‘The Admiral’s Cup is a really interesting project for us,’ Mark Gardner, Harken ProCare global manager, told Seahorse. ‘We had technicians looking after the Botin 52 Caro [winner of the last Rolex Fastnet Race], for example, in Australia. That boat's just arrived in the UK, where there will be a handover to the ProCare UK team.’ The initial concept for ProCare


grew out of Harken's experience with the 2014-15 and 2017-18 editions of the Volvo Ocean Race, where a consistent approach to maintenance across the entire fleet of eight identical Volvo Ocean 65s paid significant dividends. In that setting, the wider benefits


boat, based on its planned sailing programme. ‘We're trying to provide all of them with a solution to get them on the water without a hitch, get them up to speed, and make sure they stay on the water,’ says Tom Peters, managing director of Harken UK. ‘The Admiral’s Cup boats all have tight timelines for training, so they want to avoid unexpected downtime at that stage, just as much as a retirement or loss of performance while racing. ‘It works best if we can get in


early, build that relationship with an owner or a team to work forwards, enabling us to achieve some very different outcomes,’ he says, adding: ‘Many of these are boats we already know that are coming back to the UK for the Admiral’s Cup after a few years overseas.’ ProCare begins with the belief


that support should anticipate problems, not just fix them, so in addition to scheduled maintenance programmes, ProCare also offers safety inspections, as well as crew training covering equipment use and troubleshooting. This holistic and proactive


approach covering preparation of both systems and teams, is a key to success in an event such as this.


Top and above: ProCare provides full technical support for the entire range of Harken’s custom hardware from winches to hydraulics and more


of a standardised, efficient and proactive approach tomaintenance quickly became clear. In particular, the emphasis on standardising procedures – fromdisassembly and reassembly during servicing, to workspace organisation – laid firm foundations for what would later evolve into a successful global servicemodel. These detailed and repeatable service procedures ensure that every piece of equipment receives a consistent level of care, nomatter which technician is handling themaintenance. While the service is global, it’s


therefore far from impersonal. For example, Gardner is involved hands-on in training all authorised ProCare agents, who also visit Harken factories on two continents. They therefore understand how the factories operate and know key staff on a face-to-face basis. This people-first principle extends


to training yacht crews on how to read manuals, understand parts drawings and perform day-to-day maintenance. By contrast, in the past Peters says they would have crewmembers phoning in to report a problem and order spares, without being able to precisely identify the parts involved. ‘That just isn't very efficient for us, or for them,’ he says. The ProCare team based in the


Netherlands has also been working with the youth-based Rotterdam Offshore Sailing Team, whose well-known Ker 46 Van Uden has joined forces with the Baraka GP Sailing Team’s Ker 43 to form the Dutch Offshore Sailing Team entered in the Admiral’s Cup. IRC Class rating bands and length


ranges for the Admiral’s Cup are designed to allow asmany boat types as possible to compete at the event. This does howevermake supporting the fleetmore challenging due to the diversity of boats and their varied equipment. Entries range from Giovanni Lombardi Stronati’s new Wally Rocket 51 DjangoWR51 to TP52s of a dozen years old ormore, as well as 40ft production boats such as the larger JPKs. The exact level of support for each


Admiral’s Cup boat varies across different teams. Some are large and well-funded, with a very high level of technical expertise in house, while others need to lean more heavily on external assistance. It’s for this latter group in particular that the ProCare division can offer a level of support that can translate into a big advantage on the racecourse. As well as helping teams well


in advance, ProCare will also be on location in Cowes Yacht Haven immediately before and during the Admiral's Cup. Piers Tyler of the Winch Workshop is the ProCare authorised and trained agent in the UK. A New Zealander, he’s a skilled marine engineer with vast experience having worked many high-profile campaigns including the America’s Cup, Ocean Race and Imoca fleets. Harken’s UK headquarters is less


than an hour fromCowes, so Tyler will have plenty of resources to draw on. In addition, Harken will work with the local chandlers to increase stocks of non-customHarken products during the event, while Tyler will carry a larger stock than usual of more customorientated items. www.harken.com


❑ SEAHORSE 65


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