: Hi Ian.
: Two observations.
: 1. Mounting your boats on edge shows off the deck stripping well
: but it also
: presents the largest possible surface area to a cross wind.
: 2. Lengths of 1"x1/4" ally at a foot or two may feel
: stiff when you try to bend them by hand
: but in reality it is not stiff or strong and once an axial twist
: has started it rapidly becomes even weaker!
: Given the windage area and leverage on the length of a 17 ft boat,
: I am not realy surprised at your incident.
: Given the cost, TLC and blood sweat and tears that go to make a
: boat, I think I'd try to find something
: a little more rigid and robust to carry it/them on, even though
: front and rear tiedowns do help.
: The expression "Spoiling the ship for a 'hapeth of tar "
: springs very readily to mind!
: Les C.

I made a set of plywood cradles for my cat, covered in marine grade outdoor carpet, they use Yakima clamps over the standard Yakima crossbars, works fine an is very supportive. Not like I had a choice, there are no factory made supports to fit that boat. If the boat had a more round bottom, padding the plywood should fix that. It's all epoxied together and epoxied and varnished like a stripper, has held up great.

Bill H.