Life raft location is a challenging question to answer. A strong, fit person may be able to heft and heave a life raft of about 100 pounds. However, darkness or a slippery, submerged deck can significantly complicate the issue. You want to place the life raft where it will not be prematurely launched by a boarding sea and yet can be slid over the side. On a small sailboat, that location can be hard to find.
All too often, the best spot is high on a coach roof, and the brackets are bolted through a deck that was never intended to carry the shear loads that a breaking wave could exert on such an installation. In a worst-case scenario, the life raft and mounting bracket rip away, leaving a hole in the cabin top. Be sure that the mounting point is structurally sound enough to handle the loads imposed by breaking seas. Some makers show their life rafts clamped to a stern pulpit, a structure not intended to take these loads.
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