I have some brick pillars that support a carport overhang. I would like to attach a rack system to these for kayak storage. The problem is that the pillars are about 9ft apart, center-to-center, and my boats can’t extend past the last one due to a fence thats in the way. One approach would be to use the middle pillar only and have the kayak’s weight distributed so that it’s almost centered on the single brace, but not quite. The heavier side would be prevented from falling by having a line attached to an eyebolt from the top of the carport that clipped onto either the bow or stern grab loop. I have a composite boat but still wonder if months in this position would cause any structural problems as the kayak would have half its weight on one end pulling towards the ground for months on end. Not sure I explained this very well but if you know what i mean, what do you think?
Thanks
How to provide support elsewhere
Instead of attaching your boat supports only to the available posts/pillars, why not build a framework that spans the gap between those two supports, and also cantilevers beyond into the space where currently you are planning to have no support for your boat. Once you do that, you can put the supports anywhere along that famework that you wish. In short, the framework will occupy the same space as your boat (less, actually, since the cantilevered end of the framework need not extend all the way to the tip of your boat), but it will take care of the bridging and cantilevering action instead of making you boat do that by itself.
Good idea, guideboat
The support structure only needs to be a beam strong enough to hold the boat and whatever straps, or hooks are chosen.
A beam that’s strong enough
Yeah, I was thinking a good method would be as simple as a long horizontal rectangle made from 2x4s, with a few vertical 2x4s connecting the top and bottom edges (one at the location of each boat-support bracket, and maybe a couple more), with the whole thing sheeted on both sides with thin plywood. The boxed structure would be barely more than 4 inches thick from front to back, and would only need to be about a foot high from top to bottom. This boxed-in structure would have enough torsional strength to carry hooks or bars extending out horizontally which bear the weight of the boat. The vertical strength (bridging/cantilevering) would be far in excess of what's needed. The plywood on the back side would make it easy to install fastening with nails or screws "anywhere" (there'd be no need to rely on the 2x4 framing for attaching it to the building). In fact, access holes could be provided in the front face of plywood so that screws holding the back face to the building could be removed someday without tearing the thing apart.
Actually, the 2x4 framing could probably be oriented in the thin direction within that plywood sandwich, resulting in a boxed framework that's only about 2.5 inches thick. There'd be less torsional strength than with the above method, but probably still a lot more than what's needed. A thinner framework might be more appealing, as the boat would stick out from the building supports into the carport area just a little bit less.
if I had more money than I do now
…my kayak storage system would be a pool in the back yard!
Hangers
Maybe you could you hang some slings from the carport roof itself instead of depending on the pillar.