Car Topping Dart onto an Audi A3 - possible? [Chris]

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Chris wrote:

Okay, well I know that it may be physically possible, but sensible is maybe a better question.

The A3 is by no means a long car, so if I did car top the hulls they would have to be tied tight onto the front and back tow loops. Are there any legal limits on lengths of overhang?

My main issue is the weight. Please check my calculations:
66kg - 2 x hulls
10.5kg - 1 x 2 piece mast
6kg - trolley
5kg - Thule roof rack assembly (estimate!)

A total of: 87.5kg.

The Audi manual says that it's rated for only 75kg - this seems like a fair difference, so probably unsafe?!

The roof rack setup will cost about 200GBP whereas to tow would cost 300GBP for trailer plus about 100GBP to fit a tow bar! I know towing is much easier, but for the amount of use it'd get, I'd rather save the money!

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Erling replied:

I have a BMW compact and do a couple of thousand miles a year with the boat on the roof. but put the sails,beams, and trolley in the car.The thing you must do is tie the boat to the front and back of the car to stop any movement, look at pictures on shanklin's web site.

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George S replied:

See Chat #1441, in particular response #1447. You'd have found these if you'd used the Search facility and entered overhang or car topping or such.

I think you're right to be concerned about roof load lmits - the hulls act like sails, so with a cross wind the strain on the roof will be significant (which is why you need to secure the hulls so they can't move about - I used to tie a rope from one end of the roof bar (actually to a roof rail) then tie it round and through the hull beam moulding, then round and through the next hull beam moulding, and finally to the other end of the roof bar). If you have a bumper to which you can tie a rope, then this can be used istead, but not very common on modern cars.

Remember you can take the trolley apart and put it inside the car with everything else. You'd save weight on the roof, and maybe then you'd make the 75kg limit.

I now have a trailer - and it's worth the time and effort setting up and (especially 'cos you're usually tired) packing up!

George Stephen

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Martin Searle replied:

I used to put the boat with mast, trolley etc on top of my old Vauxhall Nova 1.0 (fast car ). Don't know what the roof weight rating was but probably not much more than your car. I'd put the trolley in the car since it saves quite a bit of weight, mine never has been able to come apart due to some salt corrosion or something, even with bolts removed and pulling it apart using a fixed object.

When I took it home from the laser centre, after I bought it, it was blowing a howling gale with rain for most of the 150miles or so of the trip. Didn't have a problem except car was more susceptible to being blown about by the wind. Bit stressful!.

When I updated the car to a citroen ZX I switched to towing since it was easier to do single handedly. That said I've never been one for enjoying towing so I do tend to avoid it like the plague, such that I've not got around to putting a towbar on my new car!

Martin S.

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Chris Read replied:

There are some pictures on Shanklin's web site www.shanklinsailingclub.com of Sprint15's on the top of a couple of cars, under the pictures section/Nationals in Wales.
Chris