Hi gang, I just had to do this and I used the dacron line Jerry suggest but had it professionally spliced with the tightest loop they could manage and a tightening and tapering of the splice as much as they could without losing strength. I put the shackle thru the loop. The result was that I can lift the board all the way to the loop as the splice is thin enough to fit thru the hole . I believe that a proper splice is stronger than a bowline. It works well so far, My two. Michael Ray Molly M. SF Bay