I have a Wilderness Systems Pungo 120 that I am very happy with except it seems to suffer from the problem all poly’s have; deformation under heat and pressure when strapped onto the rood racks. I typically strap around the body front and back of the cockpit very tightly and only snug front and back. Does any one know who makes a better form fitting rack for this type of kayak?
May want to try J Racks
The Thule Hull-a-Porter is an example. I think both Malone and Yakima make similar versions too. These hold the kayak on edge when car topping. The edge of a poly boat is much stronger than the bottom of the boat.
I use them on my poly boat and they work well. I’ve never tried a Pungo in them so not sure they would fit a wider boat. A small dealer may allow you to try these for fit before purchase.
BTW - I’ve also heard that once you get a dent (sometimes called an oilcan) they can easily reoccur even when fixed. The good news is that unless its very severe, you don’t notice a difference once its in the water.
Good luck. Paddle on.
Ditto the J’s
I have Thule bars with one set of cradles and a set of stacker II and I have the same problem. A friend of mine recently got a Yakama set up and got the Yakama version of J-Cradles. Wow! I love them. I strapped my Pungo on his a few weeks ago and almost nothing in regards to denting. I can just lay mine on my cradles and it will dent without any tie down pressure. I also like the fact that with the Yakama round bars he is able to just fold the cradles down when he is not using them, and does not have to unscrew anything.
Good Luck,
jay
rack for poly boat
I’ve had good luck with the foam kayak blocks, you know, the grey things for about $7.50? I’ve held my kayaks for a week on the roof in July in the Florida sun and have no misshaping.
Of course, I park in the shade when I can…
Mako saddles
I had a Pungo 120 and used a Yakima rack with Mako saddles front, Hully rollers rear. Worked fine. Now I have a Pungo 120 Duralite. The material is so thin that the rollers dented the hull when just a snug strapping was used. I switched to Mako saddles for the rear and they work great. They distribute the stress over a broad area and with fairly tight strapping do not cause denting.