Newbie - car topping question

borab

New Member
I am in the market for a used Laser and was curious as to some of the better methods used to transport the boat without a trailer. Highway miles will be involded. I drive a 2004 Chevrolet pickup (trailer hitch used for bikes rack) and have looked at the Yakima and Thiel options. I am hoping to find a method that is as good, but maybe more price friendly.
 
Either yakima or thule roof racks will work, i have yakima and have traveled many miles w/ my boat on my roof, lasers are super easy to car top being that their decks are flat, I simply run 2 ratchet straps over the boat, one over each bar, and I also run a line through my mainsheet block to each side of the truck as a backup. Oh and make sure u pad your bars, I use swimming noodles cause they are a lot cheaper than the pads sailing stores sell.
 
borab said:
I am in the market for a used Laser and was curious as to some of the better methods used to transport the boat without a trailer. Highway miles will be involded. I drive a 2004 Chevrolet pickup (trailer hitch used for bikes rack) and have looked at the Yakima and Thiel options. I am hoping to find a method that is as good, but maybe more price friendly.

What I do on a minivan is to use the existing rack (happens to be Thule, but any rack capable of supporting the weight would do), and then I lash on 2 lengths of 2x4 lumber, at least 4' long each, running in the fore-and aft direction on the car. I space these boards so that, when the boat is flipped upside down on top of them, they fit just inside the traveler fairleads and run along the flat part of the deck either side of the cockpit. That's a strong and flat part of the boat; you can lash it down hard and it doesn't move.

When you tie the bow down, don't put too much tension on the lines -- the point is to keep the bow under control if something else fails... if you put too much tension on it's quite easy to rip the bow eye right out of the boat.
 
Oh yeah I forgot to mention if you run your bars w/ a port starboard orientation put the mast step or centerboard trunk over a bar these areas are very strong due to the fiberglass running from deck to hull. Also I have never felt a need for tying down the bow of my boats when car topping, this puts more than necessary stress on the bow, and I've car topped my boat hundreds of miles on the interstates and never had a problem or needed a bow tie down.
 
I have an s10 small p-up to tote my boat with. I built a "dolly" by cutting a pair of 10' 2x10 stringers to match the profile of the hull. I screwed them together with 2x4 crossers, using a pair of crossers (4x4) mounted such that they slide over the wheel wells and down in front thereby locking the rig into possition. I bolted a pair of old bbq wheels at the bow end of the frame so that the aft end (at the front of the box)can be lifted up and the rig slid to the rear of and off the end of the box and rolled down to the water. I can send you a picture, It works extremely well and I don't need anybody's help to launch and retrieve.
I also mounted a "handle bar" - a 36" 1" steel bar through the rear end of the stringers with bcycle gribs either side to hold the bar in place through the drilled holes. I also ran strips of thick carpet down the profiled tops of the stringers.
The boat looks odd cantilevered off the tailgate by 6 feet, I love it!!
 
Trying to figure out how to attach an image, here goes....
 

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hydroslyder said:
Oh yeah I forgot to mention if you run your bars w/ a port starboard orientation put the mast step or centerboard trunk over a bar these areas are very strong due to the fiberglass running from deck to hull. Also I have never felt a need for tying down the bow of my boats when car topping, this puts more than necessary stress on the bow, and I've car topped my boat hundreds of miles on the interstates and never had a problem or needed a bow tie down.

You should really tie down your bow... not hard enough to put stress on it, but enough to keep the boat under control if something lets go. If the boat comes off the top of your car, there's a fair chance that someone behind you will die.
 
yeah i know but I secure my boat in the middle from each side of the car through the mainsheet block, most likely a stronger point in the boat, and centered to keep the boat above my car hopefully, tied at the bow could fall off either side easily putting those around u in danger whereas hopefully when tied in the middle the boat will stay above the car.
 
sunnylake said:
The boat looks odd cantilevered off the tailgate by 6 feet, I love it!!

That looks like a pretty handy setup. The only thing I can see missing is that in PA (where I live), you have to red flag or red light (if it's dark out) the tail end of loads that project more than 4' beyond the back bumper of the vehicle.
 
its pretty simple to set up lights for the tail end of a boat, you get a 2x4 cut to the width of your transom, buy a cheap trailer light kit, attach the lights to one side of the board, and buy 2 rudder pintles and align them so they will fit into the rudder gudgeons of your laser, run the wires to your trailer plug on your car, and there u go.
 
I took a picture this past wkend of my laser frame for anyone interested.
I generally haul the boat during the day and tie a red flag on the end.
 

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