Blog posts of '2026' 'May'

Extract from Seahorse Technical Briefing, June 2026 edition.

Allen’s blocks are moving on up from Moths to Cape 31s and even Imoca 60s, with a two-tonne max working load…

From its humble 1950s beginnings by two brothers in a garden shed, Allen has always set its sights on quality and performance. Over the years, the company has built a strong reputation for small boat blocks and hardware, specialising in high-speed, high-load products that over the past decade became the go-to among top Olympic and Moth campaigners.

Now Allen is expanding its range, this time to meet the needs of the keelboat market. The coming months will see the roll-out of a range of 45mm and 60mm High Roller blocks, the first products of this type in the company’s catalogue. The range responds to demands from those seeking the edge offered by Allen’s precision-engineering approach and race-winning reputation. Its development has been at the request of boatbuilders and race teams alike.

This comprehensive series of roller bearing blocks is specifically intended for high-speed systems of up to 2,000kg working load, so is ideal for sheets, halyards, runners and other high-load control lines for which low-friction handling is key. Expect to see single and double sheave options, shackle variants, flip-flop configurations and more, all with custom-coloured anodised finishes available.

Originating with the 60mm Single Tii-On High Roller Block, initially developed and tested on a British Imoca 60 round-the-world race campaign, the series has been designed and manufactured at Allen’s Essex-based facility. The site itself has recently undergone expansion to increase production capacity, together with investment in new CNC and VMC tooling.

Ben Harden, head of marketing, says this pioneering 60mm High Roller block has been available for around 12 months now, and has been well-received across multiple keelboat classes. It features widely in the Cape 31 class, for example, most notably on Michael Wilson’s multiple class circuit winner, Shotgunn.

With working load, rather than a boat’s LOA, determining usage, together with maximum line diameter (in this case 13mm), there’s plenty of scope in the market. When that working load max is not far off two tonnes, and the breaking load is double that, Harden says the High Roller blocks provide an obvious advantage over similar-sized equivalents, despite a fractionally heavier overall weight.

This may be Allen’s first range of products designed specifically for the big boat market, but the design heritage draws directly from their popular and well-proven 30mm XHL (Extreme High Load) block.

“For more than a decade, this has been the leading choice for use with the most demanding dinghy systems – think Moth vang assemblies,” says Harden, “where low-friction performance and high-load capability is critical, and a compact yet robust form is required.”

With the new High Roller Block range, Allen has taken the same approach to design and materials – and pushed it even further. Where smaller blocks rely on a simpler stainless-steel ball bearing arrangement, for the High Roller block, Allen spent three years assessing and developing multiple bearing design iterations. The final product incorporates dual-configured roller bearings designed to further eliminate friction.

The main load runs on caged PEEK (polyetheretherketone) roller bearings, which are noted for strength, wear resistance and dimensional stability under sustained stress. Precise configuration of these long, barrel-shaped elements distributes load evenly across the maximum surface, allowing efficient rotation under very high loads.