Fittings - which are the best

Originally posted by Skiffman ronstan are rubbish, they are heavy and do break! Harken and Holt are both good but holt is better. Spinlock cleats break all the time, tryed and tested on the 49er and tornado and they always can't hold the load. But if used in low load areas then they are better than a standard cleat. In the 49er use almost completly holt blocks along with the best like Draper/Hiscocks, Stevie/Ben, Iker/Xavier the list goes on and on. We go sailing at least 4 days a week for more than 3 hours each time so we put lots of time on our blocks and they never break because we make sure they dont. also the old holt blocks are the best blocks in the world for the top of 49er masts for the kite halyard and if anyone has any lieing around because they think they are rubbish then please send them this way.

I think as you have a 3ft wide HOLT sitcker on your 49er and are no doubt needing all the sponsorship you can get for your Olympic bid we can take the HOLT love with a pinch of salt.

It would seem from the majority of posters that there Holt gear doesn't stand up.
Maybe you have HARKEN with Holt logos on

As for Spinlock I've always found it's good gear that lasts.

Must watch my copy of Smack Down Under again!

 

Would anyone who works for these manufacturers care to respond?

There's no doubt that fittings do vary in quality but I would never say one supplier is better than another. I might say supplier one's XXX is better than supplier two's , but supplier two's YYY may well be better than supplier one's.

Its also fair to say that some jobs seem to exceed what most suppliers kit can cope with. I used to find that Cherub masthead kite halyard blocks were very short lived and I slaughtered some Harkens in that application. I can't remember what the best option was now, but frequent replacement was wise. The suppliers would probably spec some enormous solid thing to take the loads and speed, but who would want that at the masthead?

I have good evidence that the old Holt black and white blocks were shorter lived than Harkens in moderate load conditions, and at half the price that was fair enough.
The latest Holt blocks are an entirely different design and look pretty good: it would be foolish to assume that the same applies.

Originally posted by glewis Must watch my copy of Smack Down Under again!   Would anyone who works for these manufacturers care to respond?

I watched it the other night and noticed it, somewhere near the beginning I think where they are introducing the team

Spinnaker halyard blocks on high performance boats have a hard life, they have to cope with running fast on the hoists and drops, some times under high load when things get stuck.
Then there is the shock loads when the kite flogs not to mention doing this full of mud and sand after you have stuck the mast in the mud.

some seem to cope much better than others.

On sheet loads if you cut the weight of the boat you cut the loads(keeping sail area the same)




Edited by Granite