make a new plan Stan…
Windsurfing out of a 2 seater MG in the mid 1980s was difficult with 2 boards, 6 rigs, and all of the addition needed gear to hit the water. When a third board came into the picture a better roof rack was needed. One that permitted a take out any of the boards, one at a time, stacking scheme. This meant an arm for every board so they all could remain in place until needed and yet be quickly loaded and secured for easy come and go.
There were two issues to overcome. As written objectives they looked like this…
1. Make room and easy access for a third board on the roof.
2. Make it simple to remove any one of the boards and leave the others in place. Reduce the amount of time needed to remove and replace one, two or all of the boards unloading what’s needed on arrival and reloading them quickly at the end of the session.
A light bulb moment happened seeing windsurf magazine pictures of a system called Gorge Racks. It instantly helped with the design. The making of the stacking system looked very doable..
First a drawing with dimensions, then sourcing several sizes of lighter gauge square tube, followed with cutting, drilling, some welding, a finish coat of coal tar epoxy, and then slide onto & secure the windsurf mount to any roof rack and that was that. Voila!
The first one worked like a charm.
We ended up making a few dozen sets in our basement. The incoming revenue was immediately spent on more gear. Not a profitable venture but it was a lot of fun.
A new mini van required a higher build to allow more storage on the top. Our Apple 2C with a blistering 128 kb of ram and a dot matrix printer was used to help with the plans!
Then, in a few more years, THULE finally came to the rescue with a smarter multi stacking concept and with a pair of the new THULE multi-stacking racks we were able to carry up to 8 - 10 boards. That said 6 - 8 boards proved to be optimal for longer hauls at highway speed. Windsurf life just kept getting easier, better, and the best part - provided more time on the water…
Ultimately changed the top joining stabilizer to flex with swivels (like in the very first diagram) to accomodate sloping roof lines..
TaDah!!
Finally THULE came to the rescue with a smart, well designed 4 board stacking system which meant with two stackers on the roof it became an 8 board long haul stacking miracle! This photo above was taken on a March break trip to Hatteras in the late ‘80s with the van loaded and ready to go. It had a third seat, a sleeper platform/mattress in the back as well as enough storage to accommodate smaller suitcases for 4, including wetsuits, gear, etc. and about 12 rigs. Eight booms were strapped to the top for the return to Niagara to help free up some interior space…
An alternate winter service vehicle…
