I am new to the sport and was wondering if transporting a kayak upside down across my factory racks is a good way to carry my new kayak? Any drawbacks? Thanks
i’ve wondered too…
for a plastic boat, there are a couple things to think about. in gross terms, first is bending the boat with your front/rear tiedowns. for that, i think the advantage goes to upside-down boat. but then there’s the two points of tiedown, strapping the boat to the rack, and issues of putting smaller dents in the boat. in that case, the cross-section becomes most important. i’d expect the rounder surface (whether deck or bottom) to resist point buckling against the hard rack, and would much rather subject my flatter surface to the ties, which will contact the entire surface.
jmo… there are kayak blocks to reduce the point contact, making such rhetoric less important.
plastic not really a problem
I transported my Elaho (plastic) for over 2yrs deck side down with no problems. The bow and stern tie downs should only have the slack taken out of them, they should not be bending the boat in any way. If you spend $30 or so, you can use the foam saddles and put your boat right side up. Now this is something that I experienced and is the reason I now use two bow tiedowns instead of just one. I was going to Lake Del Valle and the wind was pushing my boat so badly that I needed to have tension from both the right and left side of the front of the boat to keep it from moving. The center straps were only able to do so much, when I put two front straps on the bow of the boat, no problem. Hope this helps.
Upside down
I try to protect my varnished wood strip hull as much as possible, hence transport it deck down. The deck is closer to flat than the hull, and comforms to the 2x4 supports with less foam to support it.
I also use a bow protector of 2 layers of cardboard to reduce the impact of road rocks/debris on the bow while traveling. Haven’t had any bow impacts yet, all it takes is one to force a lot of fixing.
Just don’t do any gorilla tightening, shouldn’t cause any problems.
I always
transport my kayaks upside down. You can leave your cockpit and hatches open to air out.
The best way is on it’s side.It is
less likely to deform in that position. J racks seem to be the best.
Great idea.
– Last Updated: Sep-06-05 1:19 PM EST –
I'm a recent convert from the upright/roller/saddles school. Upside down is much more stable and aerodynamic. It is easier to load and unload. You can keep the hatches and cockpit open. As an added bonus, you can look up into your cockpit through the sunroof and dream of being on the water. That is, of course, provided you occasionally watch where you're driving. Just grab a couple of foam blocks and you're ready to roll.
E
Im guilty
on both accounts, up and down.
The main draw back that I find is when upside down the stern/rudder are just about face level making it somewhat dangerous for those who walk around with the eyes glued to the ground.
Brian
Soflo
aerodynamics…
It seems more aerodynamic with the cocpit facing up, with it facing down wind will travel over the hood, up the front windshield and into the cockpit, it seem likely this causes more pull on the boat and drag. For me I prefer cockpit down after trying both. My boats are plastic and the hull would dent in at the bars with the hull down, not so with the hull up. This is with large foam blocks on the bar.
I wouldn’t
Get some saddles and carry they right side up.
That is the reason they make saddles.
Cheers,
JackL
I Have Two Sets Of Saddles…
that I should probably sell since I haven’t used them in three years.
I’ve carry all my boats on padded racks for the past three years – plastic, composite, SOF, S&G – with no ill effect.
sing