On Whalers the eyes will all hold the weight of the boat, motor, gear, and then some. <br /><br />Most of my other boats were light enough that the stern and bow eyes would support the weight of the boat. Is this generally true?
AW - My experience is that the bow and stern eyes on any boat that you can put on a trailer will be sufficient to carry the load - - with two IFs. First is the eye must have sufficient backing on the deck/transom. Second the eye with it's associated hardware must not be heavily corroded or the eyes for the transom must mount through a solid transom that has no rot. If either of these conditions are not OK you run a risk of failure and dropping of the boat.
My cousin launches from a hoist in Savannah GA. He was at the marina one day and saw a boat rip its stern eyes out. It was some brand bowrider - he told me but I forget. The bow was "slung" and when the stern eyes came out, the bow slipped out of the sling.<br /><br />My Glastron has big stickers telling not to use stern eyes for lifting eyes.
