. I really enjoy learning about such stuff!

Mike Crane

Sent from my iPhone

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