Im looking for any advise or opinions for a rack on my new vehicle. When we only had shorter plastic boats I could put them in the back of my pickup truck without any issues. I built an Auk 17, and the back of the truck was not an option any more. The truck had a cap and no racks, so the best option was to take my wifes Subaru Forester with factory rails and crossbars. I would put the Auk in the "J" rack and the plastic boat next to it, flat on the crossbars.

I traded the truck for a Mazda CX9 that doesn't have any rails or crossbars. There are six factory installed anchor points, three on each side, that are there to install the side rails, or maybe just crossbars. My question would be, should I go with the factory style rails and crossbars and load them like I did on my wife's car, or an after market style that allows me to go wider?

 Most of our trips in the past were 70 to 150 miles round trip, but we plan on trips of 300 to 700 miles round trip this year and I wasn't sure if it's better to load the Auk on it's side, flat..cockpit up (with cover), or flat..cockpit down, or doesn't it matter? I would like to be able to still pull in my garage, without the boats on, either with a flat setup or fold down racks. Any opinions??