Best roof racks

I will have to transport a surf ski and a racing mal to training so wondering what the best rack system would be. I have seen the j style ones that place the ski on the side but I was hoping to avoid them. I like the smaller soft cradles like Thule 874 or the Ruk combi. Am hoping if I get that type I can squeeze a board next to it on my rack pads. 

Any advice welcome !

I am using a set of Thule wingbars and Ruk Combi soft pads that mount directly in the Thule bar's profile.

The advantage over the Thule 874 (that I used before and have now reconverted for a homebrew carrying cart) is the lower price and the fact the RUK Combi pads actually pivot. That makes loading and unloading by myself from the side much easier than having to go OVER the Thule pads and plonk the surfski down. (my car is a VW Sharan, so quite high, YMMV).
See attached picture of the setup (not mine, but the same)

Tom

Yes the Ruk combi are on special offer at the minute on Amazon.  Almost half the price of the Thule ones so I might go for them!  They also have 2 styles- one for the t bar and a bolt on one. I have a Mazda cx5 so it's a tall car so need something easy. I will have to lift it twice or 3 times a week in the summer...
Thanks!

For long skinny boats like surfskis, I find V type racks to be a better solution.  I have and use both J racks and saddles which work well on shorter boats.  The problem is that there is so much overhang forward and aft on long skis with the four foot spacing. To keep the ski secure, you have to overtighten the straps which can damage a light ski.   V-racks are generally 8' long so are much more secure and cradle the boat safely without high strap tension.  Here in the SE USA, V racks are almost exclusively used to transport skis.  I use Kayakpro but GoodBoy brand is very popular.
 

I have not used the Kayakpro brand, but my Goodboy's work very well.  A couple nice features are that you can get standard vees for skinnier boats or a wider vee at the back for shorter, wider, flatter bottomed boats.  

They also make a rack with removable ends so that you can take them off when you're not using it and different lengths for different size cars to allow the hatch to be raised if that is the issue.  

I leave them on year round, one less excuse to not get on the water that way.  Picked them up at the factory and Cliff Roach the owner got me sorted just right.  His website is  www.goodboypaddlesports.com/home/

The best racks I have used is Llama. Llamaracks.com. 

I’ll second the recommendation for Goodboy kayaks Vbars. I haul my Epic v8pro from Maine to Florida without issue. Very easy to use and secure. 

The question i have on the V-bar (goodboy, llama, kayakpro):  is a bungy cord enough to hold the boat down when going 70mph on interstate highway w/ 30mph winds in any/all direction?  If added straps are needed, it looks like the llama racks might be best because the straps go directly onto the aluminum V itself, where goodboy/kayakpro look like the strap needs to go somewhere next to the V (not directly on it).  Strapping down away from where the boat sits puts unneeded stress, imo.  Extreme example just to prove my point:  boat sits on a single bar in the middle of boat, I strap the boat down on the very front and back of the boat--the boat would break at the bar if strap was tightened a little too much.  Extreme, I know, but you should always want to strap down only if there was support directly below the strap, right?  So what about the bungy, reliable at high speeds?  thanks.

Short answer- the bungees are VERY secure.

Long answer- Lots of folks I see around the Gorge (where there's plenty of wind and the shuttle on one side is on I-84 at freeway speeds) just use one on each V, others will double up the front bungee. Personally, I use the 2 front/1 back when I'm doing a short in town/shuttle situation, and when I'm getting on the freeway I'll add a strap that goes around the car rack itself, as well as the V-bar. Basically as a backup. The thing is, the bungees hold the ski very securely, so you don't need to crank that strap down- just get it lightly snug- so no worries about damaging the boat. Cliff recommends the strap which makes sense to me as a liability measure- if a bungee DID fail (seems unlikely but...) it's a good backup.

The Goodboy's are superb and I'd recommend them to anyone. Don't know if they're the very best, but they're the best I've seen.

Sam

To echo other comments. For a ski Goodboy V is about the best option in my experience. Easy to load and unload, secure.
For long trips I use the straps in addition to bungees. On local trips (30-50 min often with time on a highway) I just use double bungees on each V for redundancy. Straps and 4 very strong bungees come with the rack. Overall the easiest loading/unloading routine with a minivan and a short guy.
I wish my it was as easy with my sea kayak, that thing is a beast to load. Involves a step ladder and special loader hardware all of which I have to carry with me. 
The whole loading/strapping of a ski takes a couple of minutes. With the kayak its several time that.

Thanks all. I went for the Ruk combi. They seem ok so far. How do I secure with the quick draw tie down for the stern and bow? There's no place to attach -just loop around??

Looking good!!

Concerning bow strap: you can sew a loop out of a piece of strap and then tie that down to the hood, but be VERY careful not to over-tighten it, or you'll crack your boat in a pinch.
Personally, I do not use bow straps anymore: I don't see how a single bowstrap can stop your boast going sideways. It can stop it going up, yes, but your straps around the RUK combi are already doing that.
My Nelo 550 (OK, not very long) has never had any problem at highway speed with a pair of RUK COMBI placed at 1.2 m from each other.

Paddlepop, I'd respectfully submit that your set up as pictured is marginal.  I am not familiar with Ruk, but the racks that I am familiar with recommend minimum spacing of 3-4 ft for kayaks.  The long length of a ski puts a lot of torque on closely spaced racks when subjected to any side loading.  From a math standpoint, doubling the distance between racks halves those loads.  This is why V-rack systems designed for skis have 7-8' spacing.  My first suggestion is to move the racks absolutely as far forward/aft as possible.  Secondly, on closely spaced racks, I would absolutely never drive far or fast without both bow and stern straps.  I agree with TomVW that a single strap does not accomplish much, which is why you need two on both bow and stern.  The lines should form a V with the boat and run to each corner of your SUV.  These things make securing the bow lines easy:  www.amazon.com/Seattle-Sports-Sherpak-Qu...83795260398859&psc=1.
I'd just tie the stern lines to the bumper.  As TomVW suggests, these lines should not be tied tight.  They are really just safety lines that will keep the boat aligned with the SUV if one of your straps come loose.  My last suggestion is to move the ski back a bit relative to the SUV.  There is a lot of upward flow created by the front and windshield of your car at high speeds.  If you move the ski back, it will be subjected to less of that wind.  When I moved my boats further back relative to my truck, the wind noise decreased and my fuel mileage went up.  
 
One last comment regarding use of bungies to secure skis to a V-rack.  For long distance trips with the boat on the roof, I always have used a strap as back up to the bungies (2 per V).  For short trips or with the V-rack on the trailer where it is subjected to less aerodynamic loading, I have not used safety straps.  Yesterday I used the trailer and was surprised to find one of the bow bungies missing when I got home after a short drive.  Not sure what happened, but clearly they can fail.