Re: [Paddlewise] not a good morning

Was it a failure of the rack itself, or the way the rack attaches to the car?  In other words, a flaw in the rack or a weakness in the car structure?  Is the Prius suitable for carrying kayaks?
Jerry

On Sep 14, 2014, at 12:42 PM, Kirk Olsen <kork4_at_cluemail.com> wrote:

> So last saturday I had an ugly start to the weekend.
> 
> I was headed to Norwalk Connecticut for the lighthouse to lighthouse
> race - my current favorite race of the season.
> Skippers meeting was 8:30 AM, with an estimated drive time of slightly
> under 3 hours.   I left home at 5, driving my wife's Prius, picking up a
> friend at 5:30.   On the roof was my Epic V12 Ultra and my paddling
> partner had a borrowed Epic V8 Ultra.
> 
> At 6:00 we were in Framingham Mass, chugging along on the Mass Pike at
> about 70 MPH.  I heard a slight thud, looked forward, then in the
> rearview mirror and saw the sterns of the boats.   I hit the brakes and
> pulled over, with another thump as I started to pull over.
> 
> The roof rack had come off the car, first the front rack , then with the
> wind resistance the back rack was forced backwards, and peeled off as
> the 'door hooks' left the door frame and went into the indent along the
> windows behind the door.
> 
> About 75 yards back the boats and the rack were in the breakdown lane -
> avoiding any impact with the few other cars, or large trucks, on the
> road.  We jogged back down the road to see what happened.   The V8's
> damage was a 1 to 2 inch chunk out of the gelcoat in the bow - all
> gelcoat, the fabric wasn't even exposed.   The V12 didn't fare as well. 
> From the damage it looks like the boats flipped in the air, so that the
> rack was above the boats, and the assembly ground into the pavement on
> top of the bow on the V12 and the end of one roof rack bar.   As the
> boats and rack slowed down there was a small scuff to the front of the
> coaming, and behind the cockpit the deck line was severed, leaving a
> minor scuff (amazing that a deck line avoided more damage) and then the
> stern slapped into the guard rail.    There's structural damage to the
> boat, in the final 2 feet of the stern.   
> 
> We gave up on going to the race, sniff, and drove home on back roads,
> never getting about 50 MPH.
> 
> I've found a custom boat builder to do the repair work - his comment
> after looking at it - "no big deal".
> 
> The V12 has no holes or handles and nothing to tie anything to outside
> of the cockpit.   So after 12+ years of driving around with surf skis
> which have no way to attach a bow tie down, I'll be finding a way...
> 
> $1500 damage to my wife's prius.  She's not happy with me...
> 
> Later on the ugly day, I took my Mako 6 out for a paddle in Essex MA.  
> My paddling partner commented I was faster on the beat up mako 6 than I
> was on the V12 (prior to damaging it).  Depending on the post repair
> feel of the V12 I may sell it and return to being an Epic paddler.   For
> the time being I've got an Epic V10L ultra on loan.    If anyone here
> weighs less than 165 pounds and likes a lively boat the V10L is good
> fun...  I'm a bit big/heavy for it at 6 foot and 172 pounds.
> 
> -- 
>  Kirk Olsen


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