bow and stern lines for ski without anchors?

I am planning to travel a long way (1000 miles) to pick up my surfski. I have a Goodboy classic mounted onto 4 OEM crossbars on a 2005 trailblazer. The ski doesn't have a anchors on the bow or stern for lines and was looking for suggestions on how to best secure it. I know that Yakima makes a ratcheting kit that says it works on ANY boat but I don't have experience with it. I also know that many people say that bow and stern lines are not necessary but I'm of the opinion that I'd rather be safe than sorry. Thanks in advance.

A couple of thoughts on this.

• I have a T-bar that fits onto my tow-bar on the back of my car. This allows me to strap the ski down at locations that are wider apart than usual. If there's no wind and I'm only driving a short way, I just use the regular roof racks, but if there's wind... The T-bar is swung into action.


• You can rig up bow and stern anchor points quite simply by attaching straps over the bow and stern with a rope (or another strap) connecting them so that they can't slip off bow and stern.


• Avoid tightening straps too much over the hull - someone graunched a strap down on my ski and left a dent around the hull...

I have an NK ski with no bow or stern handles or tie points.
I use an old bicycle inner tube cut down to size & stretched over the bow/stern then attach a line to this & secure to towing eye points front and or rear. The rubber grips tightly & also adds a little give so no need to tighten down really hard

In all honesty, if you have a good boy already, I don't see any reason for bow and stern lines. They really won't do anything. I have only seen them used when someone straps a boat flat to the top of a car laying on foam. The lines are mean to restrict lateral movement.

Your rack already does that with the 8ft spacing between the v's. I use mine to carry a 21ft stellar SEL (excel layup) and 21ft Antares OC1 (21lb carbon) and would not have any problem driving cross country with them.

I've used my Good boy racks for cross country travel for 6 years now. I have driven through torrential rain, high winds, extreme heat, and I've never had an issue. I have never used bow & stern straps. The key is not over tightening. Also I would suggest taking your cover off during high wind, and rainstorms.

Goodboy racks, the gold standard for highway travel. Two things, don't forget the security strap in the middle, to back up the bungees in the Vs. also, you could scootch the boat to the rear a little to minimize windage on the beak. Theres a lot if force up there at highway speeds. For those looking for what's to affix bow/stern tie downs, slip a wide climbing sling over the boat ends and use them as an anchor point.

In your opening post you state that some people mark bow and stern lines as unnecessary. I would even go a step further asking whether they may not pose a threat rather than doing any good? Inevitably they have a long free length, and from what I have seen tend to swing like a cord on an instrument, creating additional loads on a very long leverage. On a Goodboy Rack you can hardly do it, but when I transport my skis stern first and upside down on a long platform built with a padded aluminium ladder, they are completely motionless even with very light tightening. For safety I use double straps in the front and a strap on the front bar running through the inner of the car...

When in doubt, stay off the Interstate.