Jim
I’ve hauled countless times and have never damaged my rub-rail. I damaged a
stanchion once when the boat didn’t lift straight. A stanchion bent a
little.

Straps normally have two attachment points, high and low. The cables run
through two pulleys, one at each end of a short crossbar. This gives a 4:1
advantage. The operator must attach where the straps are high enough to
lift the boat clear of the pier but low enough so the crossbars don’t damage
the boat. With my Yacht club hoist, this is one high and one low. If they
tied to both low attachments, the hoist crossbar would hit my rubrail. I
would guess that they hooked too low and the strap was too short.

Hope this helps
Rich