I have a Kevlar Eddyline Wind Dancer 17' kayak which I carry around on a 1985 Westfalia camper. Mine are spaced at 39.25" on center. The spacing of the rack as well as the location on the fiberglass roof of the Westy were determined by the 7' cargo box that is mounted on the passenger side. The leading edge of the nose of the cargo box lines up with the front of the pop top. I use a Saris rack system. The rack spacing allows the straps to go on either side of the combing. This does not line up with the bulkheads at all. In the last year and a half I have had it on at least 12 600 mile trips with straps on either side of the combing along with bow and stern straps. No problems at all. This spacing also works out well for carring the mountain bikes. If you have foam bulkheads they do not give you any extra support at all. That is what I have and that is why I am replacing them with ridged plywood bulkheads next week. I would say, based on my experience, to set them up so that you could also carry the bikes. On my setup with my kayak I have a 1' overhang on the front and a 1' overhang on the rear. 17' kayak and a 15' camper. Good luck and measure twice and drill once. Adding the roof rack, cargo box, and kayak took my gas milage from 19mpg to 14mpg on the freeway. Jan Mason td376_at_mail.anonymizer.com > With respect to fibreglass boats, is it important to space the roof > racks so that they are directly under the bulkheads? > > I am planning to attach rack mounts to the poptop on my Westfalia > tommorow. I do have some flexibility on where these mounts are located, > but once the holes are drilled, they are permanent. 68" spacing would > place the bars under bulkheads perfectly, but i'd also like to be able > to use my bike carriers which require 48" spacing or less. > > So...how important is rack spacing for fibreglass kayaks??? > > Thx, > Eric *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Jul 14 2002 - 19:52:16 PDT
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