Vanguard Sailboats

Sailboat builder

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Vanguard SailboatsCompany type| Private

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Industry| Sailing
Founded| Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA (1967)
Founders| Peter Harken, Olaf Harken
Headquarters| Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US
Website| www.laserperformance.com

Vanguard Sailboats was one of the most successful sailboat builders. It was founded in 1967, and is now owned by LaserPerformance.

## History

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Vanguard Sailboats was founded in 1967 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA by Peter and Olaf Harken. The brothers started to gain attention after their sailing hardware was used on boats that won Olympic gold in 1968, and after Vanguard supplied the Finn class for several countries in the 1976 Olympics. The hardware segment was maintained somewhat separately, as it was marketed to competing boat builders. In 1986, the Harkens sold Vanguard to Stephen Clark, who moved the business to Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The brothers focused their efforts on the performance sailing hardware business in Pewaukee, WI under the name Harken, Inc., while Vanguard continued in boat building.

In March 1997, Vanguard Sailboats, Inc., bought Sunfish Laser, Inc., which built the Laser, Sunfish and 49er sailboats.[1]

In 2007 Vanguard Sailboats was acquired by Performance Sailcraft Europe. The combined company is known as LaserPerformance.

## Sailing Community

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LaserPerformance is very active in the sailing community and was a major sponsor of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association until 2022. The ICSA is the organization that governs college sailing in North America. Most colleges and universities sail fleets of 420s, Flying Juniors or Vanguard 15s. Additionally, LaserPerformance is a sponsor of many adult and junior sailing regattas.

## See also

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* LaserPerformance
* List of sailboat designers and manufacturers

## References

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1. ^ "International Sunfish Class Association". Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved 2014-08-14.

## External links

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* Company website

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Boats marketed by LaserPerformance

One-person dinghies|

* Laser 4.7
* Laser Bug
* Laser Funboat
* Laser Pico
* Laser Radial
* Laser Standard
* Laser Vago
* Sunfish
* Vapor Optimist

Two-person dinghies|

* Club 420
* Bahia
* Laser Vago

Multihulls|

* Dart 16

Keelboats|

Laser Stratos Keel

Discontinued models|

* Dart 15
* Dart 20 Stampede
* Dart 6000
* Dart Hawk (F18)
* Laser 2
* Laser 13
* Laser 16
* Laser 28
* Laser 4000
* Laser 5000
* Laser EPS
* Laser Stratos (Centreboard)
* Laser Vortex

No longer associated with Laser|

* Dart 18
* Laser SB3 (SB20)
* Laser 2000
* Laser 3000 (V3000)

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