Sport Today

I've got a Legacy Outback with the factory roof racks.  Their is a Thule
attachment that
goes right on.  I called Subaru and Thule and asked if the rack would work
for windsurfers,
or did I have to tie the board down front and rear.  They both said no
problem.  
I have been using it for two years, I have driven 80mph with a Equipe II on
top, no problem.

I think the Subaru OEM racks will probably do the job, but adding the
Thule towers, as long as it doesnt interfere with the doors/windows,
would be cheap insurance.
Be sure you spread the racks as far forwand and to the rear as
possible, and look at a demo car and make sure there are several
screws/fasteners on each otf the longitudinal mounting bars.
Plus you might want to try to get the dealer to put something in
writing about carrying a sailboard. Then if you habe a problem it may
be covered under either the manufacturers' warranty or the dealers.
Be sure to put you board (s) on fin first (toward the front). The nose
shape in some boards can act like a wing and significantly increase
the lift created when traveling fast. With the deck down, fin up, the
only lift you can generate is from the wind going up and over the
windsheild of the car which will stirke a semi rounded surface on the
rear of the board. This minimize the lift the rack and your straps
have to deal with. If you find yourself in severe cross winds, it's
always a prudent idea to stop and tie off the rear of the board to the
front bumper (both sides) just as a saftey precaution.
]Racks have really gotten much better in recent years, and most of the
problems were with american cars anyway.
Hope this helps!

sailquik (Roger Jackson) US 3704  MD Ph#(301) 872-9459
Cert. Level 1 WS Instructor       NC Ph#(919) 995-3204        
F2 Thommen;North Sails/Rigs;True Ames/Rainbow Fins;

[...]

Around here it's common wisdom to put them on nose first, deck down,
stacked one over each other if more than 1 and the whole stack
as far back on the roof as practical.

My understanding is that this way the downward force generated
by the air flowing over the nose compensates (partly) the
upward force generated by the air deflected from the windshield
and flowing under the board.

At least it works for me without problems since years, with
average Autobahn speeds of 80 mph (up to 4 boards+ 1 large bag)
and top speeds up to 100 mpf with one or two boards.

Wolfgang
--
Wolfgang Soergel                  
Lehrstuhl fuer Nachrichtentechnik   phone: ++49-9131-857781
Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg     fax:   ++49-9131-858849 <=== new !
Cauerstrasse 7                      email:

D-91058 Erlangen, GERMANY
http://www.nt.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de/~wsoergel

Wolf:

later
sailquik (Roger Jackson) US 3704  MD Ph#(301) 872-9459
Cert. Level 1 WS Instructor       NC Ph#(919) 995-3204        
F2 Thommen;North Sails/Rigs;True Ames/Rainbow Fins;