Robert C. Arzbaecher

In his day job, Robert C. Arzbaecher is CEO of Actuant Corp. in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, a $1.6 billion diversified industrial company with operations in 30 countries; it also owns Marinco and Mastervolt. In his off hours, Arzbaecher races Sociable, his Beneteau 40.7, on Lake Michigan. One night in a storm during the Chicago-Mackinaw race, Arzbaecher heard a whistle and then saw a faint light in the water about half a mile away. He sailed over to find half a dozen sailors clinging to an upside-down hull. Arzbaecher was able to rescue the six, although two others, who had been trapped inside, perished. “We were really at the right place at the right time,” he says. “To me it wasn’t even a decision. It was a reaction.”