Transporting a Laser

Hi, just bought a 1990 Laser on e-bay. I have a Mercury Villiger Van and hoping someone could give me some advice on how best to carry it on top of the car. Will it hurt the boat if I just lay it deck side down on the rack on the roof? Any input appreciated. I bought it on impulse. Hope to learn to sail with my 12 year old daughter. Thanks Mike.
 
that could work, car topping is common. It's always good to make sure that your roof rack is strong enough to carry 130 to 140 pounds, (depending on how wet your boat is) Often times, if you have factory racks, they are not strong enough

But I prefer to transport my Laser in my 428 foot mega yacht when I go to regattas!

I can also carry my coach, and his coachboat, my nutritionist, massous, and my psych and medical team. Life is gooood.


rising_sun01.jpg
 
If you have the time and money, put a trailer hitch on that van and buy a Kitty Hawk laser trailer. They're light and easy to handle and built specifically for the laser.
 
Very impressive! Never mind the transporting question. Give me some tips on being able to live the gooooooooooooooood life like you!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks. I actually got the laser related to the fact of not needing a trailer. My hope was to just throw on top of my car and off I go. If too inconvienent I guess I will have to take your advice and look for a little trailer.
 
You have to be able to advertise and market yourself till the cows home home, and people get sooo sick and tired of your whining that they throw money at you, and be able to beg without shame!!!

Orrrr go to Yale, join a secret society, get a C average, and an overly high paying job, and buy the Texas Rangers. (Presidency is optional, and ill advised)
 
Hi psychonurse91325,
beside of Mr. Ross B.'s "very-very worthy" advises:
At TLF you can seach for "car topping" or related words (use the "Search"-button above-right at the Task-Line of TLF and there the advanced area of search discussion section: "Laser Sailing"). Several threads of the past perfect there describe how to place a hull of a Laser Standard on the roof of a car.

Ciao
LooserLu
 
No worries on cartopping. Slap that baby up there with some good tie downs and go sailing.

Ross, you are our favorite delusional Laserite!
 
Hey, I did give some good information, you gotta make sure your roof rack is strong enough!

Back to the hot tub!
 
Hi, just bought a 1990 Laser on e-bay. I have a Mercury Villiger Van and hoping someone could give me some advice on how best to carry it on top of the car. Will it hurt the boat if I just lay it deck side down on the rack on the roof? Any input appreciated. I bought it on impulse. Hope to learn to sail with my 12 year old daughter. Thanks Mike.

You can certainly cartop the Laser, but you should check to see if your car's roof rack is strong enough. Most manufacturer's standard roof racks do not actually have enough weight capacity to hold the weight of a Laser. A Laser weighs about 130-140 pounds, so check your car user manual to see if it will hold the weight. The weight restriction is usually based on the strength of the roof itself. If your car roof rack isn't strong enough you can always get a good aftermarket rack from a company like Thule that will mount into the rain gutters and will hold much more weight (just buy the multipurpose rack bars and put some carpet or other padding on them to protect the boat).
 
if you do end up cartopping, make sure you have a dolly. you will need assistance getting the boat up and down on the car. take it off and place on the dolly. You can wheel it around, rig it, and then launch from it.

the suggestion for a kitty hawk style trailer is great. you can rig and launch from it in a pinch. also, much easier to transfer to a dolly from trailer with help from a 12 year old. however, a seitech dolly or similar is usually preferred in tandem with a road trailer.
 
Hi, just bought a 1990 Laser on e-bay. I have a Mercury Villiger Van and hoping someone could give me some advice on how best to carry it on top of the car. Will it hurt the boat if I just lay it deck side down on the rack on the roof? Any input appreciated. I bought it on impulse. Hope to learn to sail with my 12 year old daughter. Thanks Mike.

Get a 12' long 2x4, cut into 2 6' pieces, tie securely across your racks to use in place of the factory cross bars and your good to go. (the factory crossbars usually have the reverse bend in them compared to the Laser deck)

Or, look into the Thule/Yakima options - you can use their crossbars on the factory racks for a neater appearance.

Tie the Laser to the crossbars, and bow and stern to the van itself under the bumpers
 
Get a 12' long 2x4, cut into 2 6' pieces, tie securely across your racks to use in place of the factory cross bars and your good to go. (the factory crossbars usually have the reverse bend in them compared to the Laser deck)

Or, look into the Thule/Yakima options - you can use their crossbars on the factory racks for a neater appearance.

Tie the Laser to the crossbars, and bow and stern to the van itself under the bumpers

Attaching 2x4s or Thule crossbars to the factory racks won't help if the Laser weighs more than the factory rack weight capacity. You need to check the factory rack capacity in the manual, if the Laser is heavier than that, you need to use aftermarket racks that attach at stronger locations (like the rain gutters or the proper rack mounting points).
 
There are plenty of people car/van topping on the factory racks of the mini-vans and station wagons.

I've yet to come across anyone who has ripped the racks off, when the hull was properly tied at the bow and stern to the car/van
 
Thanks everyone for your excellent input. Will be picking boat up this Saturday. Will double check my owners manual to see if my rack can handle the weight. Mike.
 
We've hauled everything from 4 -Optis, to 2- Lasers to 470s on dollys (400 + pounds) on thule racks attached to factory racks. You will have no problem with a Laser on factory racks. Try to pick up some roof rack pads (or pipe insulation) and make sure in addition to strapping it to the racks you tie the front and back of the boat directly to the car (bumper, hitch or whatever).
 
We've hauled everything from 4 -Optis, to 2- Lasers to 470s on dollys (400 + pounds) on thule racks attached to factory racks. You will have no problem with a Laser on factory racks. Try to pick up some roof rack pads (or pipe insulation) and make sure in addition to strapping it to the racks you tie the front and back of the boat directly to the car (bumper, hitch or whatever).

I respect your professional opinion, but I know that I have looked at the weight capacity of manufacturer's roof racks before and have been surprised that they are lower than the weight of a Laser. I wouldn't want to take the risk of crushing the roof of my car to find out if there is enough of a safety factor built into the capacity to withstand the weight. As far as I understand it, the attachment location of factory racks is not as strong as anchoring to special anchoring points or the raingutters like a Thule rack.
For example, the Mercury Villager is listed as having a rack capacity of 45 kg (about 100 lbs) which is less than the weight of a Laser.
 
As far as I understand it, the attachment location of factory racks is not as strong as anchoring to special anchoring points or the raingutters like a Thule rack.

That is true, never trust just the factory rack to hold the boat on. That is why I make sure I tie the bow and stern directly to the car not the racks so in essence the boat is tied to the car. The Thule racks on most SUVs just attach to the factory racks so you need to make sure the boat is tied direct. Scott
 
That is true, never trust just the factory rack to hold the boat on. That is why I make sure I tie the bow and stern directly to the car not the racks so in essence the boat is tied to the car. The Thule racks on most SUVs just attach to the factory racks so you need to make sure the boat is tied direct. Scott

Obviously you should tie a large flat object like a Laser to more than just the racks themselves. You refer to the pullout strength of the factory racks, I was referring to the strength of the roof itself where the racks are attached, which is what I think the weight capacity means. The factory racks are often attached to the roof a short distance inside the edge of the roof. This means that they rely on the strength of the roof itself to support the weight. Aftermarket racks that attach directly to the car (and not to the existing racks) usually attach to the rain gutters or to a dedicated attachment point. The weight applied to aftermarket racks is carried by the sides of the car itself, which is why aftermarket racks have higher weight capacities.
 
Not sure what minivans you've looked at, but I can't recall seeing any with raingutters- just the full size vans.

I can tell you that the Thule racks with towers and feet that I have in my mini-van place the load in exactly the same location as the factor racks due - on the channel of the roof. I recall looking at at least 3 or 4 others as well, and all of them also place the load in the channel that the factory rack uses..
 

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