Blueshark Marine Fittings

[Biggfell]

Anyone got any experience of buying / using products from Blueshark Marine in China?

BlueShark Marine Co., Ltd.

In particular, their Line Terminators for Dyneema Rigging
The spec's look good, but anyone has actually seen / used them, your feedback would be great.

Richard.

[vechnyak]

im about to buy a top down spinnaker furler from them

[Biggfell]

Originally Posted by vechnyak

im about to buy a top down spinnaker furler from them

Will be really interested to see what you think. I'm still to place an order with them, it hasn't quite got to the top of my priority list yet!

[Benz]

For the line terminators, looks like they just copied the Colligo design, then reduced the bend radius of the lashing by milling grooves for each leg to lie in. Seems kind of dumb to work so hard to get a worse bend radius. I'm guessing these guys are more copycats than engineers.
And I get it--something as simple as a deadeye can only have so much variety--but these are obvious knockoffs. I'd be concerned (as I am with anything coming from China) about quality control and consistency--if they're willing to brazenly steal design, are they willing to lie about materials? Process? Sourcing?

[Biggfell]

Originally Posted by Benz

For the line terminators, looks like they just copied the Colligo design, then reduced the bend radius of the lashing by milling grooves for each leg to lie in. Seems kind of dumb to work so hard to get a worse bend radius. I'm guessing these guys are more copycats than engineers.
And I get it--something as simple as a deadeye can only have so much variety--but these are obvious knockoffs. I'd be concerned (as I am with anything coming from China) about quality control and consistency--if they're willing to brazenly steal design, are they willing to lie about materials? Process? Sourcing?

Totally agree. There's some really good stuff that comes out of China, but then some really bad stuff as well, it's sorting the one from the other !!

[fivecapes]

Originally Posted by Benz

For the line terminators, looks like they just copied the Colligo design, then reduced the bend radius of the lashing by milling grooves for each leg to lie in. Seems kind of dumb to work so hard to get a worse bend radius. ...

The radius looks to be about the same because of how the blocks are cut.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

The radius looks to be about the same because of how the blocks are cut.

Make sure you're comparing the same sizes: the website showed stepped-down chainplate units with grooves milled in as well. Those stepped-down ones are usually only for bigger chainplates, while the smaller ones have parallel surfaces.

[jfranta]

Originally Posted by vechnyak

im about to buy a top down spinnaker furler from them

Peter, from Blue Shark, Is a conman and a leech. He has stolen many companies intellectual property without a thought, including from Colligo Marine, Our products and our copyrighted terms like Line Terminator. Whats worse, in doing this, he is teaching his children how to lie, cheat and steal for money. Let's try to break the cycle of low moral values he is trying to impart on our world. If you need any Genuine Colligo parts please send us an email and I will get you a deal. info@colligomarine.com. I am sure the other manufacturers that he has copied will do the same. You will also get great service as we know how and why our products work so well and Peter does not. You will probably never hear from him again once you give him your money.

John Franta, Colligo Marine. Fair Winds...

[vechnyak]

I think this is impacting every industry out there. Aside from the labor cost, i truly believe it would be beneficial to understand why there is such a price gap. I mean look at it on eBay...$700 model 1.5 without anti tortion. All local mainstream big brands for a top down furlers are close to 2k and more. is it not?. Aluminum, bearings, stainless all similar. How can we narrow that gap of this enormous price difference? If the difference would be in few hundred bucks, sure i get it and would happily pay that. But $1200-1600 difference?
This is not meant to offend anyone. In a global market I honestly think that by bashing Chinese made products we are not going to make American sailors to part easily with their hard earned cash.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by vechnyak

I think this is impacting every industry out there. Aside from the labor cost, i truly believe it would be beneficial to understand why there is such a price gap. I mean look at it on eBay...$700 model 1.5 without anti tortion. All local mainstream big brands for a top down furlers are close to 2k and more. is it not?. Aluminum, bearings, stainless all similar. How can we narrow that gap of this enormous price difference? If the difference would be in few hundred bucks, sure i get it and would happily pay that. But $1200-1600 difference?
This is not meant to offend anyone. In a global market I honestly think that by bashing Chinese made products we are not going to make American sailors to part easily with their hard earned cash.

A lot of the cost is in research and development, which is enormously expensive. Making prototypes and testing them takes time and money. Example: I'm spending $160 apiece to have three parts machined for testing, which ultimately to remain competitive I'd have to sell for less than $15. If someone sees my product after I've done the testing, takes measurements and starts producing it--knowing that the hard work has been done--he's essentially a dirtbag and a thief. Chinese companies are notorious for doing this, as well as for substituting poor-quality materials and passing them off as the same. Would you trust a Chinese-made furler that claimed to have 6061 T6 aluminum to actually have that? How would you know? Their government isn't exactly strenuous in insisting on truthfulness, and time after time people have got bitten buying cheap Chinese goods.
I'm not saying everything Chinese is sub-quality, but enough is to make me distrustful of something unknown.

[bluefightingcat]

Originally Posted by vechnyak

im about to buy a top down spinnaker furler from them

Did you ever order this? I'm curious to hear about your experience with Blueshark and their furler.

[vechnyak]

I did. Arrived good and the one person I was emailing with responded promptly and clearly. With that said, i think the drum is either too small or my boat is too big. It works fine by itself but I'm not having easy time rolling it. The sock used to be easier by far.

[bluefightingcat]

Originally Posted by vechnyak

I did. Arrived good and the one person I was emailing with responded promptly and clearly. With that said, i think the drum is either too small or my boat is too big. It works fine by itself but I'm not having easy time rolling it. The sock used to be easier by far.

Which model did you get? And what is your boat?

[vechnyak]

Originally Posted by bluefightingcat

Which model did you get? And what is your boat?

This is the email I got from them before buying. My boat is Hanse 320 (32ft):

We recommend the 1.5t TD furler system(2504-E&2505 549$ after discount) for spinnaker, detail as below, it may meet your demand.

sail area approx. 100 sq.m | 1’080 sq.ft or less;
control line diameter 8 mm | 5/16″;
working load of 1’500 kg / 3’305 lbs;
boats up to 36 feet.

[George_SD]

I've just got their fiddle blocks for a 4:1 system. Quality wise looks very close to the well known brands, but not their high-end stuff. Happy so far, but will see how it goes in the long-term