Holt's 2009 catalogue came out, apparently they have don't some "innovation".


Is it just me or does this block look a bit familiar:

Every bit of Holt I put on the Inter20 let me down, haven't used any since

It looks a lot like the brazilian Nautos (now Holt-Nautos) Organic line: and Offshore line: , only in black.

I've never heard any complaints about Harken products. Anyone got any?

I broke the hole out of the big pin on the top of a Harken triple mainsheet block. They gave me a new pin. I forgot to mention that I had tried to redirect a partially fallen hickory tree with it.

I dont know if you are serious, but:

We have blown several Harken blocks, and had autoratches within warranty fail on us. The autoratches we had replaced under warranty, but had some trouble with our "local" branch. The main office in the US helped us out in an impressive way. We have had many other brands of blocks fail on us as well.

i have broken every harken bit on my boat at some point or another. blocks, cleats, traveller, sheaves. you name it, i broke it.

I know the ratchamatics really need to be kept extremely clean, or they will fail -- within or out of warranty.
that has been my experience.., otherwise, I love them.
Rick

I have used Lewmar, Harken, and Ronstan on one boat or another. My experience is that the Harken stuff holds up better. I have also been very pleased with Harken's customer service. I had a ratchet block that stopped ratcheting and they replaced it at no charge, even though it was two and half years old!!! I had called because I thought I could have it repaired cheaper than replacing and they sent a new one and said not to worry about it. As a result of that action several years ago you will struggle to find any thing other than harken on my boat with the exception of one spinlock cleat (which is replaced every season) and clevis pins and shackles. I prefer Wichard shackles because they look beefier. Wichard does cost considerably more but I think the added cost is minimal in the grand scheme of things. But even Harken can and will fail from time to time as all mechanical things do.

I have used all three as well with Schafer and others. The Harken and Lewmar have held up well. The verdict is still out on the new Ronstan blocks and the Schafer block were removed from a boat I purchased with them on it. That was the very first change I made.

So, it looks like Harken stuff can and will fail but they stand behind their product. That's probably why I've never heard any complaints.

So far I have broken every piece of Ronstan kit I've owned (mainly downhaul and spi halyard stuff).
Have also broken some small Harken blocks but this was more due to wear and tear.

I saw this product in a surfshop yesterday and thought that would be great to fit as an alternative to footstraps.
It would be much safer since your feet are not stuck like in footstraps, what do you guys think?

http://www.northshoreinc.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=&idproduct=243

Tony, looks good but I wouldn't trust screwing that into your hulls. You have to think about what loads those screws will take when you want to peter-pan around the front of the boat. On a typical footstrap, you're pulling the screws/bolts OUT, whereas on this it looks like you'd be side-loading them. I fear it would not hold up well and could lead to hull damage.

I have a significant amount of Ronstan on my F16 and it has held up well. I have only broken one autoratchets (first production batch) but had it replaced free of charge.

I do believe however in carefully choosing the right component/manufacturer for each job. So I have Ronstan, Harken, Sailsure, RWO, Riley and Holt on my boat. No issues with any of these.

Basically it is about the skill to choose the right part of the right job.

Some of my Ronstans are highly loaded however, so that is not it. Think last stage in my 12:1 cascading downhaul system and turning block for my spi halyards (attached to the bail). Both of these are series 20 or 30 ronstan blocks.

Wouter

I'm just glad that there are lots of choices of manufacturers out there.... Keeps things in check..

There are less every year. The last Brazilian manufacturer is now part of Holt - and I learned to hate them in less than a month.

Customer service is traveling underground and prices skyrocketed. Now we pay imported gear prices for local products stamped "Holt". Kind of reminds me of the polo shirt brand: $5 for the shirt, $95 for the tiny aligator.