Equiplite
At the turn of the millennium, Equiplite introduced a shift in deck hardware design by becoming the first company globally to integrate patented synthetic fibers into its products. Launched in 2001, this Dutch technology company developed a lightweight alternative to traditional stainless steel and heavy metal rigging, creating a new benchmark for load-bearing components.
The company handles the entire lifecycle of its products, managing everything from initial design and engineering to final production at its headquarters in the Netherlands. The product range centers on high-performance sailing hardware, motor yacht lifting setups, and heavy-duty industrial solutions.
- Synthetic loop hardware and soft connectors
- High-load D-shackles and swivel quick-connectors
- Snatch blocks and specialized Gennaker blocks
- Integrated furling systems
In addition to physical rigging hardware, Equiplite incorporates digital tracking into its gear through integrated NFC microchips. By utilizing these injected chips alongside the proprietary LYnkMe cloud application, crews and yacht managers can scan the hardware with a mobile device to immediately access technical data, breaking load metrics, fatigue history, and official EKH certification records.
The manufacturing process focuses on a proprietary 3D 360-degree looping and splicing technique that distributes tensile forces evenly across multiple Dyneema strands. By heat-treating and annealing the fibers under maximum workload, the company alters the microstructure of the synthetic material to achieve higher load capacities within a smaller, more compact diameter.
This approach results in hardware that is up to 60 percent lighter than conventional metal fittings, directly reducing weight at the masthead and minimizing the risk of deck damage or crew injury during high-load operations.
