OCR Text |
Show ow—Boats You Can ote Atop Your Car he trunk or roof of your auto can hold these lightweight boats— ome of which can beinflated from the dashboard igarette lighter By JAMES JOSEPH stm! : This inflatable canoe converts to a sailboat, HE BIG NEWSin small boats is “ear-toppers,” low-cost, ightweight family-size boats hat can be carried atop your aror in a station wagon. The ew inflatables can even be idden away in the trunk. Car-toppers don’t even need a Avon's 12-foot inflatable Redshank —complete with two inflatable seats, a manual inflator, built-in car locks, car’s roof to a boat trailer. Goodhue Enterprises’ roof-attached, crank-up Crestliner’s and sized for mini-motors up to 6 hp “1-Man Boat Loader” (a boat hoist handsome aluminum —weighs 52 pounds and stowsin a pack a motor up to 35 hp, weighs 225 pounds, and costs about $385. ry four in comfort, up to seven with some crowding. The price: around $500 for boat and motor. and car-top carrier in one) can be adjusted to fit any car. A somewhat less automated “swing loader” that fits on the rear bumper, clamps to the boat’s stern and lets you “swing” the boat atopthe car is duffel bag. Pushed by a 3-hp out- board (weight: 28 pounds), it'll car- top loading easier and convert your ‘ime. Powered by one of the new Lidair produces two inflatables, marketed by local marine suppliers both vulcanized into a single piece mini-outboard motors (144 to about 8 hp), they are fast. Some will pull without glued parts. The P-3 accom- for about $20. To use it, your car must be equipped with a standard oat trailer and can be launched any water skiers, if ditted with 20 to 35 more horsepower. Most car-tops boats, complete with mini-motor, cost less than $500. An all-fiber-glass 12-foot one with a 4.8 hp outboard costs $327. Another, an inflatable rubberized-canvas boat that’s big enough for a family of eight, costs less than $100. Another $100 buys a 3.6-hp mini-motor. modates 6- or 10-hp motorsfor speeds up to 22 mph. The P-4 ($589.95) handles a 20-hp motor for speeds of 28 mph, enough for water skiing. Zodiac’s 10-foot “Cadet” ($372) toppable, consider the Hydro-Cycle’s once you’ve got it atop. The better 9-foot Barracuda with a 35-hp motor. Price: $349. If it’s speed you want in a car- just 215 pounds, Forsailing buffs, there’s AMF Alcort’s trim, car-toppable 14-foot fiberglass Flyingfish, with built-in flotation, a flexible fiber-glass mast, and is Sears, sail area enough (120 sq. ft.) to makehergo ir light breezes. Flyingfish weighs a little over 200 pounds. Bas The Lidair Sameais an inflatable canoe that converts to a sailboat this 52-pound package can becarried This car-top boat features a see- atop a car or in the trunk, Fold Boats. Folding boats—from through bottom for marine viewing. ($254.95). It’s 10 feet, 8 inches long dinghies to folding sloops—go just boat as easily atop yourcar as luggage. “Stowboat”—made of polyproplyene plastic—folds into the size of car's rain gutters. Tie-downs, front andrear, are also a must to prevent road wind from and carries two adults. For the serious angler, Sears, Roebuck offers Gamefisher 12—a 12-foot a surfboard. Stowboat’s 9-foot, four- lifting and unseating the boat. A passenger model weighs 55 pounds, handy can be powered with a mini-motor or prises’ HD-10, $2.95) consists of 10 feet of nylon rope with hooks at both ends and a slide bar that lets you Standard car-topper. Thanks to racks ($25-$40) tie-down clamp to a (Goodhue Enter- taut the tie-down onceit’s in place. For their length, aluminum boats are lightest. Wood or plywood is somewhat heavier and fiber glass pounds, While 109-pound roof loads heavier yet. Butfiber glass is stronger and easiest to maintain. were once about the limit for most standard cars, marine-type roof racks—which distribute the load— raise even that limit. Handy“boat loaders” make roof- foot Custom Car Top,a four-seatallaluminum craft ($177.50 with extruded aluminum gunwales) that’s sized for outboard motors up to 10 carry boats weighing as much as 250 It weighs 55 pounds, carries four. Next, there’s the transparent Glasshopper-9. Its glasslike hull (made from 14-inch thick see-through cellulose acetate that’s transparent as a windowpane) gives you total visibility beneath the boat. Glasshopper, which weighs 125 pounds, is powered by a 10-hp motor that goes 21 mph. two, even three skiers, yet weighs top luggage rack. An economy inflatable lightweight materiais, boats up to 16 feet or so can be racked atop your car, Station-wagon roofs can usually ir Bod No ne A surfboard? No, a folding boat! a craft that'll , 50 mph.It’ll pack on your car’s roof- rigged as a sailboat, and costs up ward of $149 (without sailing rig). | is Commodore, Capable of speeds to 35-mph and more, this fiber-glass boat can pull up to 3% hp, and an air pump. Deflated and stuffed into a duffel bag, : lightweight 14-foot ean pack a 10-hp motor; speeds up to manualor electric air pumps, some flotation, and multiple air cells make inflatables safe even on rough water. family boards and an inflatable keel) and Roebuck’s 12-foot, six-passenger rubberized canvas boat ($69.88), which comes with three adjustable seats, 2 wooden mount for an outboard motor nylon impregnated with abrasion-resistant synthetic rubber), built-in Another bumper hiteh. = Additionally—as for most cartopped boats—you’ll need a roofmounted boatrack to cradle the hull weighs 64 pounds (including floor- Here's a qui-« look at what's new in truly portable boats: Inflatables. You can inflate these in less than five-minutes, thanks to powered from your car’s cigarette lighter. Tough fabrics (including hp and weighs just 105 pounds. Super-lightweight is Appleby’s 16- fiber-glass car-topper with a built-in insulated ice or beverage-well, two built-in rod holders for trolling, and molded-in rod grooves and “lure keepers” to keep things fishable and shipshape. The boat ($209 in some Sears catalog specials) pounds. weighs 112 Car-topping your boat is all for fun—and convenience. ¢ More Details on Inflatables For more information on the boats above and many others, ranging from $89.95 canoes to $550 speedboats, write to Boating, P.O.Boxr 9, St. James, New York, 11780. Family Weekly, June 29, 1969 is |