If you carry it upside-down, you could have the coaming sit right on a padded roof rack just like the gunwales of a canoe. If you go right-side-up, none of the standard kayak adapters work exceptionally well for hard-chined boats. You end up with a line of contact on the chine rather than a large contact patch. I don't like Yakima's Hully Rollers because I've heard stories of people cracking their fiberglass kayaks on them -- same line of contact across the roller instead of a surface. Custom-made saddles like Ross Leidy's are probably best.

As for a cockpit cover, how about making a sleeve of waterproof nylon with a bungee sewn in each end -- slide it over the entire midsection of the kayak and throw it on your rack in whatever orientation you like. I assume there's no coaming lip to mount to...

Dean

: I'm glad to see this thread. I'm building an open cockpit design (the birder
: II from b&b yacht designs), like that of the Mill Creek boats. Which is
: the best way (up or down)to transport these type of boats? I'm going to
: have to purchase a roof rack for our car (just sold my little OLD truck).
: The big cockpit has concerned me......it looks to be a fine place for much
: turbulence. Should I cover the cockpit? If so.......HOW (it is over 7 feet
: long!)? This boat has hard chines btw....what type of saddles should I
: use??? Thanks, garland