The Art of Strappage

COUNT · 12-09-2006

The Rules:

Rule #1-You can always get more boats on the roof.
Rule #2-You can never have enough straps.
Rule #3-It doesn't count if you lose a boat.
Rule #4-Safety straps are good but a professional doesn't need to use them.

The Corollaries:

Corollary #1-Go through the rack with single straps when possible. When this is not possible, refer to Rule #2. In the meantime, you may have to link straps and/or go through boat loops.

Corollary #2-Minimize excess strappage. This applies to both number of straps and extra strap length. When you cannot minimize excess strap length, see Rule #2 (i.e. you do not have enough of the proper length of shorter straps). In the meantime, you can tie off the ends of the straps.

Corollary #3-A good strap job is a clean strap job. This corollary pertains to all 4 rules.

Corollary #4-Mirrors will be broken. This however is not the fault of the strapper and he will not be penalized for it. This is the responsibility of the unloader and falls under a completely different scoring system.

The Awarding of Points:

1 point for each of the first four boats on the roof.
2 points for boats 5 and 6.
3 points for boats 7 and 8.
5 points for each boat after 8.

2 points for each boat in the trunk.
4 points for each boat in a seat.

Bonus Points:

You receive 5 bonus points for each stack of boats on your car that is equal to or greater than the original height of the vehicle.

You receive 1 bonus point for each boat on the roof that is filled with gear (note:gear MUST be wet in order to receive bonus points).

You receive 1 bonus point for each additional batch of gear creatively strapped to the roof (so a bundle of paddles is worth 1 bonus point, as would be a cluster of helmets).

You receive 2 bonus points for each person that is in the car but not in a seat (10 bonus points for somebody riding on top of the strapped down boats).

You receive 2 bonus points for each additional set of gear for a different (must be extreme) sport, such as skiing, climbing, mountain biking, etc. that is in the car.

Losing Points:

If you lose a boat or person, you lose all points for that trip.

If you somehow manage to lose the beer for the trip, you lose all points for the entire season.

If you overload your car so much you get a flat on the shuttle road, you lose 5 points (Jacked and replaced tire with all gear still strapped onto the car? 10 Bonus Points).

Don't have room for hitch-hiking bikini-clad river babes? -20
Squeezed 'em in anyways? +50

Recent Addendums:

For boats strapped creatively to the car (not on the roof rack, i.e. strapped to the hood, bumper, etc.) initial points are awarded as if they were on the roof. You then receive 2 additional bonus points for each of these boats.

Getting pulled over because of the strap job -10 points. Didn't get a ticket and got the cop to help you? +10 points.

All of these:

Were on this:

So, the total:

Bottom stack of 5 boats=1(4)+2(1)=6
Second layer of 6 boats (going crossways)=2(1)+3(2)+5(3)=23
1 Boat (12th boat total) lashed to Hood= 5 points+2 Bonus Points=7
1 Boat (13th boat total) lashed to trunk=5 points+2 Bonus Points=7
1 Boat in trunk=2
1 Boat in passenger seat=4
1 Boat in back seat (lengthwise, sticking out both windows)=4
Stack of boats on top of the car doubled the height of the car=5 bonus points
All my climbing gear in the trunk=1 Bonus point
Got checked on by campus cop who then wished us luck and helped me back out=10 Bonus points.

TOTAL=69 Points

A total of 16 boats were transported in one trip by my car. Not bad for a '95 Subaru Legacy Sedan.

COUNT

AdrenalineRush · 12-09-2006

i think that is an obvious win.

as for the wetness of the gear...slightly damp? or wring-out-able? or dripping?

COUNT · 12-09-2006

Hmmm...well, most boaters shake/wring-out their stuff when they get out so it's not dripping, so damp is probably acceptable. So what, you say, defines damp? I would say that if it is still wet enough that you can smell the neopreme funk, it counts. But if you can't smell it, it's dry

.

COUNT

BastrdSonOfElvis · 12-09-2006

Impressive. That car must have moved down the road like a slug. Should there be any correction for smaller/larger bar spans? How does this apply to pick ups or vans? I think there should be additional points for speeds attained while in transit. There's more to this, COUNT.

One...Two...THREE boats on the roof...AH AH AH..

Big Sesame Street fan.

Baghdad out.

COUNT · 12-09-2006

No, you're absolutely right. There definately is more to it. That was one of my main motivations in posting this (okay, other than the sweet pics). I'm very interested to see what the Buzzards have to add to this.

This was just for in-town transportation so the fastest I went was 30, but I did take it off the ramp that we usually jump with our cars (not sure if it actually caught any air or not so I didn't think it was fair to give bonus points for that). But I do think there should be bonus points awarded if you catch air and keep all the boats on. I think I would have been willing to take this on the highway if I had needed to. It definately was weighed down enough to start affecting the car's suspension.

Another suggestion I received was that you should lose all points if the entire roof-rack flies off but receive bonus points if the boats land in water. However I think that if the roof-rack flies off but everything remains in one solid block of strapped boats, nothing should be deducted (maybe even bonus points are deserved for that).

As for vans and trucks, this was the reason I chose to give bonus points for having a stack on your car equal to the original height of the car. It would take one to three more layers of boats than I had for a van or truck to get any of these bonus points. I do feel that there should be some handicapping system to account for the boats you can get inside a van and in the bed of a truck, though.

And I plan on breaking this record in the future.

But who's COUNTing, anyways?

oopsiflipped · 12-09-2006

how about a bonus point for every boat over a certain length? 9'?

great pictures. only way it could be better is if you topped it off with a crossfire.

Dave Frank · 12-09-2006

Truly impressive. did you get a strap count?

I once loaded 16 boats in my truck for a SBC shuttle, but I don't think I earned a single bonus point in your clever scoring scheme. 2 lines of six on the rack and 4 more in the back. I suppose some gear may have been in boats or cleverly tied on, but a simple rig in all.

What did the cop say to you? Just what is the rated GVW of a subaru? Those boats cant weigh much more than 500 lbs right?

COUNT · 12-10-2006

I think we used 2 20 footers, 3 15 footers, 4 9 footers, and a couple 1-6 footers to connect where we came up short. We also had a couple bungee cords on the boat on the trunk. The disappointing part that makes me sure I could do more is the fact that I ended up using the 20 footers where I really only needed the 15 footers on the bottom stack. The top stack then got the 15 footers and they were too short so we attached some 6 footers to make them reach. The fact that we did this in the dark did make it significantly more difficult, too.

We had no safety straps, though.

The longer boats were actually the easiest to work with because unlike today's short play boats (Kingpin, Crazy 88, 2Fun) it's easy to get the strap around the hull so it won't slip off the end and let the boat squirt out while you're driving. Yeah, it would really be complete if you could have a classic boat of every type from each generation: A fiberglasser, a holoform, a Crossfire, etc., etc.

The cop got called because somebody thought we were robbing a house

. We had just been talking about how we really hoped I wouldn't get pulled over with a boat strapped to the hood of my car when he showed up. He pulled up just as we were leaving and I almost backed into him

. He came up and talked to me, asked what was going on and whatnot. I explained the situation, he helped me back out of the funky driveway I was in, and told me to drive slow and be careful! Never said a word about what he thought about the strap job or the boats on the hood and trunk! I'm still not sure how I got away with that

.

I think 500 lbs is about right for the boats but I think we were close to 700 lbs when you consider my weight and the rest of the stuff in my car. The GVW for the chassee rating on the Subaru is 900lbs. So we were getting close enough that I think it definately affected the vehicle. Plus the rating is for how much the chassee of the car can pull and is usually referring to towing a trailer so I don't think it actually accounts for an extra 900 lbs added directly on top to the suspension.

COUNT

jeremy_warner · 10-19-2007

you, are a master at the art of strappage, mad props. I'm absolutely terrible at tying things down on our little nissan hardbody. but, it has a ladder rack, so it's really easy to do it. How long did it take you to rig that up that well? and, how far/how fast did you drive?

caspermike · 10-19-2007

Count, it is time to buy a truck brother....