Re: [Paddlewise] not a good morning

Disclaimer:  I haven't checked the Prius specifically, and don't know the
model Prius you have to go about doing so.  I'm not suggesting you did what
I'm hopefully cautioning others against here, either.

I owned a Ford Fiesta for three years, and spent a lot of time researching
racks for small cars. Ford simply said don't do it, and that doing so would
void my warranty (as would adding a trailer hitch)

Once the mfg. warranty had expired, I started seriously looking.

After conversations with Yakima and Thule, I finally reached a decision
that I couldn't safely carry more than one boat on the roof of a
small/compact car, no matter the model, and that I'd have to be careful
what boat I carried if only loading a single boat. I went through spec
after spec, trying to decide on a small/fuel efficient car that could do
what I wanted.

That was a major issue for me, as I had wanted to get to the point where I
could just toss my wife's and my kayak on the car and go rather than use
the SUV I'd given my son or add a trailer hitch.

Both Yakima and Thule specify racks for the Fiesta (along with most
vehicles, except my wife's Toyota MR2 spyder convertible).  If you dig deep
enough into the info, it points out that you'll need to minimize the weight
- and they don't recommend multiple saddles.

I ended up with the last model year Ford made the Ranger...not a high gas
mileage solution.  I'd like to hear if anyone can suggest fuel efficient
cars that could handle two "real" kayaks on the roof safely.

Wynne Eden
Americus, GA



On Sun, Sep 14, 2014 at 5:48 PM, Gerald Foodman <gfoodma_at_earthlink.net>
wrote:

> 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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