Roof racking or trailering... Vote for which you like best?

Vote which method you prefer: Roof racking or trailering


  • Total voters
    44

Laser117077

New Member
Which method would you do if you had both available? Trailering is quicker but roof racking puts less stress on the hull....
 
Two people are required to car top a single handed Laser. Your comment about hull stress is incorrect. I prefer dolly's on trailers. Completely self sufficient.
 
I talked to a boat repair guy and he said the metal gunwale supports on the kitty hawk type trailers can damage the boat, I think it all depends on how far you trailer the boat and what type of surface you drive on,

For short trips like going to practice I like to put my dolly on the trailer so I can go singlehanded, there are a few different methods but they all seem to work well

for longer trips I usually trailer the hull upside down on the trailer with sufficient padding to absorb shock, so I use some foam padding under the deck where it contacts the trailer, then put soft padding under the straps to again spread the load out and protect the hull from scratches, this has worked pretty well

I've got more dings on my lasers from car topping, sometimes because there are protruding eyes in the racks or just the fact that its tough to load on some cars, It also seems to take alot more time to tie it down,

the laser fits pretty well in pickup bed's, even the shorter 6ft beds work, you can also fit two lasers on a pickup pretty easily, I've done that a bunch of times
 
My rule of thumb is this - if I'm a long distance where I have to stop for the night, I cartop. Otherwise I trailer. There's a certain amount of extra hassle in securing the boat for cartopping, so there is a threshold to make it worth my while.
 
Both.... I keep the boat at home on a trailer, I can load it on the car by myself by having extra long roof bars. I trailer to anything that is less than ~3 hrs away and car top to anything that's farther, particularly when going north-east of Washington DC where cartopping cuts the tolls by almost half and allows using some of the NYC parkways that are off limits to trailers.
 
Your comment about hull stress is incorrect. I prefer dolly's on trailers. Completely self sufficient.
That depends so much on the trolley. Most of the Australian built trolleys are rigid (fully welded) trolleys with the gunnels, which are ideal. Some of the international trolleys the boats are supported on their bottoms and the trolleys are made of aluminium with plastic joints, hence not really rigid and not that ideal for long trips. Even some of the Australian aluminium trolleys fail when used over long distance trips.
 
Having two cars damaged by the using roof racks, I'm hesitant to put a boat ever again on the roof racks. Modern roof racks are better but a laser is relatively heavy and creates a lot of windage.
 
Having two cars damaged by the using roof racks, I'm hesitant to put a boat ever again on the roof racks. Modern roof racks are better but a laser is relatively heavy and creates a lot of windage.

That's a good point Alan, you're definitely not going to damage the trailer by loading a laser
 
Trailer for sure. I have my Right-On trailer. Boat lives on the dolly and rarely leaves the yacht club (although I'm hoping to change that this year), but when I do need to trailer it it's really simple to get it up there and the Seitech holds the boat by the gunwales.
 
I have used both Kitty Hawk and Trailex trailers. Both come with pivot bow support so you can load it by yourself. You can also double stack your buddies' boat for long road trips. I break down the trolley and put it in the trunk or put on top of the inverted second boat.
 
Used a Rhino Rack T-loader. At 67 and after four shoulder surgeries I can load my Laser onto the topper which is on my Toyota Tundra. It is long way up there, but not difficult with the t-loader.
 
Used a Rhino Rack T-loader. At 67 and after four shoulder surgeries I can load my Laser onto the topper which is on my Toyota Tundra. It is long way up there, but not difficult with the t-loader.

Thanks for posting about the Rhino Rack T-Loader. I take it you load it hull up, deck down, correct? And is the webbing strap that goes across wide enough to handle the width of the beam of the Laser? Or do you have to lift the stern above that webbing and T as you push it the rest of the way on to the top of your Tundra?

Thanks,

- Andy
 
Have loaded it upright. Ordered a wider bar,1650mm, to make it easier to load it upside down.

The strap will not be long enough. Will add my own strap.
 
I used to roof rack it everywhere.
Cost of dedicated roof bars - £30 on ebay.
Versus
Cost of dedicated electronic hook up for car inc. towbar & labour £995 ( vw quote, new golf still in warranty )
Cost of trailer - £250 - £350
Cost of storing the trailer £90 pa

Then there's the worry some fker will nick it, UK roads fairly suk and lasers ain't heavy enough to activate trailer suspension so the gunnels or deck take the abuse.
The kick up of road dross/tar/stones ain't fun on the hull, cover or not.

I used to have a vw bay van, I used to put the laser on the roof solo no probs.
Standing the boat up on the transom next to the van, rest the bow on the sponge on the roof bars and bench press the stern up and over..
 
The Hobie being loaded weighs about 130 lbs.
A laser is wider. When loaded upside down it requires a wider/ longer bar and strap.
 
Had too much trouble when I was tired after sailing.
Have added a winch and thinking of other modifications.

Had to get help to load.
 
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I used to roof rack it everywhere.
I used to have a vw bay van, I used to put the laser on the roof solo no probs.
Standing the boat up on the transom next to the van, rest the bow on the sponge on the roof bars and bench press the stern up and over..

Voodoo STRONG

Wavedancer, not so much:


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Loaded it onto the top of the Tundra topper by tying the winch line to the front of the hiking strap.
Then turned the boat over.
Cranked the bow off the ground, then lifted it onto the t bar. Pushed the boat over the cunningham clamcleat.
Cranked the boat up further.
Pushed again.
Cranked, pushed and tied it down.

I don't recommend this for everyone with a Laser, but it worked for me.
If I get tired of this method I will try the Nautec Kayak Lifter from Rhino Rack.
which is said to be good for up to 80 kgs.
 
Lolz, when I ever went anywhere I'd get the missus to help throw the boat on and found it a great excuse to break the ice with strangers wherever I ended up...

I didn't care, anyone passing would get collared " ere mate / luv / officer...grab the end of that will ya"
 
Added a winch to the upright of the t-loader, a block above that and another to the center of the front rack bar.
With the laser in the water I tie the line to the hiking strap. Then crank and push the bow over the cross bar of the loader.
Then crank and push until it is on top. It hump the boat a bit to get the deck hardware over the padded rails of the rack. The angle of the ramp helps.
It worked very well yesterday.
 
I have reopened the poll at the top of this thread. It's about a year old, but I think we can keep collecting opinions.
 
Cartopping isn't bad when you're young & strong, you can save money on buying a trailer, paying registration fees, maintaining the trailer, etc. Like the one hand, I would just sandbag passersby down at the launch site... Glorietta Bay Park was right next to NAB Coronado and the Seal Team Barracks, so there were usually fit lads passing by, and they'd help flip the boat on or off the car, no worries. I didn't even have a roof rack, I just threw a thick blanket atop the car and lashed the boat in place, with the spars jutting from the shotgun window like some medieval lance, LOL. Had to be careful with those spars: if I'd ever hit anything with the lance tip, the rear windshield would've been blown out pronto, aye??? Meh, now I'm older and my cartopping days are over, haven't decided yet whether I want to go the trailer route or buy some sort of sailing kayak for these mountain lakes. :cool:

Sailing here can be tricky, the White Mountains often have heller breeze and the winds are shifty in the extreme, they'll keep ya on your proverbial toes, that's for sure, LOL. When I sailed Show Low Lake to check out the Bald Eagles' nest, the wind was gusting up to thirty knots and the surface chop kicked up something fierce... made for some wet sailing but I got to see the birds, so I was happy. Now that I'm in my mid-50s and one shoulder & knee are permanently thrashed, not to mention the early-onset arthritis, I've decided to either reduce sail area or (gasp!) go the power wank route... not much effort required to twist a throttle. When I was young and bulletproof, I could hike out all day and still throw the boat atop the car no problem, but old age is creeping up on me, LOL. :eek:

When I first arrived in Show Low, I bought a fat pool-riding stick from the local skate shop so I could ride the skatepark and relive some of my youth, right? I actually ripped a few frontside grinders at age 55, full-on double-nickel dinosaur action, but I also picked up a nasty hipper (lasted a week) and slammed my shoulder which was already messed up (that one took a month to go away). Wound up giving the expensive skate to some kid before I broke my friggin' neck, LOL... he'll get more use out of it than I would. Funny thing, when I was young, safety gear was the hallmark of the kook, now I won't ride without full pads, helmet, wrist guards, gloves, etc.---I still ride my adult BMX bike at the park, you understand, just carving the bowls at high speed, no circus tricks like I did in the past, those are too darned dangerous. ;)

ANYWAY, IF YOU'RE YOUNG & FIT, CARTOPPING IS A GOOD WAY TO GET THE BOAT DOWN TO THE WATER, AND YOU CAN LAUNCH EVEN WHEN THE BOAT RAMP IS CROWDED. :confused:
 
Hard to see how the pole is supported in the video Piero posted. Does it stand on a plate under the car wheel?

Then there's this Polish system:
Can't find the price now but I have a memory that it sounded relatively expensive. Seems to work nicely anyway.

a great excuse to break the ice with strangers wherever I ended up...

I didn't care, anyone passing would get collared " ere mate / luv / officer...grab the end of that will ya"
Exactly. Everywhere there is always someone who is not only willing to help, but does it rather enthusiastically!

I've always considered trailers a pain.

And when I can't lift a Laser anymore, then it's time to quit sailing a Laser.
 
I talked to a boat repair guy and he said the metal gunwale supports on the kitty hawk type trailers can damage the boat, I think it all depends on how far you trailer the boat and what type of surface you drive on,

For short trips like going to practice I like to put my dolly on the trailer so I can go singlehanded, there are a few different methods but they all seem to work well

for longer trips I usually trailer the hull upside down on the trailer with sufficient padding to absorb shock, so I use some foam padding under the deck where it contacts the trailer, then put soft padding under the straps to again spread the load out and protect the hull from scratches, this has worked pretty well

I've got more dings on my lasers from car topping, sometimes because there are protruding eyes in the racks or just the fact that its tough to load on some cars, It also seems to take alot more time to tie it down,

the laser fits pretty well in pickup bed's, even the shorter 6ft beds work, you can also fit two lasers on a pickup pretty easily, I've done that a bunch of times


I'd like to see proof of this. Perhaps if you don't tie the boats down, but otherwise I'm calling BS. I've owned both the Kitty Hawk and Trailex trailers. Put 1,000's of miles on both over various hulls. Never one bit of damage or stress crack. The rubber rail protectors on the trailer can leave residue under the gunnel but that's it.
 
I guess it is attached to a plate that the right front wheel drove onto. The tape or cloth you see is just to protect the wheel well from scrapes of the pole. How the joint of the plate and the pole is realized is unclear to me.
 
Hey guys! New to the forum and this is my first post.

I've tried pretty much everything in transporting my boats and now 12 years later I can vouch for trailering all the way (provided that you have a suitable dolly).

When I bought my very first laser (20569), I trailered it on it's dolly on top of a trailer - I didn't know much about anything then and the dolly wasn't a laser specific dolly. When I got home the hull had some nice cracks on both sides from the incompatible dolly pressing against it.

After that, I only ever put the boat on roof racks. Nearly lost the boat once when the front strap burst. Since then I double-strapped the front of the boat, and single strap at the rear.

Then my best friend got a new ex-worlds boat - it had a stackable steel dolly. I borrowed it for a weekend and copied the dolly, and made the extension arm too so that we could stack our boats and go to regattas together. These dollies supported the hulls on the gunwale at the bow, and at the widest part of the hull. They were awesome. No damaged boats ever since that day.

A year later I get an ex-worlds hull (188028) donated to me by a family that I helped out in a pinch at 4.7 Youth Worlds (Hermanus, South Africa, 2007). New dolly, new hull, fits the trailer perfectly and off we go. Old boat on the roof racks, two new boats on the trailer. Our trailer was too light and too narrow to stack the boats three-high, and the winds were close to gale force on the day we went home.

Many club and sponsored regattas won on that new hull.

3 years later I had sold both of my Lasers... saddest days of my life. Instant regret but circumstances at the time forced me to.

7 years down the line life allows me to sail again. I get an ex-BP Worlds boat (Simonstown, South Africa, 1995) and it goes back onto the same old trailer.


Fond memories, but what I am getting to is:

- If you are trailering the boat, trailer it with it's dolly on the trailer.

- Make sure that the dolly supports the boat at the bow, and at the widest point of the gunwales. Strap it down at those same points. I use very broad ratchet straps, with very little pressure. Just enough to keep everything from moving freely.

- If you strap the boat at any point other than where it is resting on the dolly, you put undue stress on the hull.

- When the straps are at the points of support, you can (in theory) strap it down as hard as you like. However, strap it lightly. It doesn't need to be cranked down hard, you could tie it down with rope and it wouldn't go anywhere.

- If you sure a spar carrier, strap the boat down first and the spars + spar carrier separately.


Any method works well provided that you don't hurt the boat. I prefer trailering because past experiences made me weary, and trailering with the proper trailer and proper dolly has been bombproof. I can also load and unload my boat by myself, by sliding it on and off the trailer while on its dolly.

It's good to be back on a Laser!!!

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Some images of us stacking the boats after 2007 Youth Worlds:

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I agree with this completely. I have had two Kitty Hawk trailers and they work very well. It is easy to get the boat on and off and the boat is well protected for the road. I always use a bottom cover, and a top cover if going any significant distance.
 
Over here in Europe, 75% of all boats are on a trailer. Mostly on a 2 or 3 boat trailer. There must be a correlation between this way of transport and the fact that a lot of cars are smaller than the US' cars. Furthermore: speed limits are higher here. Doing 80 m/hr with a Laser on the roof puts a lot of strain on the rack and the straps that hold the boat. Slower cars (like vans) sometimes carry the boat on the roof. And then there are those new cars with pre-drilled roof rack attachment points: those are often too close together to provide a stable 'platform'.

Every European country has its own rules regarding trailers: load capacity, width, max speed. Easiest are the French: do whatever you want, but don't exceed the 130 km/hr speed limit. Germans and Swiss have the strictest rules.

Most (Dutch) trailers are bespoke dinghy trailers: dolly + boat are pushed (singlehanded) on the trailer and hey presto, you're off. There are brackets on the trailer that hold the dolly. These brackets are adjustable so that you can transport another type of boat (dolly) as well, like a Finn.

I have two (don't ask...) trailers. One with a box under for everything but the kitchen sink... and two boats on top. And a the prementioned bespoke dinghy trailer.

Those with ample room in their cars have two dollies: one steel and welded A-shape dolly for transport on the trailer and an alloy T-shaped for hauling the boat on the sand (= less weight).

Most UK sailors use a trailer by Mersea. A sheet-metal box with a lid, one story higher the (upside down) boat and on top the A-frame dolly in brackets.

On the first pic: off to the UK Laser open last July - including a lot of camping stuff, T-shaped trollies, sails, masts for other sailors as well.

On the second pic: off to Kiel for the Under 19 WC last August: two boats + sails etc. The lower pic doesn't show the 'side steps' on both sides on the trailer frame for a bike on both sides.

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