Steve
I am not talking about the three piece graphite setup you find on older Penn Reels. I am talking about the One piece Graphite setup that Penn offered starting in 2001. I have it on my 113HLW. It creates a much more ridged frame and is light weight and corrosion resistant. Penn basically made a Newell knockoff.
If you look at the forces that are being put on the reel seat they are not that much. Drag is typically set at 25-33% of line strength. If you are using 50-80 pound line that is only 12-25 pounds of worst case force on the reel seat. Still, fighting a big shark is like bench pressing 25 pounds steady for a hour or more. You might give out before you reel stand.
My 113 reel uses 30 pound line and I will only have 10 pound drag setting worst case. The 113 is designed for fish up to 100 pounds. Strong enough for the sharks I will find in the Gulf coast of Florida.
If you are worried about the graphite reel seat (Really a Stainless steel stand riveted to Graphite frame section) you can get stronger reels. I am surprised you don't go for a 12/0 or 16/0 reel with the front and rear saddle clamps. According to the Penn catalog the 9/0 is only good for fish from 50 to 250 pounds. You would probably benefit from a 16/0 reel that is good for fish over 400 pounds. I have seen these reels sell for less than 1K on auction.
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