Transporting a Kayak or Paddle Board: Roof Rack, No Rack, or Van

On some cars, the rails along the roof can’t carry a thing. One Kia owner’s manual spells it out: its roof rails are purely decorative, and nothing should be loaded on the roof [1]. On another model from the same automaker, the roof takes 220 lb (100 kg), evenly distributed [2]. So before you dream about a glassy lake at dawn, the first question gets answered in the glove box, page by page: what can your roof actually handle?

After that, a kayak or paddle board rides on a roof rack, on a bare roof, on a trailer, in a van, or deflated in the trunk. And once it sticks out past the car, traffic law takes over.

On a roof rack: flat, in a cradle, or on its side

Crossbars are the starting point. They mount on roof rails, on attachment points provided by the automaker, or, on a bare roof, with clamp-style feet: a roof without rails doesn’t rule them out, as rack maker Thule points out [3].

A canoe rides upside down, hull to the sky, so the bottom doesn’t get damaged when you cinch the straps, and the crossbars go as far apart as possible, advises Swiss Canoe, the Swiss canoeing federation [4]. Every carrier has its own instructions, with a maximum load and speed: for Thule, 88 lb (40 kg) and 80 mph (130 km/h) for a flat carrier, and 75 lb (34 kg) for an upright carrier that itself weighs 15 lb (6.8 kg) [5, 6].

Roof load: three manuals and some math

How much weight can go on the roof? No single number fits every car. The limit starts in the owner’s manual: it’s the dynamic roof loadThe load the roof can carry while driving. It’s lower than the static load, which applies when parked, because bumps, braking and acceleration add extra force., what the roof can carry while driving [7]. The static load, which applies when parked, mostly matters for rooftop tents; Thule puts it at three times the dynamic figure for its own racks [7, 8]. For a kayak on the move, only the dynamic load counts.

The crossbars then have their own limit, and so does the carrier: in a rack system, Thule notes, the component with the lowest capacity sets the limit for the whole thing [8]. All that’s left is to add up what sits on the roof, the way the company does for a cargo box [7]:

The result never exceeds the limit of the crossbars, or that of the carrier. Take Thule’s own example: a roof rated for 165 lb (75 kg) and crossbars weighing 11 lb (5 kg) [7]. With a 15 lb (6.8 kg) upright carrier, about 139 lb (63 kg) is left; but that carrier only takes 75 lb (34 kg) [6], so it sets the limit.

Tying the boat down: cam straps, bow and stern lines, checks

On the rack, the boat is held by straps looped around each crossbar and tightened with a cam buckle: snug enough that it doesn’t move, without crushing the hull or the bars, says rack maker Rhino-Rack [10]. Swiss Canoe prefers two separate straps over one long one, never hooked to the boat’s rubber or fabric carry loops, and urges a gentle touch with composite hulls and folding kayaks [4]. Bungee cords aren’t up to the job, according to the federation and to roof carrier maker Malone [4, 11].

A kayak is a long load, and a long load gets tied down at both ends too. Rhino-Rack says the front and rear must be anchored so the boat can’t rock, which could damage the car, the boat and the rack [10]; Malone makes it a condition of any roof transport with its gear [11]. The lines run from tow points or from anchor straps tucked under the hood and the tailgate [10], and drop roughly straight down to the bumpers [4].

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Loose strap ends get rolled up and tied off so they don’t flap in the wind [4, 10]. Before you head out, shake the boat from the front, then from the back: if the car moves with it, it’s secured [10]. Then pull over after a few miles, because new straps stretch and road vibration loosens buckles [10]. Five minutes or five hours on the road, the tie-down is the same: a panic stop doesn’t come with a warning [4].

Without a roof rack: what the manuals say

Without a rack, the setup comes down to two foam blocks or two inflatable pads, plus straps that run through the car, doors open, before you close the doors on them. What one maker says about it is surprising: the instructions for Malone’s inflatable roof rack describe it as a temporary system, limited to 175 lb (80 kg), point to the owner’s manual, whose limit may be lower, and say not to use it in the rain, since water can run down the straps into the car [11].

The detail that changes everything is curtain airbags: the same instructions warn that the system isn’t suitable for cars that have them, because the straps can keep them from deploying properly [11]. Bow and stern lines are still required [11].

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The car gets a say too: if the owner’s manual says not to load the roof, like the Kia manual mentioned above [1], foam blocks don’t change that. A roof without rails can often take crossbars with clamp-style feet anyway [3]. My take: a bare roof isn’t decided from a parking-lot photo, but in two manuals, the car’s and the system’s.

Trailer, van, station wagon or trunk: the other options

The trailer

A trailer saves you from hoisting the boat overhead. In the US, trailer rules are set state by state; in France, for comparison, a regular driver’s license covers a trailer of up to 1,650 lb (750 kg) gross weight, or more if car and trailer together stay within 7,700 lb (3,500 kg) [12]. Swiss Canoe advises loading heavy boats low, tying paddles together and clipping the safety cable to the proper eye [4]. Overhang limits apply to the trailer too [13].

In a van or a station wagon

Inside, the boat escapes the wind, but not the laws of physics. France’s traffic code requires that a load can’t cause damage or danger [14], and Britain’s Highway Code puts it more bluntly: in a crash, heavy objects that aren’t secured might hit someone inside the vehicle and cause serious injury [15]. In a camper van as in a station wagon, the kayak gets strapped to the tie-down points so it can’t slide, even under braking [4].

The inflatable in the trunk

Good news for inflatable paddle boards: deflated, they ride in the trunk, rolled up in their bag, which the maker Hala Gear recommends because a deflated board is most easily damaged in transit [16]. That heavy bag gets wedged in like any other load; our guide to reading an inflatable paddle board’s spec sheet gives its real weight. Inflated on the roof, the board has to stand up to the wind [4], and its pressure rises with heat as well as altitude, over a mountain pass [16].

What sticks out: the rules, place by place

The rules change from one country to the next, down to the point you measure from: the end of the vehicle in France and Great Britain, the rear reflectors for Germany’s flag rule, the center of the steering and of the rear axle in Switzerland.

In France, a load can’t stick out more than 9.8 feet (3 m) past the rear of the vehicle or its trailer (article R312-21 of the French traffic code, a fourth-class offense) [13]. Beyond 3.3 feet (1 m), a 1954 order requires a non-glaring red light at the end of the load, visible at night from 490 feet (150 m), and a reflector, day and night, 16 to 35 inches (0.40 to 0.90 m) off the ground [17]; neither article mentions a flag. Any load that may spill past the outline of the vehicle must also be firmly secured (article R312-19, a third-class offense) [14].

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In Great Britain, a load sticking out more than 3.3 feet (1 m) at the rear must be made clearly visible; beyond 6.6 feet (2 m), it needs a regulation end marker, lit at night; beyond 10 feet (3.05 m), you have to notify the police two working days ahead and bring an attendant [18, 19]. A separate column covers racing boats “propelled solely by oars”: a kayak, driven by a paddle, falls under the general rule on our reading [18].

In Germany, section 22 of the road traffic regulations (StVO) is stricter at the front: up to 8.2 feet (2.5 m) high, the load can’t stick out at all. At the rear, it can stick out 4.9 feet (1.5 m), or 9.8 feet (3 m) on a trip of no more than 62 miles (100 km); more than 3.3 feet (1 m) behind the rear reflectors, it needs a light-red flag at least 12 × 12 inches (30 × 30 cm) held open by a crossbar, or a sign, or a cylinder, no higher than 4.9 feet (1.5 m) off the road, plus a red light when lights are required [20].

Austria limits the load to a quarter of the vehicle’s length and marks any overhang of more than 3.3 feet (1 m) with a white board with a red border [21, 22]. Switzerland allows 9.8 feet (3 m) at the front and 16 feet (5 m) at the rear, measured from the steering and the rear axle respectively [23]. In the United States, the rule varies by state: in Washington, for example, beyond 4 feet, a red or orange fluorescent flag at least 18 inches square is required [24, 25].

Before you hit the road: the checks

1. The owner’s manual: roof load, decorative rails or not, curtain airbags [1, 11].
2. The crossbar and carrier instructions: maximum load and speed [5, 8].
3. The math: crossbars, carriers and boats within the lowest limit, 110 lb (50 kg) in Switzerland unless the registration says otherwise [9].
4. The tie-down: one cam strap per crossbar, a line at each end, no bungee cords [4, 10].
5. The check: shake the boat before leaving, then stop after a few miles [10].
6. What sticks out: measured, and marked to suit each state or country you drive through [13, 20].

At the water’s edge, other rules take over: the rules for paddling at sea, on lakes and on canals. If you haven’t picked a boat yet, our guide to canoe or kayak helps you decide, and a two-day river trip is waiting for those who already have one.

The rest is the road unspooling toward the lake, the boat riding rock-steady above the windshield, and that small joy, once the straps finally come off, of feeling it slide into water that’s still cold.

Worth watching

Paddling shop Alder Creek explains what bow and stern lines are for and the options for rigging them on a kayak carried on your roof: the step the tie-down section describes.

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Nolwenn Bastide

Trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations

Nolwenn covers trail running, snow, water, nature and destinations for Outfarer. Curious about everything, from meteor showers to night-train schedules, she has a knack for digging up the one detail that changes everything, and nailing it in a single sentence.

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