Anyone can put equipment on the roof. Nevertheless, almost "everyone" has lost something in their surfing career. It often turns out to be harmless and the board is ruined, but anyone who has ever seen their surf equipment fly off the roof on the motorway with a surfer driving ahead at 140 km/h is lucky if they can read this. It's often only the little things that make the difference between "safe" and "super disaster" - the position of the roof racks or incorrectly fastened board stacks, for example.
Bernd Flessner has already been on many trips with surf equipment on the roof and tells you above in the picture gallery the most important basics for a safe way to the spot.
The most important factors when transporting surfing luggage are
- Distance between the roof bars
- Alignment of the boards
- Separate straps for each board stack
- Hedging
The best way to transport sails, booms and masts
While we've only talked about boards so far, many people are also wondering how to transport the rest of their equipment. Ideally, sails and the like would fit in the car - but there is often no room for them, especially on longer holiday trips.
Sail are often simply strapped to the roof, but the mono film is compressed and crumpled by the straps. Special sail bags are better, where the straps are pulled through flaps and the sails then only need to be loosely lashed. The masts are often placed under the sails and form a firm base.
The Booms are often placed on the boards and lashed together. This is usually quite stable, but the front piece of the boom can damage the board if too much pressure is applied. Better: Either place a robust padding between the boom and the board or position the boom so that the front piece does not exert any pressure on the board.
Also Masts are best stored in a bag. You can either use the sleeves supplied or place them in a combined sail and mast bag. When transported individually, the masts are often too slippery to be securely fastened, so a bag provides much more stability.
The most practical solution is often a roof box (e.g. Surfline, Flensboxx or similar). The material is safely stowed in them, it is not squashed and is also protected against theft. You can also unpack individual components without having to unpack the entire roof. Boards can also be lashed down on many boxes.
