Only harken for me if i have the Choice though i think the ronstan ratcht blocks are better. Holt and RWO just aren't up to the job.

Hi load areas on a Cat - has to be Harken.

Odd little "fiddle blocks" might be from other makers, but Harken is best.

Harken all the way for me, small blocks put up with alot, end of last season got the New Ronstan Orbits for Jib Sheets as we have no Cleats on a N12 and they are Brill very Light excellent holding and if on Auto when you take or easy the auto comes off easy.

For me the best think is Price I get all my bit from the States and Cheap price better that any where in the UK, Cheaper in some cases that can be supplied in the Uk I have been told. Great thing having a sister that fly's to and from the States lots.

James

N3402

N3304 (Up For Sale)

Hi I work for Allen Brothers who have been making fittings for dinghys for the last 50 years they have been marketed under Holt Allen and then Holt, That has just changed and you will see them on the market place as Allen. A lot of changes are in the pipe line and I think it would be good if you guys could come up with some positive feed back on whats good and bad about our range and help us to make what you want?

I look forward to reading your comments.

Mr Allen

Make your blocks sexier than harken ones- and make them work like harken ones and we spotty yoofs will coat our 29ers and the likes in them

Or sponsor me and give them to me for free! Then I'll tell everyone that Allen blocks are the best!

I think it might be worth thinking about a complete rebrand, as you can see from some of the comments on here Holt don't have much of a reputation, so moving away from Holt, Holt Allen, Allen etc might be just as effective as any changes to the actual product

im not picky on block choice, however i have holt blocks on the blocks on the inboard ends of the racks on the 600 and the bits the rope goes round wobble a lot and dont spin easily, i keep meaning to replace them but being skint most the time and having an old 14 to fit out which eats any of my spare money i just haven't got round to it but if i do i intend to get harken or ronstan blocks because of the good press they get.

i havent really had any blocks completely fail on me if they have had the rope lead right but on the 600 i have found some blocks just seem to have worn out whereas on the 14 where any blocks tht are there are all harken they all run smoothly despite the boat being about 15 years old or more.

i think holt and even (shock) RWO blocks are fine on take up systems for control lines, there is no sense throwing money at harken blocks for a block that only has to pull an elastic up tight or lead a rope with very little load on it. spend the money where it is needed (high load stuff, kickers, downhauls, kite halyard blocks etc).

I was in the USA on business earlier this year.

I like Harken.  A lot.

The dollar rate is VERY good at the moment.  This lot was well under half UK price...

I'm building a new Cherub and the wonders of the internet make it very easy to place an order an get it delivered to your hotel (take a bow Fisheries Supply in Seattle)

Who needs hotel porn TV when you can look at this instead?

(And more to the point I thought Cherubs were supposed to be light on fittings...

Er, it's not!

So far I've bought the hull shell (abandoned project) which kicked the whole thing off, a brand new RS800 kite, the C-Tech carbon tubing (racks, internal structure, gantry, boom, pole, temple vang etc) from NZ is hopefully sat in Southampton docks now, and the C-Tech daggerboard is on it's way airfreight probably arriving next week, and obviously I've got all the fittings, as well as a mast.

Days are getting longer and it might be time to mix some epoxy and start gluing it all together!

And to answer Allen's question...

What I would like to see would be a lightweight 30mm sheave block with large shaped aluminium (or titanium!) sides for use as halyard turning blocks at the top of skiff masts.

Plastic ones are crap, as if you have an iffy hoist with the kite blowing off to leeward, the halyard just saws through the side plate ruining it, and making things jam next time.  I'd like to see the sides quite thick but with suitable smooth cutouts to allow the halyard to enter the block at funny angles but still be kind to the halyard itself.  It might also want to have a much less pronounced hollow in the sheave itself to allow for unusual angles, basically make the tops of the U much lower if you catch my drift, (the U being the top of the sheave, with the halyard running in the bottom "catch water" part of the letter U..).

Allen

What you have to contend with in the market today is written above.  The issue is not with your blocks, more the perception of them and the vocal minority that claim "my Holt/Allen block exploded before I even got it out the packet, my boat is just that quick!".  And beware - use of the word "exploded" donotes an exaggeration in the story. 

My experience of Holt blocks is excellent.  The reason for this is because the blocks on my boat I maintained - keeping them washed down with fresh water and giving them a spray of McLube/ProLube or whatever to keep them sweet.  This all on a B14.  In fact, I sold my first B14 with its original Holt kite sheet autoratchets (ie 9 years of hard racing) as they were still in perfect condition. 

Actually its not an exageration, our 14 had a few holt blocks which were orinially supplied with the boat by RMW, and one of the cunningham blocks exploded with a big bang with bearings and chassis everywhere! I think we still have it somewhere as a momento! It has since been replaced by a Harken usit! The Harken carbo auto rtcets we have are trully awesome! Although we do have a Ronstan self tacker which the shackle failed on!! other then that you cant fault it.  All our blocks are well maintained because they are exspensive to replace and becuase the boat is our pride and joy!  If Holt are imporving there build quality i would gladly give them another go, as i feel despite my issues the brand is a strong one!

I have only destroyed one block completely,

it was a ronstan on the jib track at the tiger and all that remained were the metal sideplates. However I put this down to excessive jib flogging during recovery and expect that it would have happened to any ball bearing block!

I've had no problems with holt blocks breaking. This is probably because all mine are used within their specified working load, and where a hi load pulley is needed one is used.

Harken cleats are much better than any other on the market at the moment though at a price!

I've never liked Autoratchets and don't use them. Switches are perfectly adequate for me.

i personally preferred my ronstan/ freddie block over the harken carbo autoratchets i have on my 300. i have never had any block break. Have seen many seize up on club boats - poor maintenance. i am new to the sport (3rd year) so believe im relatively un-biased.

My 300 came with one of the old holt (grey) blocks with becket and it still works nice and smooth as it has been well looked after/ lubed up. Only fault i can see with it is the relatively small diameter. used the new holts on school rs500's and they look great, are very light, runs lovely and smooth and are relatively cheap (also have the hole to dead end ropes on). only downside i see is the thin 'u' shaped piece of metal to attach the block with - looks a bit thin.

only problem i have had with the new holt autoratchets is when threaded through the wrong way . i personally think theres nothing between the blocks if they are well looked after. advantages of harkens - look SEXY and have a better image.

one thing though, the holt laser kicker is BAD. i never saw one which didnt have a twist in it. all top racers use the harken - for a reason. might be worth a redesign (?).

On my 12 we use Fredrickson ratchets and the x-small Fredrickson block for take ups.

Almost all the other blocks are harken micro (16mm) lighter and more breaking strain than anything else

or harken  40mm carbo again weight for strength.

1 ronstan high load block

2 ronstan exit boxes (the harken one is hard to find)

cleats all sml either harken metal (wear resistance) or ronstan carbon (lightness) except for one spinlock clutch for the tackline.

Mr Allen if you want to support the fastest 12 footer (have a look at the speed freaks part of this site) then let me know.

sorry to digress, but doesnt that jib look VERY triangular (i know its the angle and the fact its eased)

is this your new 12fter arrived over from down south?

The system I use is a sml harken (16mm) skakled to a modified 3/16 sadle.The mod is a sml tag welded to the front.

The halyard exits the mast about 12" down from the tip and works very well.

is this your new 12fter arrived over from down south?

You've got the wrong person, Skiffe lives in Aus. There are three coming into the UK this year, which are...

This one

This one

and this one

Originally posted by Chris Bridges For some reason I might be buying Design Source which has just come back with the other 12s from NZ. I think I have gone crazy . I want to live to 20!! 12s do look like so much fun though...

why??? if you cant find a crew fr the 49er, surely a 12ft skiff is going to be harder to find a crew for?

Originally posted by tmoore Originally posted by Chris Bridges For some reason I might be buying Design Source which has just come back with the other 12s from NZ. I think I have gone crazy . I want to live to 20!! 12s do look like so much fun though... why??? if you cant find a crew fr the 49er, surely a 12ft skiff is going to be harder to find a crew for?

I have someone that will definitely crew a 12 for me, you don't have to be as heavy for a 12!

edit: and I think I have found a crew for 49er now, although we couldn't get out today as the sails are being repaired. Some hanks that were annoying me and the zip on the main was also annoying me so having it replaced.

Originally posted by Chris Bridges For some reason I might be buying Design Source which has just come back with the other 12s from NZ. I think I have gone crazy . I want to live to 20!! 12s do look like so much fun though...

Those boat fees are going to be rocketing!  £106.50 a time? ouch  

A time out? Aparantly they don't brake much at all, the insurance is nearly half of that for the 49er.

Besides, so many people told me how much 49ers brake.. I have had it since October and been out in some fair wind, been in the water a lot, couple of nasty capsizes and not broken a thing... Its all myth it would seem..

now you have said that something is going to break big time lol

No, per boat in the boat park.....!

The 3000 isn't mine its a friends so it will just be two boats if I do get it . Or if I don't two boats anyway as i will get a Musto instead. Or maybe if the 49er doesn't work out again sell the 49er and get a musto but either way two boats.