laser sailboat roof rack

Jon Deutsch

ILCA/Laser Cartopping Equipment

Over the years I’ve had a wide variety of methods for transporting Lasers around.  Everything from 2x4s on the roof of a van to aluminum trailers specifically built to lasers to a giant van the laser went inside of . I’m back to cartopping a Laser and my new vehicle is a 2019 Volkswagen Atlas SUV.  Back when I had a 2012 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen – I learned what worked pretty well for cartopping and here’s what I’ve recreated for the Volkswagen Atlas.

Thule Bars, end Caps

These hold the boat – I like to get bars longer than the boat is wide to make it easy to tie the boat down and leave room for the spars out the side. The 78″ ones are more than enough and I could likely cut them down if I wanted a little less likely of catching something. 78″ is exactly the width of the Atlas from the edges of each side view mirror. The end caps don’t do much other than make it cleaner. Good quality pads are needed to protect the boat. I’ve got 2 20″ Dorsal pads on each bar. Thule makes 18″ ones and there are a variety of alternatives. These also have the effect of cutting down on wind noise when a boat is not present.

What I have on the Atlas:

• If you are considering any of the evo/aero products – make sure bar is compatible as you can’t place the feet just anywhere along the bar like you can with the load bars.
• Thule EC1 Load Bar End Caps 4-Pack
• Thule Surf Pads

It seems that since I originally set this up in 2019 that Thule is no longer selling the longer version of the Load Bars (LB78 or LB65). Look for alternatives of an appropriate length.

These will be a bit more specific to the vehicle. For both of my vehicles that had a roof rack that ran fore/aft these universal feet were able to grip around them. Note they also must match the roof bars, so if you get different bars, be sure to get the feet that match. These feet have a rubber coated metal strap that goes underneath the bar to secure it. The end cap has a built-in allen wrench used for tightening them. The end caps themselves seem a little loose without the lock cylinders so a set of those is necessary and to ensure the rack doesn’t disappear. Tip: if you think you would use other Thule products, buy extra lock cylinders so they are identically keyed or visit a vendor in the future who will sell matching cylinders. (If buying the paddle holders – go for the 8 or 10 pack so everything keys the same)

• Thule Crossroad Railing Roof Rack Foot Pack
• Thule Lock Cylinders for Car Racks
• Thule One-Key System Lock Cylinders 8-pack (bars + paddle holders)

Paddle Holders

These paddle holders are great for transporting spars – they are big enough to go around 3 spars at a time – lower, upper and boom. With the Jetta when I traveled with the Radial lower I just put it in the car. With the Atlas I wanted the ability to travel with the Radial lower and a spare upper, so that’s why I have the extra wide bars and got two sets of Paddle Holders. Note in the picture the inner set are backwards, I ended up having to turn these around so the tightening strap pulls away from the vehicle in both sets. The lock cylinders can also be put on these – the paddle holders will hold the spars securely without locking, the locks just prevent anything from disappearing.

Spars can be transported without a cover just fine – they just get a little buggy on long trips. I prefer to use the spar bag to keep them clean and make it easier to load and unload 1 thing instead of 3. Be sure to tuck in the extra material and handles to keep things from flapping.

• Thule 839 Get-A-Grip Oar and Paddle Roof Rack Mount Carrier
• Thule One-Key System Lock Cylinders 8-pack
• Colie ILCA/Laser Spar Bag

There’s two ways I like to tie the boat down – two straps over the hull where the roof bars are. These are made rather tight and do 100% of the work of keeping the boat on the car. The forward one should be forward of the max beam of the boat so if the boat does slide forward, the strap is smaller than the beam and the boat can’t slide through it. These straps have rubber to protect the boat and easily cinch the strap tight. The loose end of the strap gets tucked into the cover on the underside.

The other straps I use attach to the bow eye and the rudder gudgeons. These are not intended to be super tight and do very little to keep the boat on the car. They are really just there for emergency use in case another strap fails or the rack itself fails – this will keep the boat with the car – and limit damage to the boat, car or anyone else. I don’t like making this tight so that it doesn’t ‘bend’ the boat over the car nor put a lot of stress on the bow eye or gudgeons for long periods of time while the boat is racked. Thule makes a set of quick ties that use a ratchet system with some hooks to easily attach and tighten them. It comes with some webbing straps – I attach these to the boat before putting the covers on and slip them out the holes in the cover before putting the boat on the roof so they can be easily hooked to.

• NRS 15′ Buckle Bumper Strap Pair Iconic Blue
• Thule 855XT Quickdraw Ratchet System
• Thule and other sell Aero bars – but these are sold to a width matching the roof bars and cannot extend much beyond that – making them less suitable for the Laser with the spars on the side. They would work boat only. And it’s not possible to just buy a wider bar than compatible for the vehicle, they won’t fit – I tried.
• Thule LoadBar is different than the SquareBar and the LoadBar appears to be a product they are starting to do away with.
• Put the spars on the driver side so when making a quick stop to check things, it doesn’t require walking all the way around the car.
• Yakima has a line of roof bars that are also widely used.

Another accessory I’ve gotten quite a bit of use out of is a bike rack. Great for taking a bike along when rigging or camping just a little away from the clubhouse and a great way to get around when parking is tight.

• Thule Apex XT Bike Hitch Rack

MORE PICTURES

2 Comments on “ ILCA/Laser Cartopping Equipment ”

Nice post and set up! Do you car top the Laser single-handed? If so, what is your method?

I have done it before with a sedan by balancing the bow on where the bar meets the car while using a very long bar, and I could think of some ways to make is smoother and less risky but I didn’t once drop it and had to have repairs made. I have not attempted that with the taller atlas SUV.

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How to Transport Your ILCA

So you’ve recently bought an ILCA, and you’ve been able to go out sailing a few times, but know you want to get out racing. The only problem is, you don’t know how you should transport your boat to your local regatta or club race. Don’t let this stop you from joining the great community of racing Laser sailors. Here’s a few options for transporting your boat. 

This may seem like the obvious solution, and it definitely is one of the easiest ones. That being said, you don’t need to have a fancy ILCA  specific trailer to transport your boat. Here are a couple of ideas for trailers which could also suit the job. The most important part when towing your boat is to make sure it’s secured well in both the forwards-backwards, and side-to-side planes of movement. You can use a combination of ratchet straps, or regular lines if you’re confident in your knots. 

2. Car Topping (roof racks)

If you don’t have a trailer, but you do have roof racks on your car, loading your boat on top of your car is a great option, and doesn’t require much equipment. The ILCA was originally made to be ‘car topped’, and if you already have the beams going from one side of the car to the other, it’s simply a matter of flipping the boat upside down, and loading it onto the racks deck-side down. You may want to use some foam padding between the beams and the boat to make it a little more comfortable. 

If you have a solid trolley , you can also put this upside down on the boat, and tie them down all together. The underside of your trolley is also a great spot to transport your spars, but make sure they’re secured properly! Another option is to use a collapsible dolley - this can be broken down into a few pieces and transported inside your car. 

3. On an even bigger boat!

This is a bit of a joke, but if you’re lucky enough to have a boat to go cruising on, you can transport your ILCA on the deck, just like this commited ILCA sailor did . Though I’m not well versed in this mode of transportation, I’d imagine it’s similar to tying your boat on to your car roof.

Transporting your ILCA is a lot simpler than you think it may be, and competing at local regattas is a great way to meet new people, and grow your sailing skills. If you’ve got any concerns about transporting your boat, ILCA sailors are usually a pretty friendly group, and I’m sure someone would be happy to help you do it properly.

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• 2016-2022 Pilot

Laser Sailboat on Roof Using Thule Crossbars - Safe?

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Anyone know if you can reasonably roof rack a Laser on a Honda Pilot for a 25 minute highway drive? I would do it on my old Odyssey but the Pilots racks are about a foot shorter, and I'm concerned the boat might pitch too much while driving on the highway. I have the Thule crossbar kit, which I would use.  

New item by Eric

undivide said: almost 14 ft and 130 lbs... just make sure the cross bars are rated for the weight and have your load centered and properly strapped down... drive slow with your flashers on if you have to. I've mounted my necky tandem on my old pilot with some el cheapo ebay crossbars that are suspect but drive just fine to the river! New item by Eric photos.app.goo.gl New item by Eric photos.app.goo.gl this is an example of how to NOT haul a large kayak , the J-bars should only be used for low weight single seater boats. bigger boats should lay bottom down for transport. Click to expand...

I have one of these truck bed extenders that gets used every now and then for longer stuff like sheet rock etc in back of Pilot. It also mounts the opposite way and goes up to roof line. Just remember to use a pool noodle or some towel wrapped type cushion to prevent damage from the metal. Not sure what brand I have. Harbor Freight also sells one like it.  

I don't think pitching will be a problem with a well-secured load, but I would try a dry-run on getting it up there. A Pilot's roof is tall enough to make routine tasks like securing tie-downs more difficult. Lifting it (especially solo) will be interesting, too.  

Passport rails on Pilot time, energy and money but adjustable has been done. Creative fabricator might be able to do something else. Old thread on CRV forum guy didn't want to pay for rack stuff. He got aluminum square stock from a commercial door being thrown away. He made his own pedestals and cross bars that worked perfect for him. Another option for the longer stuff is a temporary bar that you could put further up for support. SeaSucker Monkey Bars SeaSucker  

sequoiasoon said: Passport rails on Pilot time, energy and money but adjustable has been done. Creative fabricator might be able to do something else. Old thread on CRV forum guy didn't want to pay for rack stuff. He got aluminum square stock from a commercial door being thrown away. He made his own pedestals and cross bars that worked perfect for him. Another option for the longer stuff is a temporary bar that you could put further up for support. SeaSucker Monkey Bars SeaSucker Click to expand...

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