Hello Everyone,
Looking to mount my shadowcaster on the roof next to my wifes smaller kayak that sits in a j cradle. I’m nervous to use a j-cradle with the 95 lb weight of the boat, Thule and most others are only rated at 75 lbs. The Malone Megawing looks like a good idea, but I’ve read bad reviews about using it with boats with flatter hulls, like the shadowcaster has. Should I just buy crossbar pads and strap it down? Or any other recommendations?
Thanks.
I carry two seakayaks on a Outback. One in j-rack one on foam pads on the factory racks. Of course my two is about 120#. A new Thule, Malone, or Yakima will likely raise your weight rating.
I found the attached picture of the bottom of a Shadowcaster on Facebook. The owner added some rub strips. Toward the stern, it looks like the tri-hull is essentially flat across so I think the most secure mount would just be right on the crossbars (with crossbar pads). That minimizes the extra hardware that could fail and probably would make loading the easiest as well.
So you carry a 120 lb kayak on a j cradle? What is the max speed you drive?
I’m thinking of going this route, not sure if the factory bars are wide enough to lay mine flat and have the wifes on a j cradle, but she has that perception hi life kayak/SUP combo thing, so I was thinking of just throwing a yoga mat inbetween them and mout hers right on top of mine
You didn’t get the right message. That is two 60 pound sea kayaks that weigh 120 pounds total. One on the j-rack and one flat.
I wouldn’t have a 120 pound “kayak”. It would be a “skiff” at that weight. 
And I’d never carry something that heavy where I had to lift it that high. A trailer would make life easier.
ps Some factory racks are limited to 150 pounds. See the auto manual.
The rack we have is rated for 175 lbs, combined weight of ours is 150, so we’re good there. Decided to just go with pads, strap my kayak to it top down and then put my wifes on top of mine, bottom to bottom (works well since they’re both flat bottom). I cut up an old yoga mat to use for padding inbetween.
When I go alone, however, I’m mounting it rightside up. Found a good technique to get it on and off alone. Still happy I got this beast of a yak, standing while fishing makes all the difference.
Good. After all I think that is what the beast was designed to do, be a fishing platform.
