Sailors Profile

John P. Harkrader, Jr.

BH 11

"A tremendous sportsman, great fun, nobody can sail a starboard tack, like John"---Buddy Melges - I1

John Harkrader has been a long established top M-Scow sailor. His competitive nature and ability to excel, teamed with his light-hearted nature and easy going style, has kept him at the top of the sailing scene for nearly four decades. This truly makes John a master of the M-Scow class.

"A solid sailor. Great to have him out there" ----Willie DeCamp - M9

The Early Years

John's early days of sailing began when he was 8 or 9 years old. He learned to sail a Sneakbox from a fellow who operated a public ramp where boats were rented out. After spending countless hours hanging around the docks and water, John began to get a feel for what sailing is all about. He had no sailing instructors or coaches back then; he taught himself by spending time on the water. In addition to teaching himself how to sail, his father encouraged him to build his own sailboat. Using jigs and patterns that he and friend, Billy Robinson, obtained from Dave Beaton, a local boat builder, they completed a Penguin, which he sailed and raced. By the time John was 13 or 14 years old, his family moved to Bay Head. Although John attended private school in Lawrenceville, he spent his summers in Bay Head where he began to crew on E-Scows and occasionally race Comets. John continued to crew on E-Scows through his college years. In the early 1960's, John got into M-Scows partly due to his association with Howard Wright and Cliff Campbell, who John often crewed with. Again, we see John's boat building ability appear when John and Cliff finished off M-Scows at the old McGersky shop in Toms River.

"The fastest, funniest, sneakiest sailor I know"----- Skip Moorhouse - M7

Through the 1960's and 1970's John competed both locally and regionally in the M-Scow and Penguin and occasionally sailed in an off-shore race or even a Bermuda race or two. In 1973, John won the first M-Scow Nationals which were held in Mantoloking. By the late 1970's, John got into the E-Scows where he skippered for about 10 years. By 1990, with his 2 daughters no longer crewing with him in the E-Scows, John streamlined the program and got back into the M-Scow, and was instrumental in starting the Manasquan Reservoir races for M-Scows.

"Generally the last in the water and often first to come out"-----Runnie Colie

Over the years there have been countless stories about John's sailing. A couple come to mind. One was when John was crewing with Runnie Colie. Runnie insisted on flying the spinnaker to the last possible second with the mark approaching quickly. John thought to himself 'owed never get it down in time". With John working as quickly as possible and Runnie yelling for buoy room, somehow the job got done. Another time John was skippering an E-Scow on Lake Keuka when suddenly the boat capsized near the dock. The crew were all thrown into the water, except for John. As the boat rolled over, John was able to walk to the bottom of the hull without getting wet. He stood there dry as a bone. Being near the shore, John ordered the crew to swim the boat over so he could step off. With a smile on his face, John suddenly slipped and fell right in.

"great to have him on the race course, even if he kicks my butt"----Tom Welsch - LE11

Presently, John lives in Brielle with his wife and works for Marine Safety Equipment Corp. in Point Pleasant Beach. His passions include sailing the M-Scow, racing his DN Iceboat, skiing, running and for Christmas he even built his grandson a sandbox in the shape of a sailboat.

P.S. -Many thanks to Carla Harkrader and Dan Crabbe for their contributions to this article, but most of all we'd like to thank-John---M-ScowQuarterly