You will need a set of roof bars, we have a range of bars available to fit most cars. It is easier to secure and load the kayak on the longer ‘through’ style bars rather than the shorter flush ended bars. If you select your vehicle from the list in this link you should be able to bring up details of all the bars we have available:
Once you have a set of roof bars we recommend that you use use a specific kayak carrier to make things easier and ensure everything is secured down properly. You need to make sure whatever carrier you go for fits your bars and gear but you can use the filters at the top of our watersports carrier pages to help with this.
Depending on the length of your bars and the width of your kayaks you may be able to carry two kayaks with any style of kayak rack. J-cradle racks carry kayaks at 45 degrees so they are space-saving. Kayak stackers take up the least space as the kayak is positioned on its side and are often the only option if you need to carry more than two kayaks.
The Cruz folding kayak carrier and the Yakima BigStack and JayLow are all suitable for two kayaks and are both available in money-saving package deals with the roof bars:
It's also really important to tie the kayak to your car at the at both bow and stern. You can usually do this using the front and rear screw-in towing eyes to get strong and accessible fixing points on the vehicle. Some racks come supplied with these straps. Alternatively Yakima have a set of straps designed just for this purpose; the Yakima Bow/Stern tie down straps. They are really simple to use - just hook the straps to your car and boat/kayak, give them a yank and you are ready to go. You’ll need somewhere to secure these straps, typically the tow eye hooks. If you don’t have anywhere to secure these straps you could use the Yakima Hood Anchor.