Prevent a dock headknocker?
Maybe leverage. The original may have been damaged trying to break out a stuck anchor. Certainly the further out the bow roller is, the more force there is on it's platform.
Ted
Yes it's amazing but a lot of people fail to comprehend and anticipate common physics. One of the reasons I dislike bow pulpits as they are so vulnerable to forces in almost all directions. Lots of anchoring forces and forces from bumping into things even at very slow speeds can cause big trouble structurally.
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Al/FlyWright, Caltex,
Head knocker? Anchor or anchor and bow pulpit extending into/over the walkway on the float?