The Steelhead Marine Story...
Steelhead Marine's current line-up of yacht cranes, davits and marine products were born out of a strong desire to make things better. Dan Thain, the founder of Steelhead Marine was never satisfied with products that were just "good enough," and was always looking for ways to improve things.
In 1987 while working at Cooper Yachts in BC, he started a small business at home building aluminum fuel tanks... the beginning of Steelhead Marine. He went to work serving the marine industry building aluminum and stainless steel products like fuel tanks, radar arches and yacht hardware. He grew tired of having to be the low bidder for aluminum and stainless steel fabrication and finding little "upside opportunity" for improving the design of these products, began to study yacht cranes.
He went back to his marine roots and explored the yacht crane category. No significant design improvements had occurred in a long time. Cranes were very large, heavy, expensive and took forever to deliver. Even though these frustrations were affecting everyone in the business, no one had made an effort to build a better crane.
It became clear to Dan that there had to be a way to make a better crane. The new crane was to be lighter, stronger, and easy to install — yet had to be produced and delivered more quickly. He felt the answer could be found in new, high-tech materials and the principles employed in the aerospace industry. In 1997 he brought in an aircraft engineer to help design a prototype using aeronautical principles and materials.
They analyzed the structures they would require for the desired reach and load... always aiming to use lighter and stronger materials to reduce the crane's weight. They perfected a linear winch system that contributed to a unique and flexible design that reduced stress on the boom nose and allowed for retracted storage. Retracted storage reduced the stowed crane length by one third, when compared to other cranes in its class. This would allow Steelhead's cranes to be mounted where other cranes could not fit.
The engineering team replaced stainless cable with AM Steel rope because it is lighter, 40% stronger, doesn't splinter and can track on smaller sheaves.. And, AM Steel rope can easily be shortened while still installed on the crane — a big improvement over cable, which has to be removed.
They developed an easy-access manifold for convenient servicing and a shear-transfer collar which allows for mounting on different deck angles. The ultimate design enabled all the components to be shipped with the standpipe for a simpler, bolt-together installation. Throughout the design process, they did destructive tests, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and 3-to-1 safety factor testing.
They then developed Steelhead's CT (custom telescoping) 4-function cranes — a whole new type of technology. These cranes handle bigger loads and have a telescoping boom. High-tech stainless steel alloys were used to increase lift strength by up to 35% while reducing total crane weight by up to 50% when compared to typical crane models.
Steelhead's team of highly skilled tradesmen continue to refine its machining, fabricating, hydraulic and product assembly techniques to constantly improve existing products and develop new products.
Recently, Steelhead developed its stylish Esprit line of cranes (ES1000, ES1500 and ES2200) to offer the most affordable 4-function capable, lightweight cranes available for your yacht. In addition, Steelhead has also designed, constructed and installed high-quality telescoping passerelles.
Steelhead Marine's full line of yacht cranes is the result of nearly two decades of constant improvements resulting in, what we believe, is the most complete line of quality yacht cranes on the market.
In 2010, Steelhead Marine was acquired by Advanced Marine Technologies.