Stavanger, Saturday
I just checked Wikipedia and found that quite ordinary low-carbon steel has a yield strength of at least 240MPa ( about 24kp/sqmm) while stainless steel has a strength of about 520MPa.
The two halves of an 8mm chain link have a square section of around 100sqmm (added up). This indicates that the strength of an 8mm chain should roughly be somewhere between 2.4 and 5.2tons (or just a bit less).
Now I found data from a chain factory (Kragerø, Norway) on the web:
http://www.framlink.no/upload/files/pdf/1176451347_gruppe1.pdf
It appears that a galvanised chain version called Fram Alloy Hot dip Galvanised has a breaking strength (8mm) of 6.5tons and a test force of 3.9tons
Even their plain galvanised soft iron chain has a breaking strength of 2.4ton and test strength of 1.3ton ( max legal working load is 0.6ton).
It would surprise me if not the 8mm chain, even the soft iron version, would not hold that little dory, Gecko, although I would have aimed for the stronger one.
The 8mm chain is 1.3kg/m while the 10mm is 2.2kg/m. If you have let out 30m of chain, you will congratulate yourself that you only went for 8mm each time you are to haul up the hook.
Cheers, Arne