Re: Cartopping a Skerry

Posted by Steve Miller on Sep 2, 2004

I'll let one of the Skerry owners tell you for sure. What does "without too much work" mean?

Heres my experience. I built a 12" lapstrake sailboat. Weighs 165 pounds. Its a decked boat. No way to car top. The Skerry won't be too much different other than a bit lighter and longer. Will your rack hold 100+ pounds?

Think about the Skerry - its 15' long and 4.5' wide. It will weight at least 90 pounds (probably more). If you will always use the boat with another strong person then you could car top it.

But a small trailer means you can easily move the boat around, launch it alone and use it alone. A trailer means the boat slides into the water at the ramp.

Cartopping means you have to carry the boat to the water and get wet (or drag it across the beach).

Cartopping means you need to pick the boat up, turn it over without dropping it and lift it on the car. Now you need to secure it. I would never ever want to risk dropping my boat while flipping it over to load or unload off the car.

Trust me, a trailer will be on you shopping list after a few times.

The issue is not so much with the weight but with the size and ease of handling the thing. Are there good hand holds on the boat?

I don't mean to sound negative. Everthing is possible if you have enough desire. I think the Skerry would be way more fun if its easy to use. Cartopping a boat that big is too much work for me. Even storing the boat is easier on a trailer.

I say build the Skerry and try out cartopping. If you want a trailer there are nice ones you can get UPS for about $450. EZ Loader, galvanized that will work fine.

In Response to: Cartopping a Skerry by gregc on Sep 2, 2004

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