Easier roof rack loading

[dave42w]

Hi,

Just been testing getting #2008 onto our new van roof. Thought it might be of interest to others as now a single person can load a hull onto our Citroen Dispatch van without needing to ever lift more than half the weight of a hull.

Needed:

- Roof rack. We have British made Rhino KammBars which are nicely aerodynamic and have a 50kg limit per bar - so 2 are good even for the heaviest Sprint 15
http://www.rhino-roof-accessories.co.uk ... atch-07-on

- Padding. We use Rooster roof rack pads (although held on with tape as they don't quite close around our aero roofbars)
https://www.roostersailing.com/pd/Delux ... 106245.htm

- RUSL which is Rhinorack (a different Rhino company) Universal side loader. This makes life so much easier as it means you can lift one end of the hull on at a time. It just hooks around the roof bar and unclips into 3 parts for easy carrying.
http://www.rhinorack.co.uk/AccSubCatego ... 28_19.aspx

- A step up work platform from Screwfix which makes reaching the roof possible. It also gets used to support the aft end of the hull when lifting the bow onto the side loader.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/work-platform ... 00mm/6409p

- a rope. Between front roof rack and aft beam tube so that the hull can't slide backwards when the box is lifted into the air

The photos show much of the sequence:

Bow has been lifted onto RUSL, stern on work platform. Key is a rope from aft beam slot to front roof rack so that the hull does not slide downwards

17308894_10154470592568506_1285600611298642536_n.jpg (92.21 KiB) Viewed 2959 times

Stern has now been lifted onto the roof rack.

17362791_10154470592623506_4951681910921560382_n.jpg (80 KiB) Viewed 2959 times

Lifted bow onto roof, ready to slide forward for tie down

17351991_10154470592808506_1529793168964171629_n.jpg (93.14 KiB) Viewed 2959 times

With the right hull supports it should in theory be possible to carry 2 Sprint 15's on the roof (needs 3 or 4 roof bars and hull supports so that the hulls alternate between right side up and upside down to reduce the width).

I'm also looking at a canoe trolley to make it easier for one person to move single hulls around (we had quite a long carry at Stokes Bay when the gate was locked, it would simplify getting hulls into the back garden at home too).

[Jenny Ball]

Wow..........this is seriously impressive. Mind you, I would still manage to drop the thing if it was me!