Travelling with a Car Topper Boat in 2020

The fishing and boating opportunity’s across Australia are endless and if you are one of the lucky ones planning a caravan trip around Australia you might want to consider taking a small boat with you. From the quiet rivers of the NSW coast, across the freshwater lakes of the Snowy Mountains, down to the whiting hot spots of South Australia, Ningaloo reef, The Kimberly’s, The Great Top End and across to the spectacular Queensland coast the fishing and boating opportunities are endless.

The first thing to consider is the weight of the boat that you need to carry on the roof of your vehicle. A tinnie in the 3.5m to 3.8m range will weigh between 60kg to 85kg and will be ideal and well suited to a 15hp outboard motor. Any bigger than this and you will need a bigger, and heavier, outboard motor. Any smaller and you will be restricted in where you can go once you get north of the Tropic of Capricorn.

Don’t worry about how the size of the boat will effect the wind drag on your rig. Car topper boats travel exceptionally well on the roof of a car and after the first 50km’s you will forget it is even there. Given the aerodynamic shape of a boat they are not subject to uplift forces like a kayak or surfboard is, and many caravanners actually report a slight improvement in their fuel consumption when they have a boat on the vehicle roof.

Law Changes

After 18 months of uncertainty GVM and GCM upgrades can now be done in most Australian states. As of 6th September 2019 NSW, Vic, Tas, SA and the ACT have all reversed a 12 month ban on all GCM upgrades after accepting a new testing regime that proved the safety and integrity of towing upgrades and Gross Combination Mass revisions. WA, NT and Queensland are expected to follow suit shortly.