After extensive discussions with superyacht builders and captains worldwide, Kiwi inventors Ron Hanley and Gregg Kelly found that there was a demand for self-tapping Heavy Duty Male clips that use the same philosophy that made the original Fastmount clip system a huge success. So they created one. The new clip is designed to have double the pullout load of the existing PC-M1 clip and, after testing, they found that the new clip exceeded expectations and can comfortably hold 10kg per clip where the standard clip typically holds 5kg.
During the design process, they listened to what was required by the yacht builders and added a self-tapping thread that mechanically fastens the clip to the panel. They have made this longer (7.5mm) with a coarse thread to enable thicker panels to be safely held in place. This means the minimum panel thickness is now 10mm. The coarser thread allows the clip to be screwed into harder and heavier panels. The stem of the clip is now twice as thick as the current PC-M1, giving the clip better durability and flexibility while the head of the new clip is more robust, giving the clip greater holding power.

Mounting options
The new clip is fully compatible with the Fastmount Female clips — the PC-F1 self-tapping female and the PC-SF1 surface mount female clip — and allows great flexibility of mounting options. With the new clip comes a new install tool (CT-10) due to the thickness of the new stem. The driver ‘blocks’ at the base of the stem on the PC-M1 have been removed and replaced by two cut-outs in the base plate, which the install driver locks into. This has the added bonus of giving the new clip greater horizontal flex, to allow a panel to move in any direction up, always returning to its original position. This is a particularly important feature when exterior deckhead panels are made of polycarbonate sheeting — a material that, while having an excellent finished surface and ability to remain flat and warp free, does have a very high coefficient of thermal expansion. Superyachts built in northern Europe in winter which then spend the summer season in the Mediterranean find great variations of thermal expansion of the panels can take place and flexible mounting such as is offered by Fastmount allows the panel to expand and contract at will, yet still return to its original position, all the while securely holding the panel in place.

Perfect panel positioning
This particularly applies to higher speed yachts, where larger degrees of wracking stresses can occur as the boat bounces off waves. The clipping system maintains perfect positioning of the panels during the most violent action, as attested by the 40m (131ft) motoryacht Ermis2, which reaches speeds of 50kt-plus and subjects the interior ceiling panels in the forward cabins to G-forces in excess of 2G.
While all of the company’s clips feature the ability to allow for flex, the Heavy Duty male allows for the most and is primarily designed to be used with bigger, thicker panels such as those likely to be found on exterior parts of the yacht. It will find its main use in holding exterior deck head panels securely in place on superyachts. However, they can equally be used internally to hold heavy panels in place, or seating squabs and bolsters firmly in place while allowing for full removability.
The clips can be found in shipyards across Europe and many of them are extensively testing the products with a view to full implementation. In the UK, Sunseeker has fully embraced the fixing system, having found it cost-effective over more traditional systems, noting that panels can be installed, removed and refitted in any sequence, in exactly the same location, without creep or sagging. Vibration has little effect on the clips and even when a boat moves in a heavy seaway, the panels will remain firmly in position.