Over head rack capacity on the R27

[berniefiedler]

I have a 22 foot Necky Nootka Outfitter that weighs in at 106 lbs. I'm looking at a yakima cradle with hully roller to hold the kayak on the roof rack. I have seen a similar kayak on the roof rack of a 27 in your advertising. Is this weight acceptable for the racks?

Thanks,

bernie

 

[walldog]

I would think that 106 lbs. would be well within the limits of the rack. I carried two 40 lb. trikes on mine. Plus several people have Yakima pods on theirs with probably more weight stuffed in them.

Go for it. Just realize that it will extend well past the racks on each end.

 

[berniefiedler]

Appreciate the reply! Yep, I understand that 22 feet on a 27 foot boat means "hangover". But, when the waves get nasty, that 22 feet means a great deal to my peace of mind🙂

 

[Hydraulicjump]

I have the exact same set up with the Yakima saddles and rollers and carry two Looksha Sports (17') easily. One thing will annoy you, however. The round stainless skinny tubing makes it hard to firmly anchor your cradle and roller. As you slide your kayak on, the racks tend to flip over. I finally got some thick rubber gasket material and wrapped that around the tubing, then anchored the kayak racks. If I was in charge I would have designed a beefier rack that was flat and not curved. Not in charge...

You also will discover that putting a boat that size onto the rack is not easy. I put the rollers forward and the cradles toward the stern. I haul the kayak over the bow and roll it from bow to stern. Your boat may be too long to pull that off easily. So you will have to climb onto the top of the cabin. Forget the dinky ladder. Just climb on over the forward eyebrow by putting a foot on the forward rail. Then the fun begins. Early in the morning when dew covers the cabin roof, it is slicker than gorilla snot. I solved that problem by putting a dozen stick on traction strips. It really helps. But where lots of cuts and bruises occur is dancing around the razor sharp solar panel. Especially when it is slick.

Good luck. Being able to carry full size kayaks helped sell me on these wonderful boats.

Jeff

 

[berniefiedler]

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. I think I may have a total solution. Since the Kayak is 22 ft. I'm loading it from the back with hully rollers on the swim platform railings and on the first set of overhead racks. The other two racks will have yakima cradles. I'll put a pulley on the forward top hand rail and string the rope between the cradles and hilly rollers back to the cockpit. I'll loop a belly strap five ft. back from the kayak bow secured on the top lip of the first passenger cockpit. eventually rather then pulling the kayak up by hand I'll put a ratcheting crank in the cockpit. that way I can crank the kayak up and guide it on the hully rollers at the same time. Looks like the kayak will have five feet past the main cabin at the bow and seven feet aft of the cabin at the stern. We're using pvc pipe to fill out the anchors. Works pretty well.

We'll see, usually my best laid plans have surprises🙂

Thank you all,

Bernie