Just a question on roof topping a kayak, have no experience at it, as always used a trailer with the PA14.
Revo 13 is looking good, after chatting to Jim and Tas and Josh .
Just got a rhino rack with side bars and seeking suggestions on the best way to carry a yak,ie inverted or hull down.
Vehicle is VW Tiguan.
looking forward to the input thanks

You can invert straight on the roof bars, but you have to be careful with any projecting deck fittings. Also you will have to put up with water running out of front hatch down your windscreen.

If you carry right way up you will either need cradles or pipes in the chines. Right way up allows you to keep more fittings attached. particularly handy if you have the vantage seat. I have mine full time mounted with more secure attachements than the iffy hobie ones.

When strapping down in upright I find it better to wrap the straps right around the hull crossing over under the roof bars (need longer straps) as opposed to just throwing them over the top and compressing down, which can flatten the hull. Also reduces and tendency to slide sideways if you are using tubes rather than cradles.

If you wipe the yak down before loading it wont drip salt water or sand on car which can cause rust issues in your gutters and door pillars.

Work out a way of loading without reverting to snatch and jerk, as thats risky on your back

I have transported mine both ways, but prefer upright as it allows to be mostly set up saving time at launch and also retreive. Sometimes throw a kids kayak on top also and easier to do this upright. Another plus having upright when travelling is you can pack light stuff in the hull(pfd's, wetsuits, buckets etc) and still access it if you need.

Here are some pics. Is just some pipe with tabs welded to secure to crossbars. Covered in pool noodle with a boat roller at the rear. Is heaps quicker to load and unload than any other method I have used. Steel cost about $40 by memory and $20ish for the roller. Move between my 4wd and 2wd wagons depending on where I'm going.





Will update with more photos if I can find some.



Here's one on my old ute.

I roof top the AI pretty easily and its really just a longer Revo. I have it right way up and stack the ammas and sail on top. I've made up some padded mounts that protect the hull and make it sit securely upright. These are made from two foam wedges glued to a flat section of builders expansion foam. The expansion foam sits between the racks and the hull and the foam wedges are glued so that they match the width of the hull and support the edges securely. The yak goes up on the racks using the side bar and then each faom pad is put between the rack and hull by tilting each end up in turn. It's a very cheap and effective way of securely mounting the yak upright on the racks.

The revo is an easy roof topper. I used to load the yak hull up on the old car, a subie wagon and this seemed to work ok. When I changed to the xtrail I found that the yak had a propensity to want to slide off sideways on uneven ground. I went to kayak cradles and loading hull down and have not looked back.
I Load the yak from the rear using a home made metal t-bar that fits into the hayman reece slot. I can recommend this method.

Good Luck with a revo if you end up getting one, they are a great yak.

I used to roof top my outback inverted so the gunnels lay flat on the roof racks.
I would slide it on from the rear and use carpet to protect the roof duco.
I found flipping it upside down before sliding it on the racks was quite awkward and a hassle.
I also found the twist & stow rudder would slide on the carpet between it and the ground then scrape along the ground as you lifted the bow.

Later I invested in a C-Kayak loading device and roof topped the outback right way up.
It is similar to the method described by Lindsay and I also added pool noodles to support the hull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ilrp-qKtgc

The revo is quite a bit narrower & lighter than the outback so you may find flipping it over so the gunnels are against the roof racks is OK.

Wherever possible, carry your yak right way up. I used to transport my first Revo inverted and the salt water heavily rusted the roof and around the windscreen of my Jeep.

I upgraded the Revo and the car and purchased a set of Rhino kayak cradles which carry the yak upright. I also rinse down the yak with a couple of litres of water before loading up. It's also worth stopping off at the car wash on the way home and giving the whole lot a wash down.

5 years on and my car hasn't shown any signs of rust.

Cheers Tim

If you roof top right way up with the vantage seat and venturi set up, make sure you drain it properly before loading or it will drain all over the roof. If left on the roof with drain closed and it pours down keep in mind that seat well can hold something like 18 litres of water.

Best not to leave a yak on the roof if you can help it, otherwise when it rains the rain water washes the dried salt on the car

THANKS for the reply's,what a wealth of information from every one .
Seems like every one carry's right way up, so l will get the yak and probably get cradles, thanks again