These cartop spar carriers for a sailing dinghy or sailing canoe carry mast, yard or gaff and boom using the existing straps that attach the dinghy or sailing canoe to the car roof. How to carry a dinghy mast on the roof of my car or trailer?
Joost made them for his Viola 14 Sailing Canoe.
How Do I carry Sailing Dinghy Spars on my Car – Make Spar Carriers from plywood!
Until recently I carried the spars for my Viola 14 canoe in the car when car topping the boat.
Not nice since it minimized space in the foot well on the passenger’s side with the 2 mast sections. And then the boom was shoved in from the fifth door of our mid-sized station wagon. Obviously also not a valid option if one is driving a sedan!
I noticed that there are nifty spars carriers available for the Laser 1 Sailing Dinghy that attach to the boat in a quick and easy manner with bungees keeping the spars in place on the spar carriers.
So a cunning plan developed in my head.
Could I not make something similar for my boat allowing me to carry the spars on top of the boat when car topping. Of course they had to be quick and easy in use.
What Simple Materials Do I Need to make Cartop Mast and Spar Carriers?
- 12 mm plywood (that is what I used, also since the bottom runners are the same height)
- Some elastic cord (I used 6mm diameter)
- 6 large rope stoppers (the holes in the stoppers need to be able to take 2 strands of the elastic cord).
- epoxy glue
Making the spars carriers (2 are needed per Sailing Dinghy) is a very simple affair – Sizing the base plates.
First cut the 2 base plates for the carriers to the appropriate dimensions.
The width is the measurement across the sailing Dinghy or canoe tagged as no. 1. in the photo. It should be so that they just fit in between the bottom runners to avoid sliding about or conform to the keel shape or other structure.
The length of the base plate is the measurement along the boat. It is indicated by no. 2. in the photo. Size it so that the base plate cannot pop out from underneath the straps across the boat if they are moved either to the front or the back of those straps.
Making the vertical Supports for the Spars.
Make the vertical parts that are holding the sailing dinghy spars. The easiest way is to use hole saws of the appropriate diameter hole for each spar. (i.e. top mast section, bottom mast section and the boom).
Cut out from the 12 mm plywood a piece that is the appropriate width to hold 3 spar sections (in my case this this part extends a bit beyond the bottom runners) and twice the height of the vertical part. Mark a centreline on this piece of plywood where you will later cut it into 2 equal parts.
Mark on this centreline where you will need to cut the respective holes and use the hole saws to cut these. Next cut the piece of plywood across the centreline so you have 2 equal vertical parts.
To finish the vertical parts, drill 4 holes in each of them which will hold the bungees. The two outside holes only hold 2 strands of elastic cord and can be smaller in dimension than the 2 inside holes that are keeping 4 strands. The holes should be somewhat tight so that the elastic cord is snugly held in place.
Glue the spar carriers together
The last step in constructing your spars carriers is to glue the vertical parts to the base plates using epoxy glue.
Make sure that the bottom edge of the vertical parts have an exact 90 degree angle. Use a block plane for this and check the angle using a square. Have decent epoxy glue fillets on either side of the vertical parts to make for a strong assembly. Base radius 3 times the ply thickness.
Varnish or paint (epoxy coat optional)
All that remains is to be done now is to varnish/paint/oil the spare carriers to protect them against the elements when driving and to fit the elastic cords.
The length of each piece of elastic cord is individually determined since the spar diameter will influence this. There is also an influence from the position of the drilled holes towards the half round recesses in the vertical parts of the spar carriers. Use simple overhand knots on the ends of the elastic cord that are sitting in the rope stoppers.
When the spars are locked in place by the bungees, it is all very firmly set in position.
Here is Viola safely arrived for the Dorestad RAID event. The plan for the Viola Sailing Canoe is available here.
