How many boards on racks are safe for highway travelling?

[fong]

i recken the no1 rulz is to always strap the boards down with the fins pointing to the front of the car this is very important

p.s i too have lost boards just on leaving crescent....but they where short ones

is this like bermuda triangle type thing :?

[sean--]

Years ago I was cruising down the coast with an old girlfriend in her Wolsley and I had some softracks attaching the board to the roof. I'd been surfing all morning and was dozing in the afternoon sun. As we drove past a big excavated section on the hiway the sun cast the shadow of the car with the front straps unattached and the board standing vertical as we chugged along Hit the brakes. The board settled gently down as we decreased speed.

Jeez Beanie cruising around with an old lady in a Wolsley you were really stylin

[smw1]

i recken the no1 rulz is to always strap the boards down with the fins pointing to the front of the car this is very important

I've seen loads of people doing this and remember it was recommended in the FCS instructions when I bought my last straps (I know I shouldn't have been reading the manual but the buckles were confusing me )

BUT WHY? I mean, I'm assuming it is to do with aerodynamics and downward forces or some such?

Are there any physicists out there who can explain the science?

ps - fins forward looks crook doesn't it :?

[Beanpole]

Principal I'm just glad I didn't own that money pit. Very high maintanance. A great old car though if you didn't own it.Shocking if you had to look for parts. I think we ended up in Picton one day trying to get a missing part off some old pommie Good beer at the picton pub if you ever get out there for some strange reason :?

[sean--]

I have had a beer at picton pub out the back in the beer garden. very good. Not many of those Wolsley's around now though.

[Beanpole]

No, walnut dash, leather seats, very stylish as you waited for the tow truck
My real favourite all time car remains my very first one-a VW Country Bug with cut down landrover doors and a snorkel
This cured my inner rev head since it only had a 1200 VW engine
Sort of a cross between a mini moke and a jeep-a joke
One step up from a motor bike in wet weather and constantly singled out by cops for looking home made. :?
You still see the odd one around occasionally. A real surfbuggy

[the kalakau kid]

Fins first is an interesting thing. I never do it personally as I can't see the point in driving along with your boardbags acting as windsocks . I know there's the logic about the fin stopping the boards from sliding out but, really, if your boards are that loosely tied down, they're gunna fall out no matter what.

Having said that, fins first is definitely what all the americans/hawaiians do and if you put your boards on nose first, its a clear sign of kookdom to them. As bad as putting the deck facing up. Had a complete stranger pick a fight with me over it on the Westside of Oahu a few years back. Then again, it doesn't take much for an aussie to get in a fight on the westside just by being there.

[sean--]

Fins first is an interesting thing. I never do it personally as I can't see the point in driving along with your boardbags acting as windsocks . I know there's the logic about the fin stopping the boards from sliding out but, really, if your boards are that loosely tied down, they're gunna fall out no matter what.

Having said that, fins first is definitely what all the americans/hawaiians do and if you put your boards on nose first, its a clear sign of kookdom to them. As bad as putting the deck facing up. Had a complete stranger pick a fight with me over it on the Westside of Oahu a few years back. Then again, it doesn't take much for an aussie to get in a fight on the westside just by being there.

Agree about the westside there. I got a mate and he and his wife pulled up at Makaha one morning to go for a surf and were told by a big Hawiian not to get out of the car and to go somewhere else. His wish was respected.

[the kalakau kid]

Ahh yes, its times like that you can really feel the aloha. To be fair though, I also have a couple of friends who visit Hawaii almost annually and spend the whole time at Makaha so its probably the old story of the few giving the many a bad name.


Moral of the story: when in rome, do as the romans do. Put your boards on backwards or whatever else it takes.

Still seems idiotic though.