Painter rings On OT Square Stern boats?

I want to raise a 16' Old Town, Square Stern Model into the rafters of my barn. The bow ring is held on by 4 screws two in the stem and two in the external stem. I am a bit skeptical of that ring to raise it with block and tackle. The deck on this boat has been replaced and shows no sign of a painter ring. Did Old Town ever install a ring in the deck? Her is a picture of the existing bow ring, does it look original?

 

I agree that this looks original and I certainly wouldn’t hang a boat by it. It was meant for attachment of a bow line or holding the bow while on a trailer, not for supporting half the weight of the boat. Hoisting or hanging the boat by this looks like a recipe for disaster… damage to the boat and potentially a disastrous outcome for whoever or whatever happens to be underneath when the boat comes crashing down.

 

You would be better off if you could make racks 5’-6’ apart to it to rest the gunwales on instead of hoisting it with ropes.

 

As I said, I was skeptical about the strength of the original bow ring. So by adding longer arms to my typical canoe hoist rigging and adding some heavy duty brass pulls from Wolf Marine to the transom, up she went until I can get it into the shop for some well deserved attention. Thanks for verifying the bow ring's authenticity.