Overhead Board Rack

[Craig]

I had several ask about our overhead board racks so I thought I would do a write up with some pics for those interested. Let me start by saying that I didn't make these, I wish I had the ability. I came across these when looking for an "Endless Wave" surf rack (pictured below). I really liked these racks but the company went out of business and those that have the racks won't sell them.
(Endless Wave Overhead Rack)


So while searching for an overhead rack I came across this at www.wakeworld.com
http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=798147

Long story short I spoke with the guy and from what I gather he is just a guy like us that created an overhead board rack solution because he needed storage for his surfboards. You can buy the racks directly from the guy (Corson Piper...corsonpiper@gmail.com) or from Agenda Surf (link below).
http://agendasurf.com/corson-piper-overhead-surf-rack.html

As far as the rack, I really like it. I bought directly from Corson and have the single clamp version. I'm not certain that Agenda sells the single clamp version. All I saw was the double clamp on their website. I can't speak to the double clamp, but the single clamp is a 1 7/8 board rack clamp mated up to the rack itself. The pads which the surfboards rest on are Dakine Aero surfboard pads..
http://www.surfboards.com/moredetail/147302/DaKine_Aero_Rack_Pads_Black.html

The boards are held against the pads by a heavy duty bungy which stretches across the boards and fastens into a groove on the other side. I'm still adjusting the bungees and the rack to get everything squared away. I have not run WOT yet with boards attached yet, as I don't think that I have my bungees tight enough. Attached are several photos showing the racks with and without a board. I will tell you that to open my bimini, I have to "unfasten" it from my tower at both rear points to allow enough clearance room for the forward horizontal supports to pivot forwards, then just re-fasten it after moving the support bars above the rack. It's not a big deal for me, but might be for some. I will also tell you that I went with the single clamp version so I could still use my bimini if I wanted to. On the AR240 with the single clamp, there is still enough room to allow the bimini to be zipped around the tower. I've noticed a little more lateral movement in the tower after adding the racks and boards while on very rough water, but nothing drastic.


You'll notice when there is no board in the rack, you criss cross the bungees to keep them tight. One other thing that I'm sure someone will ask, because I was concerned about the same thing, the rope does not get caught on the boards or their fins when in a sharp turn. The rope will however drags across the board, over the fins, and drop. I've had the racks on for about a week, and still watching under different circumstances to make sure there are no unforeseen problems, but so far so good.I'm sure I missed some things, so feel free to ask if I left something out.

 

[Craig]

One other thing, the racks are adjustable to fit any board. We have a kneeboard on one side, and wake surfboard in another rack.

 

[jetboater4life]

How sturdy are they for transporting at Highway speeds? My path to the lake I can keep it under 50 which is around how fast the boat goes.

 

[Craig]

I don't trailer with boards in any of the racks (side racks either) so I can't answer that. The fastest I've been in the boat so far with boards in the racks was around 45 mph. The racks themselves are rock solid, my only concern would be the bungees stretching if you didn't have them tight enough.

 

[sysinu]

Adding boards while trailering is just a failed attempt to join the plane pilots forum post.

Yamaha, Mastercraft, Cobalt, etc... if you have boards in your tower, you're not going over 40MPH unless it's being pulled on land. Drop the boards and suddenly the Yamaha can go 51, the Cobalt can go 45 and the MC can... well it can keep going 30 MPH.

Trailering a boat with boards on the tower is just adding drag without purpose. Would you like to add a parachute to your towing experience?

A short 3/4 mile 35 MPH drive with your boat uncovered from your campsite where everything is already loaded up is one thing. I am sure there is a simple math to this, but the more you have in wind resistance at any higher rate of speed the more exponentially you are effected by drag. Doing 50 MPH over a 20 mile stretch with the boards out would probably cost you quite a bit. Not only in the gas lost, but also in the damage to the board and infrastructure holding it. I watched a guy speeding toward a marina (the limit is 35 he was doing about 55) and he had 4 boards out, 2 on each side of his tower. These were wake boards and he had one port side wakeboard that was longer than the others. It jarred up and down because of the wind and progressively moved back until it was stuck. By the time they made it to the lake, they had to replace a fin because the only way to get the wakeboard out of the tower was to break the fin off. And that was less than a mile of travel.

Keep the boards under the cover or in the back of the truck while trailering. Your boat is wind resistance enough, no need to add insult to injury.

 

[sysinu]

Back to the OP (sorry for the trailering derail there)... Your idea is awesome for wakesurf. The collapsable racks that are out there for wakesurf today kind of suck (the one I use included). Putting those long boards up top will make a great improvement in space. I've had a few times that I wanted 4 wakeboards on the tower and 2 wakesurf boards on the racks and having what you have up top would have made it possible for an AR series Yamaha boat. with mine being a fwd sweeping tower this wont work, but the others can definitely benefit from this.

 

[Ronnie]

I think that looks sweet. Nice find. What do they cost?

Oh, I don't trailer with anything in the racks, got a good reminder of why earlier this season. On the road to the lake I saw a wake surf board in the middle of the freeway. We were stuck in traffic but it wasn't slow enough for me to pick up the board. Those things are a few hundred bucks each as i recall. Definitely worth my the time to unbungee them and throw them in the truck or boat.

 

[jetboater4life]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have never trailered with boards in racks but would have liked to a few times. The surf rack looked pretty sturdy and thought maybe if I stay under 50 but nah not worth it. Securing to the top of my truck might be an option.

 

[Craig]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have never trailered with boards in racks but would have liked to a few times. The surf rack looked pretty sturdy and thought maybe if I stay under 50 but nah not worth it. Securing to the top of my truck might be an option.

Depending on how many boards you have, Dakine and several other companies make a tailgate surfboard pad that would work for hauling your boards in the bed of your truck.

 

[RightStuff]

Those look like nice racks for boards, I like the idea of getting boards up there and out of the way and have been looking for something like that too. I have a couple concerns about usability...

<<warning unsolicited opinion below and review based on no knowledge of the product other than the pics above>>
-It doesn't looks like the bimini will be easily opened and secured to the back tower pipe.
-On the website they are $350/per (-$30 for one clamp), that seems a bit steep to me for it, considering I can get a double surf rack (mounted on the side) for about the same price give or take a bit, much less than the $700.
-Overall I like them, but I'll probably just keep looking for a different over the tower mount or a side tower mount.

 

[jetboater4life]

Depending on how many boards you have, Dakine and several other companies make a tailgate surfboard pad that would work for hauling your boards in the bed of your truck.View attachment 9158View attachment 9159

Thanks for the links, but I have a Yukon XL with luggage rails. I was thinking of mounting it on top so my passengers don't have boards sticking into their ears