Is it a lifting eye, inside the anchor locker?
 

I had onboard a friend of mine who is a mechanical engineer.
According to him, the stainless steel ring below (and the way it's attached to the hull and bolted to the towing eye on the other side) looks strong enough to be used also as a lifting eye.

In my view, it's clearly oversized to just secure the anchor chain, but I wouldn't bet that it can withstand the boat weight.
Any experiences on that? Has anyone actually used it to lift the boat?

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...chorLocker.jpg

Hi Paul,

Don't use that ring as a "lifting eye". Use a soft nylon heavy duty strap and run it though the eye on the outside front of bow.

You can put some towels around the rub rail when you lift to keep it from scratching etc...

That ring inside the locker is not for lifting.

Also, don't ever get in the habit of leaving an anchor in that locker for very long as it will tear the heck out of the boat while under way.

Thanks Jason.
Out of curiosity, do you know what it's there for? Can't believe it's just meant to secure the anchor chain...
Which I'm not using anyway, no need for it on the lake. The scratches you might have seen come from the previous owner.

I believe the bracket was put there due to the fact that the lifting eye was already planned in that same area. It's much easier, cheaper, and aesthetically pleasing to use studs from the eye vs. coming up with another mount that would be in the same basic area.

You can tell by the design that the load would not be shared evenly on the bracket... It's probably the easiest thing they found at the time to share the available studs from the eye.

You want a solid mounting point for securing the anchor. After all, you'd want to prevent it from moving as much as possible.

That ring is a solid mount to strap the anchor down on to..

On my -93 the deck cleat is attached to the front bow eye like in your pictures (no anchor locker on the earlier 27).
I figured Fountain designed it this way to be used for emergecy recovery of the boat. I would not use it for lifting purpose though.

Rule # 1..... Don't listen to engineers who are not boaters. And even then it still might not be a good idea. They over think things

Actually, it is a lifting ring.
http://www.foreandaftmarine.com/Bowliftingeyes.htm
http://www.halemarine.com/index.php?...oducts_id=1456


Don't listen to boaters that are not engineers. ;) That ring itself could almost lift the full weigh of your boat alone. A little overkill for an anchor rope/tie down, don't cha think? :) But do as you feel safe. The inside ring is located there because of the location of the bow eye in relation to the locker hatch opening. Open hatch, connect chain, lift boat up. Remember, the front doesn't have the weight of the motor and drive.

Agreed,

But I would probably only do it in an emergency. That is the same type of setup on my pantera, except mine is mouted above the deck. I have seen way smaller thing used to crane boats at the races.

So then I'm wrong but I still would not use it. That ring is no were near as strong as the lifting eye itself. They look like two totally different grades of hardware to me but I'm not an engineer.

+1 on not leaving your anchor up there - the shank on your anchor will eat up that flat piece of plywood real quick! I learned the hard way.

Yeah, looks can be decieving some times.
Food for thought.....while not wanting to use that ring for lifting and instead use the bow eye....what about the layer of fiberglass/balsa coring that the bow eye is bolted to.... :)

I have a 47 with that exact style anchor locker but it has a stainless steel cradle the anchor fits in with a locking pin. It works great!
Also, the boat is on a MYCO tandem dually which I use to wet-launch it, but the owner before me craned it on and off the trailer every time using that lifting ring in the front.

Not sure what you mean. The 3 "lifting" eyes are about the strongest part of a boat in this size range.

The wood is there to help spread the load on a pull.

Only way i would lift my pleasure boat is by cradling it with straps like on a travel hoist. Thats why the bunks on my myco are notched, so that straps can be slid under boat to hoist it.

On my old Formula, we were loading it on the trailer one day, and my buddy had rigged up a safety chain on the bow eye, going to the trailer, for insurance should the winch strap break. Well he set that chain too tight. So when i started pulling boat up the ramp, the bow tried to raise, as the boat was being pulled up the ramp. What ended up happening was it bent the bow eye, and almost pulled it right out of the hull. The re-inforced area of fiberglass in that area inside the hull crushed. It was not cool.

By the look of those rings, i couldnt bring myself to trust the little 1/8th inch plate and two nuts on the outside of the hull carrying all that weight. Im pretty sure that the lifting rings used on race boats are tied into the stringers.

Thank you, MILD THUNDER! There is no way I would try lifting a boat with the factory bow eye.A Sling, properly placed, is the only safe way to go. That deck cleat will bust clean off if you put enough weight on it, it's just chrome over brass or pot metal. Will withstand some yanking against a dock, but lifting the boat.....not so much. The stern eyes are anchored through the 3" thick transom. a different story altogether. You could install a lifting ring on the deck, but it would mount to the deck and have another anchor below it, utilizing the underside of the bow and the deck plate combined to distribute the weight. Similar to the factory set up, only much stronger.

Well chit, put enough weight on a lifting strap, and it will break too. ;)
RATINGS, the're not just numbers made up. Don't exceed them or the weakest link, and you can do what they are made for. Just gotta get over the visual thought.

'brass or pot metal' hehe

I've seen LOTS of things that broke at less than the "rating". I've also seen/heard of more than one "Certified" GM Tech screwing up engines in boats too but he has the plaque that says "Certified".

Doesn't hurt to use some good common sense and base your decision on the type of product, where it's made etc. I guarantee you that the bow lifting eye is a way stronger piece of stainless than that little ring in the anchor locker.

That ring in your link can also be bought at West Marine and they get it from China. I don't trust the quality of much from them but guys will do what they want.

There's a few engineers that have made some bad calls out there too don't forget.

Only buy in America...no jap junk!!

My Vote
 

I would say it is put there to secure the end of the anchor line to to keep from accidently losing it overboard.

Seed if you have one of these.. Take out the screw and remove the mirror in the front

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/a...1&d=1286757363