I carry mine that way. It is a holdover from carrying canoes and sailboats, where that is the best option. The best excuse is to keep rain put of the boat. Aerodynamically, it is probably a bit worse. The entire boat has to go through the air, both hull and deck, and the orientation shouldn't make a lot of difference, if the boat is not at an angle to the motion (dead level). But the air displaced by the car's motion flows over it, and thus hits the boat at an angle, so there may be some aerodynamic advantage to rightside up. The cockpit catching the wind in this fashion could be like dragging a bucket, an aerodynamic sea anchor or fiberglass parachute. Never done any comparison tests, but a couple of years ago, when travelling long distances with a couple of canoes on the roof of my Corolla, I noticed much better fuel consumption (10-15%) when loaded for a week versus 2 days. Perhaps this was because the canoes were packed near solid with gear and dry bags, while for the short trips, this wasn't necessary. Rob. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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