Maintenance & Repair
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours, Maintenance & Repair
Naples Sabot Refit Story
Brendan Savois paid $100 for a beat-up Sabot found at the impound lot at his home yacht club. Two years later, here's what he built... Brendan is a Harken Blockhead: passionate about sailing, willing to put in the work to
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours, Maintenance & Repair, Rigging, Tuning, & Splicing
@SailBriggs on Optimist Setup
Briggs Kossman — also known as @SailBriggs on social media — spent time with Harken Blockheads to share his fine-tuned Opti rigging and setup for racing. His current rig setup has taken years to perfect. In this video, Briggs walks
Maintenance & Repair, Rigging, Tuning, & Splicing
Ice Boating: How to Sharpen Your Runners
Harken Blockheads Ella Bowers, Maggie McGary, and Lily Olson show how to sharpen iceboat runners to get ready for winter iceboating. In this video, they explain when to sharpen your runners, how often to maintain them, and what tools areContests
Contests, Regatta
Chicago Mac 2026: Recap
Regatta Recap: Offshore Edition The Chicago to Mackinac 333-mile offshore race is the largest freshwater race the world has seen. Sailing on the Great Lakes is full of surprises, the Great Lakes show no mercy. This year, what was thought
Contests
2026 First Blockhead to Mackinac Island
Calling all Chicago Mackinac Youth racers! Are you under 25 and sailing the 2025 Chicago Mac Race? Simply sign up for the contest below, and you’ll be eligible for the ‘First Blockhead to the Island’ Award. The first one to
Contests
April 2026 Contest
APRIL 2026 CONTEST Show us your #EpicSend moment for a chance to win FREE Harken swag! 👇 How to enter 👇 1. Dig up your best #EpicSend photo. Big breeze, full send, total wipeout—we want it all. 2. Submit yourRigging, Tuning, & Splicing
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours, Maintenance & Repair, Rigging, Tuning, & Splicing
@SailBriggs on Optimist Setup
Briggs Kossman — also known as @SailBriggs on social media — spent time with Harken Blockheads to share his fine-tuned Opti rigging and setup for racing. His current rig setup has taken years to perfect. In this video, Briggs walks
Maintenance & Repair, Rigging, Tuning, & Splicing
Ice Boating: How to Sharpen Your Runners
Harken Blockheads Ella Bowers, Maggie McGary, and Lily Olson show how to sharpen iceboat runners to get ready for winter iceboating. In this video, they explain when to sharpen your runners, how often to maintain them, and what tools are
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours, Rigging, Tuning, & Splicing
The Optimist: What Gear Goes Where?
Do you need to replace or upgrade a part on your boat? There can be a lot of options to choose from, but we've got a resource to help you out! This infographic shows you exactly what part goes whereAdvice, Inspiration, & Tours
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours, Maintenance & Repair
Naples Sabot Refit Story
Brendan Savois paid $100 for a beat-up Sabot found at the impound lot at his home yacht club. Two years later, here's what he built... Brendan is a Harken Blockhead: passionate about sailing, willing to put in the work to
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours
Spectrum Sailing
The USA’s National Autism Sailing Program Spectrum Sailing was born out of necessity. When Founder and Executive Director, Scott Herman, searched for a sailing camp that would accept his autistic son, no one would take him. Wanting to change this,
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours
How to Get into Offshore Ocean Racing (and What Snacks Hit Home)
Solo offshore sailing is a full-blown test of endurance, problem-solving, and how long you can function on short naps. In La Rochelle, France, Ollie Hill and Ellie Driver share what it’s really like racing alone across oceans with no outsideSafety
Advice, Inspiration, & Tours, Safety
Rescue at Sea
For any sailor, catastrophic hull failure is bad enough. But when you're in the middle of the ocean in rough seas—sailing alone—with no help around for miles....it's life or death. On November 30th, 24 days into the 2020 Vendée Globe
Safety
Getter Better Without Looking Older
What do you picture when you think about the skin of sailors a little older than you...say, over 30? It might just be sunspots and wrinkles. Blockheads, you are at an age where, with the right precautions, you can prioritize
Safety
The Most Important Equipment
Blockheads, you are the ones on a sailing team who keep an extra shackle and a roll of tape inside your life jackets in case something breaks on the water – not just for your own boat but your teammates’Regatta Articles
Contests, Regatta
Chicago Mac 2026: Recap
Regatta Recap: Offshore Edition The Chicago to Mackinac 333-mile offshore race is the largest freshwater race the world has seen. Sailing on the Great Lakes is full of surprises, the Great Lakes show no mercy. This year, what was thought
Regatta
No Tears Regatta 2026
Every sailing career has a first regatta. The No Tears Regatta is exactly what it sounds like: an event for the most inexperienced sailors in the region, where the scorecard is an afterthought and fun is the whole point.
Regatta