So I finally got myself a Sunova Style, pretty excited to get the beauty in the water over easter... first chance was decided Venus Bay the go. Head over in the old honda with a head full of casso's cutbacks in my mind the day ahead looked gold and Venus had been epic of late.
Ten minutes out of Invy a truck going the other way...BAM the suction ripped the board and roof racks straight off the car... FFAAARRRR.... Gt back to find the board amazingly sitting upright beside the road ( lucky as two cars had gone passed) still attached with the Lockracks holding the board down.

Quick damage evaluation and then drag board and racks to the other side of the road..I think Im gonna vomit ...i havent even got the board wet its brand bloody new .... the wife is gonna kill me ...... WOW mightn't be too bad nose of bag is ripped but otherwise it looks hopeful.

Photos tell the story, I was very lucky small damage to the front of the nose only. Damn those Sunova boards are rock solid.... and thankfully I had the Lockrack system which took a bit of the carnage and one arm is bent... Photos tell the story, no blood lost, no one injured, my pride was hammered and will cost a bit to fix the board and replace the lockrack arm... Lesson learnt DONT buy cheap ebay racks!!!! They were held together by two pop rivets.....

#sunovafanboyforlifenow

Heartbreaking, but you are right it could have been MUCH worse!

Did the racks slip, or were there so close together? If so, the leverage from the board tips would have been huge on them, most racks will not have resisted (nor the car gutters) in such a configuration.

sheesh bummer, the racks do look close together, mate go to roof carrier systems Camberwell they may have a stabilizer for racks that close as well.

Woooahhh Dave - that is brutal!
But you're right, it's amazing how little damage was done really. Still, feel your pain - what a turn of events AND with your new sled! Unbelievable.
Styles are beasts man - and you've got yrself a beauty there.

Mate - I'd be getting that little chunk of road glassed in to the repair - hard core.

Bummer mate that would hurt. Be interested to see what "saving" you made with cheapy racks vs repairing the style? I realise rack fitment varies but my pair of rhino vortex were about $270 with 4 x legs. Just completed a highway speed trip of 1000km with a quiver atop, no dramas
Good luck with the new style once you get it sussed.

Cheers
Esk

Interesting discussion about distance between racks .
Is the distance this too short for the 12 footer in this photo ?

Gboots man - hard to say and probably depends on the brand of rack. They do look a bit too close though i reckon.
I've got a set of Rhino Racks Vortex SX on the blue meanie (below) and they're rock solid eh.
They recommend the racks are set between 700mm - 800mm.
I've had no dramas with the 10'6 Style or 9' Flow.

The further apart the better.......and the more the better.......

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MangoDingo said..
Gboots man - hard to say and probably depends on the brand of rack. They do look a bit too close though i reckon.
I've got a set of Rhino Racks Vortex SX on the blue meanie (below) and they're rock solid eh.
They recommend the racks are set between 700mm - 800mm.
I've had no dramas with the 10'6 Style or 9' Flow.

The ones I have are Rhino Racks and were installed by a reputable installer. I just measured distance
between racks at 800mm.
That said I rarely use them or the 12 footer. The longest trip I had was 3 hours and the board was only 7'6 which obviously reduces the risk.

I also often use another set of straps over the board and through the windows (under the car ceiling ) as a bit of extra security .

Also for a longer board I would assume it would be best to have more bias towards back of vehicle

I have second hand thule, they are bomb proof, get a set of thule or rhino racks off ebay as they are often taken off second hand cars. Dont buy cheap, its not the board but the damage, death to the people traveling behind/beside you. Those racks look way too close. Its pretty hard saying add some spare tie downs when your racks came loose. This is not suppose to happen under speeds of 150km/hr. Im lucky I drove 6km to my nearest spot with no tie downs on the board as i just forgot and then wondered why it was moving around a lot. It could have been so much worse.
Gboots I would move that back rack half way down that rear window or get another rack off ebay to make a three set. Three racks makes the board more than 3x safer. Is that saltwater you are parked at.
Boomer has been over run with paddlers. 6 out today.

I've lockrack and i'm very happy with them. However I would never go on the highway with my boards on the roof. I read bad experiences with every system available (lockrack, Thule, Rhino, ...). Problems sometimes come from other factors (installation, wind, basic support quality, ...)

Between racks I've 1000 mm ( with 10'10'', 12'6'' or 14'' boards)

Perhaps it has to do with using roofracks which aren't approved by the car maker. I do realise the manufacturer supplied ones can be crazy expensive, but perhaps their's a reason for it and they get properly tested before certification.

Re Lockracks, I've been using them for a while now and regularly drive at highway speeds - they have been great and works without any issues. Incidentally, I regularly carry my largest board, which is 11'4" Naish, with them and never had an issue even at 140km/h on my wife's Audi Q3 when we take a quick weekend break and I'm not driving my Landcruiser. I do however use the Audi roofracks on the Q3.
If I look at the OP's post it seems those lockracks did their job just fine and probably kept the board from further damage after the roofracks came loose.

the racks were fitted as far apart as i could get them on a sedan roof. the lockracks worked a treat and i have never had an issue with them with many different boards and at extended highway speeds. this was the first time i had taken a 10" board with a large nose area at highway speeds with this car.
the problem occured due to the extra wind 'friction' of the passing truck and the fact the mounting feet were fixed to the crossbars with only two small pop rivets. didnt know this until after they had been ripped apart.
i have never had any issue with thule or manufacture supplied racks as they are obviously made to a much higher standard. the point of the post was to make people aware and remember to be bloody careful as we by nature tend to get a bit slack over time....

It's good of you post this Bomber . Even paranoid types like me can get complacent .

My Rhino Racks were selected by the installer to match my vehicle model for the year . There are pre set slots on the sidebars that come with the vehicle . In my case a 2003 Honda CRV.

To be honest I much prefer to have a less than 9'5 boards inside. But that also has issues. When travelling with others and I need to put board on racks (eg family trip) I pretty much takes my 7'6 and it hardly sticks out either side

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bomberdave said..
the racks were fitted as far apart as i could get them on a sedan roof. the lockracks worked a treat and i have never had an issue with them with many different boards and at extended highway speeds. this was the first time i had taken a 10" board with a large nose area at highway speeds with this car.
the problem occured due to the extra wind 'friction' of the passing truck and the fact the mounting feet were fixed to the crossbars with only two small pop rivets. didnt know this until after they had been ripped apart.
i have never had any issue with thule or manufacture supplied racks as they are obviously made to a much higher standard. the point of the post was to make people aware and remember to be bloody careful as we by nature tend to get a bit slack over time....

Thanks for posting and it certainly helps to be careful.

I carry my 10' Style backwards, that wide front catch's too much wind.
P.S. You're the best, Dave.

I carry a 9'5" Speeed on Thule racks approx 900mm apart and racks attached to factory rails in the roof. Must admit I wonder how many rivets/bolts hold those rails into the roof....the big, broad nose of the Speeed worries me sometimes with how much wind it catches. Maybe tail-first might be a sound plan

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808-Obsession said..
I carry a 9'5" Speeed on Thule racks approx 900mm apart and racks attached to factory rails in the roof. Must admit I wonder how many rivets/bolts hold those rails into the roof....the big, broad nose of the Speeed worries me sometimes with how much wind it catches. Maybe tail-first might be a sound plan

The tail first is not a bad idea .
That said with the boards upside down and nose at front you would except the board to be pushing down rather than lifting up anyway.

I just drove from Gnaraloo to Perth with 9', 7'10 sups and a 6'8 shorboard. Rental Holden Trailblazer, no racks, all boards in bags and good slab of dual density foam between the roof and 9 footer. Two long straps through the car, rock solid even at over 100k with road trains going the other way. Bloody nervous at first but now I'm wondering why I use roof racks! Made sure the roof and foam was super clean to minimize abrasion, absolutely not a mark.

I've always been a bit concerned about this happening too, so for 100kmh plus open road drives, I strap the boards to the roof rack as normal and then add 2 straps around the boards through the car doors.
Bit annoying having straps inside the car but the peace of mind is worth it.

I have carted boards, mals and sups on roof racks all around Australia for 40 years without incident. Buy quality racks, fit them properly buy quality straps should never have a problem.

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kiwidave4 said..
I've always been a bit concerned about this happening too, so for 100kmh plus open road drives, I strap the boards to the roof rack as normal and then add 2 straps around the boards through the car doors.
Bit annoying having straps inside the car but the peace of mind is worth it.

Kiwidave this is exactly what I do on long trip and when traveling on main highways