Is there any problem with supporting the weight of the boat
: from the ends?

The ideas you have on security are interesting, Tim. You're "hardening the target", but even the lock idea could be compromised by an aggressive thief. (Have you looked at the possibility of using a "Club" steering wheel lock inside one of the cockpits? Depending on the thickness and design of your coaming, that could make a pretty hard-to-defeat package.

As to hanging a boat by its ends: conventional wisdom is that you'd probably never want to try to hang a plastic boat by its ends. Near-term oil-canning! A composite boat can be hung from its ends for a while, but something like my "British-heavy" Pintail wouldn't be happy like that for long. It's a heavy, solid boat, but I'd be very concerned about generating a whole new set of stress cracks, probably around the bulkheads and coaming. My North Bay is remarkably light and incredibly stiff. I'm pretty sure it could be hung by its ends for an indefinite period, but I'd never do it that way. All my boats are hung using two inch webbing straps located as close to the bulkheads as possible to spread the load as much as possible at or around the main structure of the hull. With long term storage hanging any boat from its ends, I'd be concerned with putting too much stress amidships.

Jack Martin