The board in the middle over the boat itself is what is actually holding the boat up. I have a total of 8 connection points on there...2 of which are for pullies and the other six are in 3 sets of 2. I have ratchet straps connected to these and I wrap them around the kayak and attach to the opposing eyelet. From there I can ratchet each strap individually to allow me to balance out the weight. This way I do not have too much weight on the front, back or middle...its evenly across. I used the foam pads to tray and distribute the weight a bit more and prevent "oil-canning" on the sides of the yak. It already cam with one spot I will be popping out here shortly when I bought it. I found that the straps work best for me because I could cut pre-determined lengths of nylon for each section, but then I would have to make sure I secure they kayak in the same spot every time. This way If I am off a little bit front to back I always have a custom fit.
Just a bit of warning here...your PA weighs 135 pounds dry. If you leave any extra gear in it when you go to raise it you may be stressing that lift system. Also one last thought...since I never gave it a try manually...tell me how heavy that bad boy is to pull up by hand!!! I was curious, but decided that the winch was just better than finding out!