March 2025 | Issue 33

INTRODUCING THE NEW WORKING ALOFT TRAINING COURSE

This training course is designed for technicians and crew working on masts. Following an innovative operating procedure developed by Elevated Safety, you'll be able to work on ropes while respecting the safety principles involved in working at height. 

Under Harken’s ownership, Elevated Safety has grown rapidly and now has operations in Illinois, Colorado and Florida in the US, while its newest office in La Rochelle, France is well placed to run training courses throughout Europe. Today the Harken Group therefore encompasses two domains in which it has world class knowledge and expertise – the marine industry, plus safety and rescue.

Mast access is a technical and sensitive task requiring specific training, appropriate equipment and reliable methodologies. We can can help you optimize your existing access techniques.

The Safety Aloft course is tailored to different end users, recognising that a solo round the world sailor has different needs to a fully crewed vessel. Considerations for superyachts, megayachts and marine professionals such as electronics experts are different again.

‘With a crew there is a greater risk of accidents due to co-activity on the boats, so the risks are different, we have many examples of incidents and accidents that are due to, for example, a communication problem with a halyard pull that continues while the technician is already at the top. Or the winch not being locked out, or the use of self-tailing on an electric winch while someone’s foot is jammed on a spreader. The main thrust of our work is to raise awareness of the risks involved and the procedures to be put in place to reduce them, Sailors already know how to climb the mast, so we're just here to help them make their practice safer.’

Pierre Masse

(MD Harken France)

‘There's almost a gap in our industry as there really aren't clear standards of safe practice,’ says first mate Alex Tower. ‘So it's cool that Harken has bought Elevated Safety and now they're bringing professional training back to sailors.’

‘There are a lot of practices we can use just in day-to-day life aboard the boat to make things safer and I think we'll certainly add what we've learned to our existing drills we perform on board,’ he adds. ‘Going forward, I feel we are a lot safer knowing the crew have been involved in this training.’

Alex Tower

(1st Mate J-Class Lionheart)

COURSE DETAILS

Course Includes - ES Certificate of Completion.

• 2-day initial training.
• Prevention and regulatory compliance - Knowledge of PPE equipment ( characteristics, use, inspection)
• Basic theoretical concepts (fall factor, impact force, air draft, suspension trauma)
• Standardized personal fall protection methods
• Mast access: optimizing techniques, double rope system, Basic anchor installation, winches use – Rigging
• Rescue planning - supervision, Implementation of various rescue techniques (Rigging for rescue, man aloft system)
• Risk analysis and accidentology study.

AN AIR WINCH 900 THAT HAS BEEN AROUND THE WORLD

Boats, the way we know them, are changing fast. They're going faster, they're getting stronger, and the loads they see are exponentially increasing. How does Harken keep up with the changing times? We collaborate with sailors, teams, boat builders...you name it!

A lot of testing and some smart engineering can lead to things like the Air Winch 900. Harken France's Jean Martins shows us an Air Winch 900 that came straight off the 100 foot foiling Ultim Banque

Populaire after its solo around the world race.

The goal was to see the winch, inspect it, and learn from it.

Harken Air winches feature a set of interchangeable gearing kits that give skippers the flexibility to create a perfect blend of speed and power for each day’s weather and crew configuration. The winches, which feature a nearly empty middle to reduce weight, were designed for trimming sails on AC foiling cats, IMOCA 60s, AC75s, TP52s and similar Grand Prix boats. The hollow middle is a first for sailing winches, as are the changeable gear kits. All Harken Air winch models feature interchangeable first-speed and second-speed options. The wide-diameter drums allow fewer wraps, faster trimming, and faster easing. Standard and counter-rotating versions are available.

The 900 model is designed for boats over 24.4 m (80').

The 900 drum is made of carbon fiber and anodized aluminum.

NEW PRODUCTS

BOOK YOUR WINTER SERVICE AND SAFETY CHECK!