I've got the pleasure of picking up an 18-foot long kayak this afternoon...
Just bought a fancy set of Thule roof bars to help do the job. Clearly the boat will overhang the car by some length: is it best to have most overhang at the front or the rear of the moving vehicle?
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The front-you can see where it is.
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If you centralise it, there will only be 2 ft sticking out either end unless you have a very short car. Could tie a hi vis to the stern too.
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Watch your speed too. Amazing how much something like that will want to make a break for freedom when it catches the draft. Tie everything down very well. You don't want to be up the creek without.......... ;-)
I'll be off now then........
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catches the draft. Tie everything down very well. You don'twant to be up the creek without.......... ;-)
Groan......
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carried a sea kayak on the room many, many times. best have it centered. unless tou have a cockpit cover carry it upside down. even a little water sloshing around in the boat is very nasty. neds to be very well tied down. consider a line from the bow and stern to the towing eyes on the car
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When I was a young lad, I used to carry a hang glider around.
IIRC there's a legal limit on allowable overhang. One metre to the rear, possibly even less to the front?
A tie down to the bow and stern will definitely help. Also this will help to prevent it skewing. Give it a good tug when you think you've got it secure.
Any wind or slipstream will do unexpected things.
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See: tinyurl.com/57rp3v for information.
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My son frequently carries a sea kayak on Thule roof bars on a 1.2 litre Corsa B with no problems.
Tie the kayak down front & rear to the car towing eyes.
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Tie the kayak down front & rear to the car towing eyes.
Good idea, although my Focus has only one screw-in eye, two holes, one eye.
I can see why - who would want to tow their car in both directions at the same time?
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There's a difference between towing eyes and lashing points.
The latter are to tie down a vehicle to prevent movement during transport, and I presume are what wrangler_rover was referring to.
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BT,
Sorry, made the mistake of not taking everything said here in absolute deadly earnest.
The poster did say towing eyes, but as you say, lashing points would do the job.
Have known someone confuse the two.
Needless to say, the lashing point ripped off in no time under towing load.
Right, I'm off to start a new website:
www.forgoodnesssakelightenupalittlebitcan'tyouparticularlyifyouworkinr
oadhaulage.com
Should get loads of hits - mostly abusive.:)
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I think the 1 metre overhang rule means the distance at which you have to tie a red flag on the end. I'm not sure what the absolute limit is.
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