Abstract: An automatic latch is mounted on the front of a self-loading boat trailer to the fixed upright framework that includes a bow-receiving cradle. The latch member has a central transverse pivot. The rear end of the latch has an upwardly and forwardly inclined hook, while the front end of the latch has a counterweight normally urging the hook in a raised position. The forward loading movement of the boat onto the trailer causes a boat eye mounted on the bow of the boat to deflect the hook into a lowered position until the counterweight returns the hook to a raised position so the hook interlocks with the boat eye. An adjustable handle is mounted on the framework, and it cooperates with a tension spring, where the spring is relaxed during a boat-loading operation, and the spring is loaded during a boat-unloading operation so that the latch automatically disconnects itself from the boat eye during unloading.