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They winching eye on the front of my 17 montauk is factory I believe. Its like a quarter inch wide (perpendicular to the keel-line). however the diameter of the opening seems to me to be too small.

When i have the wench hook in the eye, I cant fit the safety chain s-hook in there. Therefore i have to have one or the other, and cant have both! I have to use a short eigth inch rope with a loop on both ends to loop through the eye, then the loops over the winch hook - then there is room for the saftey chain s-hook. This results in the boat being supported while in tow by a rope, then the saftey chain if/when that breaks.

Ive looked for smaller s-hooks, but none are rated for any sort of weight worth it. I found a screwed-closing-chain-link rated for 1750lbs , but when unscrewed the eye on the boat is too wide.

If indeed it is factory i thought maybe some of you have had the same experience.

Thanks
Dave