A First For Me: Car Topping!

[andyatos]

Actually, I guess you could say it was "Tacoma Topping". To go on our 13 mile out and return on the Russian River, we had to put one boat on the top of my Tacoma as my brother didn't fly from Maine with his truck. The Sunfish was the obvious choice... with the Laser wanting to hog the trailer ball. (I think my Laser is seriously jealous of my new Alcort girlfriend.)

Used the same technique my wife and I had developed for loading our two man kayak on top of the Tacoma. Was pretty straight forward getting the Sunfish up there with my brother. But when I started to ponder how to flip the thing over, my brother said, "Why bother?" And you know what, he was right.

I have very strong and super thick padded racks that were made for my expensive, almost all carbon hang glider... including very robust and well padded straps with heavy duty cam buckles. So we just cranked that baby down, put a line from the bow to the bumper for symbolic measure (as if that bow handle would do anything if the Sunfish took a flyer), hooked up the Laser on the trailer and off we went.

The drive was 30 minutes to the boat ramp and we were on sections where we were doing 55 mph. The Sunfish never budged. So, for shorter trips we'll just keep her right side up. Longer trips, we'll make the extra effort to flip the old girl over.

Enjoying having 2 dinghies,

- Andy

 

[Headley Grange]

I transport my Sunfish in the back of my pickup truck keel down. I made some cradles that match the shape of the hull. I'll have to get some pics of my rolling rig one of these days.

 

[L&VW]

Two of my Sunfish have made a 2000-mile trip with the Sunfish "back-to-front". I figure the rudder gudgeon(s) were 'way stronger than the bow handle. Pictured is a spare halyard that runs through the rudder area, then goes through a PVC tube before dropping down through the daggerboard trunk. The heavy chains pictured were all I had to hold the front, but the weight helped to stabilize the effects of gusting winds. I ran a line through the halyard eye, and passed it through a block and cam-cleat. To tighten some of the slack, I could reach it through the truck's middle window to adjust more strain on the halyard. A 4x4 provides some space to keep the chain and cable away from the painted areas of the truck. A sleeve of fire hose protects the hood. A shackle can be removed if an under-hood check has to be made.

The two roof-racks were made of wood, which I've since changed to metal uprights for better streamlining.

I load the Sunfish by placing the bow handle atop the ladder, then swing the stern up to the forward rest. There's not much weight on the bow-end, but I strung two tennis balls to take whatever load they might need.

(No point in painting it before the trip!)

 

[jimcameron]

I think you need larger chain.

 

[L&VW]

Different Sunfish, different chain, much smaller cable, about half-way into a 2000-mile trip. Went smoothly, wouldn't have known that the Sunfish was "on board".

 

[signal charlie]

Nice pictures! Thanks.