hatchback car topper sail boat - ideas?

I'm after some thoughts. I want to make a small, light weight sail boat that I can transport on the top of a 2 door hatchback (hyundai excel). It only needs to be able to fit one person. I'm thinking the only option may be a kayak or canoe with a small sail but would actually like something wider and more stable and possibly with a larger sail. As I would need the boat to be light weight I'd consider designs that use a varnished fabric skin. The boat is just for pottering around so I'm not worried about speed or efficiency.

I'm open to ideas. The main thing is the boat has to be able to go on top of the car as I don't want to register a trailer.

Dave Gentry's Annabelle.

http://gentrycustomboats.com/Annabelle.html

I appreciate that you don't want to register a trailer, but I suggest you carefully consider how a single person can get the boat on and off the Excel's roof racks.
A light weight trailer might be the better option.

my favourite small boat is the Wineglass Wherry from Pygmy Boats http://www.pygmyboats.com/boats/wine...wboat-kit.html

Thanks for the replies. That Annabelle design looks promising. At 29kg I don't think it'd be a big deal to lift it onto roof racks.

My car is about 4 metres long from the very front to the very back. The Annabelle is 3 metres. Does that sound okay if the boat is tied to the roof rack and secured with a rope at front and back?

your roof bars might be a bit close together for longitudinal stability of the boat -- I'd be a bit concerned if less than 1/3 rd of the boat was resting on the bars.

I'd also be very concerned if the top of the bars wasn't parallel to the road.

can you even fit 2 bars to the roof of a hatch-back excel?

Is the roof wide enough to carry a boat ?

I cartop my 52kg rowboat on my 2001 Mazda 323 hatchback easily (very very easy). I put wheels on the transom of my rowboat. I move the boat around upside down, put the bow of the boat on the rear rail, then slide the boat forwards. I use a wooden frame that I bolt onto my roofracks. This keeps the boat from falling off left or right.

I keep the bow rope on at all times, saves time. I just loop it around a few times. Underneath the front bumper there are two little attachment points. I put a small rope between them. My bowrope loops around the short rope a few times to get good tension. I keep a small rope on the transom at all times. Good for getting in if I fall out, and a useful attachment point for tying the stern down to the car.

My el-cheapo wood frame extends aft from the rear rack about 18 inches, protects the car from scraping by the boat.

It is safe as the roofracks are rated at 70kg, and my boat weighs 52kg. I overbuilt my boat and it should really weigh about 45kg.

The other way is to use an aluminium ladder and put wheels on that. The boat goes on the ladder. You move the boat by lifting the other end of the ladder and rolling it around. To get it on the car, just slide the ladder onto the roofracks. This protects the gunnel from scrapes as you slide the boat forwards. My boat is rough and unrefined, so that does not worry me.

I would suggest using some steel shackles in order to get good rope tension. I would also suggest learning the man-harness knot. This allows you to make a small loop through which you put a small shackle, then you can tension the line by threading it through the steel shackle.

My wheels came from a 30 dollar removalist trolley. 8 inch pneumatic wheels

My system can be seen here, would work well with a 40kg boat
http://www.tacking-outrigger.com/q7.html

please remember that a car roof is strong enough to hold the weight of the car upside down (1.2 tonnes). If you use a bow rope and a stern rope to keep the boat in place, it is very safe to move a long boat on a hatchback. I have a small strip of timber (40x19mm) on the left and right of my wood rack. This stops the boat from sliding off, which would be potentially disastrous. A lighter built little boat should weigh in under 45kg, well within the 70kg weight limit of roofracks.

Phil Bolger's Teal, Cartopper & Nymph designs spring to mind.
Michael Storer's OzRacer is a delight to sail and is lighter and faster than any of the above 3 Bolger designs.

Dudley Dix's Argie 10 might be worth a look
B&B's Spindrift series may also offer something which interests you.

cheers
ALan J

article on cartopping a large rowboat

seems a pretty good setup
http://www.gacooarlocks.com/car-topping.pdf

Mindabout, you are contemplating investing time and money in a boat. The boat has to meet your needs. Presumably, given the size, it will be used in protected water, but how sheltered. Will it be used for pottering, exploring, racing...?


Skin on frame is light but if exploring, it might be penetrated by a snag or other submerged obstruction. SOF would IMHO probably be better for simple pottering. Racing, well what fleets are available for you to race with? Our fleet of (inevitably) Firebugs can be cartoped (although we mostly use trailers or utes) and I am sure that the same could be done with Mike Storer's Ozracer.

Good luck with your build

Mindabout,

Did you finally select a design to build, how is it going?

Regards
Ross V
http://firebugdinghiesaustralia.weebly.com/