You need some kind of reinforcement there, regardless of the handle type, but it doesn't have to be an endpour. A piece (or pieces) of wood will do just as well or better. A piece of SS tubing will concentrate the handle forces on the thin wood. That's not so bad for the linear tension and compression forces but the twisting and shear forces could cause fatigue failure. The easiest thing to do is to spread out the forces and immobilize the sides and deck using an endpour or stem piece.

On my WD12 I decided to go with wooden stem and stern pieces. They were roughly shaped and bedded in epoxy/woodflour putty.

Since they will never be seen fine joinery work is not needed. I also used cheap scrap pine that I had laying around. They ended up lighter and cheaper than endpours. I also found them easier and less messy than endpours, especially since they could be done before the deck was attached, blocking access.

Once the deck was glued on I drilled a hole through the bow and thoroughly saturated the raw wood with epoxy. SInce fully-cured epoxy is as hard as a formica countertop, I felt no need to line it, especially since I was using a rope handle. It has stood up for over 13 years now.

For the aft, I screwed a padeye through the deck into the sternpiece.

Have fun,

Laszlo

   Excellent info Lazlo. Thank you.