Car topping a fish

mdelaney

New Member
Does anyone have any recommendations or words of advise on cartopping a sunfish? I am looking to cartop on a minivan with Thule roof racks and seeking any adivse or insight.

Thanks
 
Search back for previous messages on this subject. There has been a lot of discussion and recommendations about this.

Fred P
 
Mike,

Some basics. Make sure that the rack system is rated for at least 200 lbs to be safe and make sure the racks attach serurely to the top of the van. Make nice, padded bunks so you can carry the boat upside down (i.e. deck facing roof - better aerodynamically and the cockpit doesn't fill up with rain water.)
When making the bunks, make an extension/holder on the passenger side to hold the mast/boom/gaff with sail on it. Attach the boat at six points; tie a line from the bow eye to the fender (or towing eye) of the front of the van. Tie a second line from the
stern bridle to the rear fender or towing eye. Then tie the boat to both racks. Also tie a line from the bow eye of the boat to the front rack and another line from the stern bridle to back rack to prevent fore and aft movement. Do not use shock cord or rubber devices to tie the boat to to the rack - they simply are not strong enough. Use strong dacron line or strong web straps.

Good luck.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
My personal experience says it's not worth the effort to cartop considering the time and trouble it takes to get it on top of the vehicle and off the vehicle. It's OK if your doing it once or twice to get the boat somewhere and back for a season but if you have to cartop every time you sail you'll be happier with a trailer. I tried cartopping for a year then bought a trailer and lived happily everafter.
Fred P
 
Car topping is easy. Especially once you get everything figured out. For padding I use pool noodles. You dont need 6 different attachment points though. Tying lines from the bow and stern causes a lot of stress on the boat. These parts aren't really made to handle this stress either. I use 2 ratchet straps that go all the way around the boat, and under the rack, these can be made tight enough to prevent any foreward, and backward movement what so ever. Then for safety purposes just in the off chance that the straps fail for some reason I tie one line from one side of the rack through the deck halyard cleat, and back to the other side. This is all you need I have traveled a lot like this and never had any problems. It is also a lot simpler this way. To put my boat on my roof and get it strapped down, takes at most 30 minutes.
 
Actually I prefer car/truck topping to a trailer. I admit it can be a pain over time hoisting the dead weight up there and back down, but a trailer, even the best designed or modified one, puts a lot more stress and vibration into the boat than it gets throught the car/truck suspension.
Once my health stopped me from traveling with the fish in a bunker rack on top of my truck cap I went to a trailer. Took me a year of researching before I bought a Trailex trailer. It's the only one, although expensive, to carry a sunfish where it needs to be supported.
As for holding the fish to a car/truck top location, I use bow and stern lines, but not as "holding" lines, rather just safety lines.
I once had a rack that broke loose from the car; and it and the fish headed off into the median at 65 mph. Luckily it only cost me a small can of Marinetex and a red face.
 
Mike D.,
Alan and the rest have good suggestions. I made a wood rack that is bolted to the factory rack on my Durango. It is padded with the thicker pipe insulation and has a longer length than factory with 3 crossbars. Try to position your Sunfish on the crossbars so that the bars are under the mast step, daggarboard well and the rear of the cockpit. These structures go thru to the bottom and are the strongest areas of a SF. I made aluminum brackets (padded with thick self stick felt from Wal-Mart) for the sail/spars (on passenger side) and mast on drivers side. Mast and spars are bungeed into the brackets (they fit snug around the spars). I prefer to use Rachet type straps, I do like like or trust the cam type of straps or rope. Pad your straps where they touch your boat or vehicle (pipe insulation again). I use a 5 point tie-down, front (splits from bow to 2 points on frame), 3 cross straps and one rear strap to trailer hitch.) Instead of using the bridle as the rear tie-down point, I use an Eyebolt (3/8" x 5") with a nylock nut thru the rudder bracket. Yes, it is a bit of a pain to use (you need to use a wrench), but I feel it is more secure. An older Sunfish with out the rudder upgrade would still need to use the bridle. It is a little noisier inside the car, but has been stable at Interstate speeds and around big trucks. Any further questions, drop me a note.

P.S., While car topping works, you need 2 people (tall) to be safe. I can, have and do load and unload my SF by myself. When I can, I will be getting a trailer to make sailing solo easier.
 
THe current fish come out of the factory with a average 130 pound hull weight. You're going to have to add some kind of bunker to the rack to match the hull to keep it from point loading and unless you've got somewhere else to carry the mast/spars and sail they'll have to go up there as well.
So my answer would be no.
Not to mention at 14 foot the boat will overhang the rack by a good margin and the standard car roof racks are designed to carry the weight inside their perimeter. Overhung loads produce a lot of extra torque on the bars when the car hits rough roads and during stopping.
 
Agree, get a trailer. I no longer cartop and am much happier. And with a wheeled trailer jack on the front, I can move the SF and trailer all over the yard if need be without strain.
 

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