Gel Coat Damage Repair advice needed

My friends dad was going down the freeway once when a nice doggie ran across the freeway he attempted to avoid the dog and locked em up sliding the wagoneer sideways into the ice plant median and then rolling over a few times....the lesson was...if some animal runs out in front of you just hit them...they are not worth your life
He vividly remembered seeing his tool box fly between him and his friend out through the windshield narrowly missing them both.

I would just hit the deer next time.

Out 78 Ski Nautique had the Nautique built trailer and it was a true drive on.
The 95 trailer made by DHM is a great looking trailer but was mass produced and many brands of boats sit on DHM trailers. Looks good but universal fit trailer does not perform as well for drive on and will need some help to properly keep a boat from sliding forward in an accident.   The repair shop says the boat on wet bunks is like having the bunks greased, he says he has seen far worse accidents than ours.

Good idea, I will ponder this, whatever I go with I really want 5,000 pound break strength, minimum. I will check and see what a turnbuckle can hold. I think more than 5,000 is overkill as the eye in the nose of the Nautique will fail.
The system has to be fast to hook also, I do not wish to spend time wading in cold water fighting a hook up. Did that with our Malibu for 20 years and hated it the whole time.

The boat is supposed to be back next Friday. I look forward to having it nice again.

We were pulling out this year after driving on and the boat slid back as I pulled out, I have been nervous since then. We had the boat in gear pushing forward as it came out of the water. Maybe not enough throttle. Done that many times with our old Nautique but I don't trust this trailer for easy outs.

That is the plan.

Can any part of that chain touch the hull? When your driving the chain will be flopping around and may rub on the hull especially out on the highway. May want to find a piece of clear vinyl tubing to slide over the chain so if it does rub on the hull you won't be back at the gel coat repair shop again. Just a thought, the repair looks really great.

The boat repair looks great. Only thing I would suggest would be to get a hook that uses a pin and a cotter key to connect to the chain,those threaded links are not that strong and just might be the weak link

Wow, you guys are tough.
Keep in mind the Original manufacturer of the trailer had nothing there to stop the boat from moving forward except the poles and nose pad which failed in a 10 mph crash.

I did all the install so the buck stops here.

I looked at many options. This chain can't hit the hull. Stretched it misses by 4 inches unless the boat slips to the rear. It only pulls forward 3/4 inch and it is tight with no slack with the boat sitting normal on the trailer. Could be an issue hooking up if the boat is not parked well.
The hook and chain are rated at 2,500 lb working load and 4-4,400 break strength.
I bought two of the 3/8 anchor pins like in the middle picture above and they were rated 3,000 but did not fit, would not go through the hole of the hook or the chain. The smaller 3/16 anchor pins were rated only 500 lbs so I chose not to go that way.
I looked at the eye-bolt for the frame and canceled that idea because of the direction of load. Eye-bolts are very strong with a straight pull but can fracture with a side load. I have a side load.

The U bolt used is rated at 2,200 and when pulled on it should bend forward if needed but hopefully not break. If I am wrong on this thought let me know.
Although the chain looks loose it moves only 3/4 of an inch before it is tight. I figured the boat would hit the stop poles and pads in that same inch of movement and my stopping power would at least increase by the amount of strength in the poles helping keep the boat in place.
You are right about the quick link chain connector it is 5/16 and only rated at 1500 lbs, again the 3/8 would not fit. That is my weak link but heck, how strong is the U bolt in the fiberglass at some point it will rip out and I don't know how strong it may be.
I also upgraded the two rear straps since the ones in the accident both snapped. I now have two 2,000 lb straps in the rear.
Lastly I replaced the winch strap since it was 20 years old, new strap rated at 4,000 break strength and 2,600 load.

Perfect no, but better than the zero I got from the factory design.
I have extra chain so I will look into a hook with the clevis pin and maybe upgrade, I want to keep the spring lock type just for ease of quick connecting.

Thanks for the feed back, I am open to improvements. I considered welding the chain to the frame but nixed it because I did not feel it was needed. I have a wire feed and a 220 stick welder so that would have been an easy task except for the painting necessary to clean up.

"Note: Capacities listed are for vertical lifting only. Eyebolts with shoulder can be used for angular lifting up to 45°, but the capacity will be significantly reduced. For example, when lifting a 1,000 lb. load at a 45° angle, you must choose an eyebolt with a capacity of at least 5,600 lbs."

Sounds like fun Bruce!

Mark, the repair looks good. You could have avoided drilling the trailer altogether with just looping chain under that C channel and going back up to the bow eye.

The bow eye is very tough, lots of fiberglass behind it, I wouldn't be concerned with it ever coming out unless you are swinging the boat from it!

Sleeving the chain is still a good idea because it will inevitably scratch up the trailer when disconnected. It doesn't look like there is a convenient spot to hook it to when the boat is off.

Better than before, that's what matters. How strong it needs to be is up to you.

Thanks for all the idea's guys. I will have to get something over the chain. Maybe a bicycle tube. Hopefully none of us have to test the boat stops again. Glad this one is in the rear view mirror now.