car topping?

E

eastlakejake

New Member
Hi folks! Glad I came across this forum. I'm hoping someone might be able to tell me if tying down a sunfish to my 96 camry is doable. I found a padding and strap sytem for kayaks and am hoping that might work. Its cheap! But looks like it might work well enough. Any thoughts or advise? I'm just in the process of buying my first boat!
 
ELJ , I carry my minifish on top of my VW Golf. Thule racks(and VW has bomber posts in the door frames for the racks) with Da Kine rack pads. Strap a piece of 1.5" pvc lenthwise fore and aft on the outside ends of the bars. wheel the bow up to the car , lift to the pvc then pickup up the stern and wiggle on to the rack bars. then block with minicell wedges so one side of the hull contacts mostly flat to the chine and has good surface contact with the pad , cinch down snug with cam straps. On the "high side" plenty of room to strap on spars and away we go. California highway speed no problem. HOWEVER.... my dry minifish hull is less than 100 pounds , AND I am very conscious of body mechanics , when I find the sunfish/laser which is the next boat will probably start looking at trailers. I am 48 and fit and used to loading surf skis and sea kayaks BUT.... much more than the mini would be pushing it for me solo , all it takes is one bad lift and your lower back will not be pleased with the first speedy jibe !;)
 
eastlakejake said:
Hi folks! Glad I came across this forum. I'm hoping someone might be able to tell me if tying down a sunfish to my 96 camry is doable. I found a padding and strap sytem for kayaks and am hoping that might work. Its cheap! But looks like it might work well enough. Any thoughts or advise? I'm just in the process of buying my first boat!
Click to expand...
As Surfski points out, Cartopping as a method of transport and single-handed loading are mutually exclusive processes.

Cartopping is easy if you follow some basic guidelines...

  • The car roof/gutter must be able to carry the distributed weight at the points of support.
  • The rack also needs to be a variety rated to support the load.
  • Padding and cradeling help protect the boat from pressure-point damage and for ride stability.
  • The attachment to the roof needs to be secure, BUT attaching the boat directly to the vehicle is critical to insure lift doesn't detatch both boat and rack. Front and rear guys are the typical method.


Secure Transport

ct1y.jpg

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Car topping will soon get old and a royal pain if you plan to move the boat frequently e. g. to the water each time you sail. You will also need two people to get it on and off the car and a method of carrying the spars and sail.
Take my advice and get a trailer!

Fred
 
I do use a trailer to get to my local lake.

But I have also driven hundreds of miles to pick up and bring "a new to me" Sunfish project home on the roof of my cars.

My set up is simple:I like 58 inch flat thule cross bars, I cover them in dollar store pool noodles, then I use 2 :) to secure it tight.
The wide thule bars allow me to also tie dows the sail, rig, and masts.
The pool noodles are easy on the deck finish.

I drove from Cape Cod to Montreal with the phantom pictured below.
 

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