I'm wanting to get ideas on how to transport a Laser on top of pickup truck racks. The racks are located on the forward and aft end of the bed which puts them about 5.5ft apart. So I assume upside down but what do you suggest for lashing it down securely? Any photos available? Thanks!
I've seen people do it before. Not much different from standard car roof racks. With 5.5 feet, you have plenty of separation. The only difficulty I can see is you might have to move the center of gravity a bit futher forward to avoid having too much of the boat hanging off the back of truck.
To secure it, I would suggest using some ratcheting straps to secure the boat to the cross bars. You want to get it snug so all the slack is gone, but not so tight that it stress the hull. A definite must is tying the bow to the front bumper. I would tie the stern to the real bumper, too.
I was hoping to avoid tying the bow to my front bumper. If it's necessary I'll do it. Another thought I had was to buy a roof rack, at least a one bar rack and mount it forward on my cab to further secure the bow of the boat.
The decks of Lasers have a slightly convex shape to them. To support the boat properly, you're going to want some pads/spacers to match the shape of the deck while you travel to prevent stress cracks from appearing. I would only worry about this for longer road trips, however, short trips should be fine.
What if we try it on an open trailer which mostly a truck towing service companies used. I think this is the better idea if the boat size is small and medium so i guess this is fine.
Here is what I ended up with. Been a few hundred miles with it this way and it seems to work well. I lash it down well trying not to strain the hull much and also use pads to cushion the contact areas.