Transporting a 11' SUP

[Weed]

It's been years since putting a surfboard/sailboard on top of a car roof, especially something as big as a 11'. I always had short boards, vans or a pick up trucks. I'm now driving a Chevy Avalanche with factory installed racks.

I have rack pads and tie down straps so I guess it will be ok to transport if you know what an Avalanche looks like. I would be doing highway driving on the weekends I'd hate to find out the hard way.

Any feedback is welcomed.

[gatorboy]

No info on your specific vehicle, but I haven't had any serious problems carrying 2 SUP boards on top of our sedan or our small suv with just plain ole surfboard soft racks.  What you plan on using actually sounds more secure than what I'm using. 

My only concern is that roof, being a truck, might be shorter than ours.  I've found though that with our shorter-roofed sedan, the boards move around less if the boards are mounted farther back on the roof so that there's not too much sticking out front to get leveraged by oncoming air.

Hope this helps.

[Paduan Sam]

Your Avalanche should be fine.  I took 2 SUP boards strapped on the roof of my Yukon this weekend to Capitola.  Wich is pretty far from San Francisco.  I was doing a solid 70 Mph and the boards were fine.  Just strap it down solid and it's going to be cool!  Have fun out there SUPing!

[motopilot]

Since our car with a rack is kept up north for the wife (outback) we only have a mazda protege down here in FL.  I still just use a soft surf rack for now but will end up getting a THULE in the next month of so. 

[stoneaxe]

Like gatorboy said...the less out in front of the tie down point the better. My 12-6 sticks out about 2-3  ft beyond the front point of my rack and I've had no problems.

I guess you can kind of make out how far out it is here...

[surfcal]

Hey, What's that white stuff on your truck?  ASH?
BOB from SAN DIEGO

[Weed]

My last vehicle was a PU truck with TracRac's although most of the time I just threw the boards in the back.

[WindJunkie]

I've got an element and the stock rack spread is something like 2.5 feet.  Very narrow.  No problems with my old laird (12").  I actually tote a 21 foot one man canoe on my roof.  I use bow/stern lines on that but still able to survive driving down the freeway (50-60mph) with some side wind blasts.

[Weed]

BINGO!  I think you just answered my question. My rack bars are about 2.5' - 3' apart.

Here is a picture to give you an idea.

[PonoBill]

No sweat. of course anyone who has seen my jeep is laughing their ass off at the notion that I'd be a source of good advice. The Funmobile has home-welded racks that extend. the original purpose of the extensions was to make it easier to lift kayaks on the the roof. since then I've abused this notion bu extending them fully on both sides and stacking on a stunning array of gear. My record is two trimaran Hodie adventure island Kayaks, five SUPs, two windsurfers and all the gear to support the windsurfers, plus full scuba gear for two divers and four tanks.