car topping with passat

I remember reading that someone here uses a VW passat to car top the wave, and I was curious as to which roof rack was being used. Also, about how long does it take to set up and completely dismantly the wave?

I wanted a hobie 16 but car topping it seems too difficult. Wondering how reasonable this is.

Thanks for the help,
bob z

I've been cartopping a Wave on my F-150. It's not a Passat, but the principle is the same. I use a Yakima setup, with rack pads under the hulls, and tie-down straps along with bow and stern lines to the front and rear of the truck. The masts are carried on the Yakimas also, using Multi-Mounts (2 pair). Setting up the Wave takes from 15 minutes to 1/2 hour, depending on experience and motivation, assuming 2 people are doing it. By yourself, it's do-able but a real pain, and not something you would want to do often. I would not recommend a larger craft.

I cartopped the Hobie on my Passat wagon twice for a three hour highway drive. I have since sold the Passat and load the Hobie on either my pop-up trailer or my windsurfing utility trailer behind a Honda Odyssey.

It seemed a bit big for the Passat but it traveled ok. Given I was towing a small popup camper as well, I didn't have an option for a trailer for the Hobie. The combination of the camper with the Hobie was definitely a bit much for the Passat. A trailer would probably be better and a little more
convenient as you would not have to take the hulls apart.

Lacing the hulls probably takes 15 minutes. You will need help raising the mast, particularly when trying to set the rigging. Unloading the gear to complete rigging was probably 30 to 45 minutes.


The racks were Thule racks attached to the factory installed rails on top of the wagon. I noticed after the first trip that the screw holding the front right factory rack had loosened. I tightened it and saw no problem on the subsequent trip.