Holt web site Fittings guide 49er fittings spec.

Holt has been one of the leading pioneers in small sailboat hardware for over 50 years. Without straying too far from its founding principles, it continues to make affordable, high performance products for the marine market in time and within budget. With so many keen, championship-winning sailors working for Holt, the feedback on products and ideas is constant. Its internal research, combined with information provided by Team Holt sponsored jockeys, gives the company a real insight in to the way the sport will develop and performance further increased. The Team Holt programme has allowed the company to amass a wealth of knowledge and many great ideas for future product developments. In the last 18 months over £250,000 has been invested in new state of the art machinery to improve the quality and consistency of our products. This coupled with new CAD/CAM design and milling systems, enables us to design and develop products faster and more successfully than ever before. The Beginning It was back in 1945 that Jack Holt and Beecher Moore set up a partnership to design and build a new breed of sailing dinghy. The Merlin Rocket, as it became known, soon became the fastest racing dinghy around and showed the innovative potential of the new partnership. The company established itself in Putney, from where its influence began to stretch worldwide. The success of the Merlin inspired Yachting World to commission Jack Holt to design and build a new low cost dinghy that would allow children to enjoy sailing. Built using a plywood chine construction the Cadet began a revolution in sailing, reducing the cost while broadening the sports appeal. The GP14, which followed in 1950, was the first boat to be sold in kit form. These new boats made sailing available to more and more people. The dinghy market was expanding rapidly, however, all the fittings had to be custom made for each boat builder in the small quantities they required. Jack and Beecher found this very frustrating, often finding it very difficult to obtain the type and quality of fittings they needed. It was not until the early 1950's and the development of the International Enterprise that the idea of making dinghy hardware on a commercial basis came about. Jack and Beecher were inspired by Glen and Tony Allen, Essex based engineers with a passion for sailing, who produced a small amount of dinghy equipment in their garden shed! It was quickly agreed that the Allen Brothers would make a range of die cast "alloy" fittings for Holt. This was a revolutionary step moving away from the old standard of heavy cast bronze hardware. Initially they supplied these new fittings on their own boats but word of the lighter, more efficient hardware quickly spread and they soon found there was a great demand for their products. The hardware side of the business was so successful that it quickly overshadowed the boat building division. The Holt range now runs to well over 1,000 items and is probably the most comprehensive available. Today the company is still a family business run by Beecher's son Chadwick who has kept many of his fathers guiding principles at the forefront of the company's current business strategy. In 1997 the company acquired Marine Pre-Packs, another family run marine business from Norman and Ishbel Thompson. As its name suggests MPP consists of a range of packaged accessories for the marine market. Adding Marine Pre-Packs to the existing Holt Performance Hardware and YS Fittings range has made Holt a more accessible company for their UK and overseas customers, able to supply a more extensive product range faster. Currently the company has focused on the development of its core business, the marketing and the distribution of marine hardware and accessories. "We have a great team! Our designers have developed a good feel for the type of products sailors want (check out the new Wire Frame Swivel Lead). This combined with our sales team whose considerable product knowledge comes from their active participation in the sport (some times a little too active in the summer months!) puts us in a unique position to be able to develop our product range in such a hands on manner." (CBM Managing Director) There are plenty of new ideas on the designer's drawing board so make sure you keep checking out the holt web site.