RacksforYaks

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kayakerjnj
Posts: 2720
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:12 pm
Location: Randolph MA

RacksforYaks

Post by kayakerjnj »

This is the start of Racks for Yaks

As an avid sea kayaker. For years I've found the standard commercial rack products insufficient to safely and conveniently load long sea kayaks on short roof line vehicles.

After many years and lots of $$ I decided to put my mechanical engineering training to good use and wanted to develop my own modular rack system.

So much time is spent trying to secure boats onto short roof adaptations and while most use bow and stern lines to provide additional security, the end result is still a cumbersome and still improperly secured boat. My goal was to reduce the time and effort necessary to safely transport a sea kayak.

With this rack system, the boat is secured over the bulkheads of the boat with a long separation distance (72"). By doing so the nose of the boat is far more stable in wind and tie downs will not damage the boat because they are supported over the strongest sections of the boats structure.

My goal is for the end user to reduce a 15-20 minute tie down effort, to a maximum 5 min task, with the end result being a far more secure and easier way to transport your boat.

We're all busy, and when we get the chance to get out, we want to spend our time playing in our toys, and not spending excessive time trying to secure them.

What am I trying to do here.............

I am offering fellow enthusiasts the chance to put an end to flimsy rack systems, and offer a robust standard, modular rack system that may be easily customized to each persons, transportation needs.

I'm starting slow, looking for people who like me know there must be a better cost effective way to get my toys safely from A to B and back without spending an abundance of time to do it.

If you haven't been happy with your current rack, or want a better one, have a surf ski that's simply too long for your current system, contact me. There is a better way.

Safe travels and happy paddling!
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Jordan
centered
Posts: 121
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2011 10:01 pm
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Location: Stoughton, MA

Re: RacksforYaks

Post by centered »

Nice car! :wink:
A couple of months ago, Jordan asked me if I would test this system out, since I drive a small car with a very short roof line. After buying and using 2 different systems that just didn't work with my roof line, (didn't realize that was the issue at the time) I was more than willing to check it out.
This system is just as described; simple, secure, fast and easy to load/unload my boat. I have used it for almost 3 months now, and it's been rock-solid. No bow wiggle at highway speeds, and no worrying about bow/stern lines being too tight or too loose. It's also versatile. I have mine set up so I can still have the fairing on my roof rack, but I can get my car in the garage with the boat on top. So, bottom line is, it works.
Sue
P.S. I have no $$ interest in this, cost of materials re-imbursed. Just a happy customer! :D
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