Transporting Fully Assembled E-foil on Roof Racks

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Has anyone have experience with roof transporting fully assembled efoil? Bad idea?

Think of ways to rig the efoil in a way that can reduce forces from road vibration and protect and stabilize the mast + board interface. Motor is top heavy.

I do it all the time with my normal foil. No issues at all.

Forces are minuscule compared to in water use.

When people have questioned me for doing it my usual response is that people transport bikes on roof racks all the time and they are far more fragile.

I would be less concerned about normal foil but with an efoil the weight of the motor is something to consider. Unlike a track mount efoil has four critical threaded inserts to hold mast to board. I don’t want to stress those beyond reason and my sense is that road vibration in this carrying posture (a cantilevered load motor up) is risky.

The only concern I see is to forget about it and park the car in a garage…

switch it on, and charge during driving

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I used to transport my efoil on the roof. Obviously you’re going to drive your car more careful. I wouldn’t do it for more then half an hour and maximum 120km/h.

One important thing is to either fix the prop or take it off. Or disconnect the motor from esc.

The wind speed is enough to let your prop spin and feed power to your esc which could kill it.

With the fully assembled efoil on the roof you’re gonna get a lot of looks, cause people are confused about that weird looking spoiler on the top of your car… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I know some Dutch guys (not to be named here) who hit a low-hanging roof when they drove into a petrol station to get some petrol.

So, think twice if you plan to get petrol (or, if with an EV, to charge the car). :slight_smile:

I do too from time to time. Last summer I traveled like this from Sofia to the island of Thassos. No problem.
And I haven’t removed the propeller. At one point I realized it was spinning, but I haven’t had a problem.
I will note that I am not using VESC, but 300A ESC from Maytech.

No issues at all with this except wear and tear. I regularly do 2000km round trips with my efoil on the roof.

Some issues to think about:
-Height, and parking garages, trees etc
-Theft
-Taping down the strap ends! In one 1000km trip i had a loose strap end pounding my board, it created a 20cm diameter strap colored patch in the fibreglass and in the worst spot there was even a hole into the EPS.
-Strap creep and rain. A wet strap elongates and there is also natural relaxation under load. Check straps first after a 10-15 min ride, then each time you stop.
-Overtightening straps can crack your board. Don’t ask me how i know…i’ve stopped using ratchet straps as that last click on the ratchet can easily damage your board.

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You make good points. Do you also secure tie downs to the motor area near the fuselage? And do you think transporting in on the roof in its carry bag would be wise?

Yes, transporting in the carry bag is good for protection, less insects and crap on the board toođź‘Ť
I guess it might create a sliding layer for the board though, but I always run a strap from the rear roof bar and around the mast to the other side of the rear bar to take the forces created during braking or crash.

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Is this loop is closer to board or is it from rear bar left side “up” the mast closer to the motor and around the fuselage then back down to right side rear bar?

At the mast plate/board, wing and mast takes 150kg of load during foiling and 5kg when upside down, no need to support it :upside_down_face:

Great – I appreciate your and everyone’s input. I can feel less worried about transporting this way now. Cheers.