hlevin_at_jlc.net (Hal Levine) wrote on April 21: >>I was hoping for some good input on what dynamic forces are really working on the kayaks on the roof of my car. There must be some engineering types out there that can calculate the drag, lift etc. for kayaks moving through air. I started thinking about this when I saw someone traveling with a mattress on the roof of their car. Although is was tied on to the roof, at 55 it was NOT touching the car at all! My SUV has a notice that the "maximum load is 50 lbs. distributed evenly" but my view is that at highway speeds (over 55mph) there may be a stronger backward and lift vector working on my boats. I travel with the boats upright in saddles and it seems that a 50 to 70+ mph wind will attempt to lift the boats out of the saddles and push them backward possibly eliminating any downward force on the front saddles. P.S. I estimate that I may have traveled over 10,000 miles with my boats on the roof and they have made it to all my destinations! Hal >> IMHO the religious use of strong bow *and* stern lines, tied securly to anchor points on the bumpers are a good idea. If the lines are *bombproof* the only purpose of the rack is to keep the boats off the top of the vehicle. The lines double as bow lines on the boats when I get to put-in. In the 20+ years of paddling I have yet to loose a boat off the top of a rig.<knocking on wood> In the 13 years of working in a paddle shop I have heard of many cartopping incidents, all of which were a result of *not* using proper bow and stern lines. As far as resistance goes, I know I get *way* better gas mile sans kayak. Steve Scherrer President ACKS Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe 250 NE Tomahawk Island Dr. Portland, Oregon 97217 Web: http://www.aldercreek.com Email: aldercreek_at_aldercreek.com Phone: 503-285-0464 Fax: 503-285-0106 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Apr 21 1998 - 09:22:33 PDT
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