Seawings with Stinger Attachment:
Small ladies take a close look at this one since it makes loading very easy. My wife is quite petite and can easily use the stinger attachment to load her boat on top of our minivan (still needs a ladder for the straps). I've transported my Delta 18.5 as well as Tsunami SP's and P&H Scorpios over 1500KM at highway speeds without issue or excessive road noise as listed by others. The racks are also quite quiet when empty; obviously there is some noise with something bolted to your roof but they don't howl.
I'm not sure how the stinger would work with a flat rec boat but for a sea kayak with V Shaped ends it's fantastic. There is no comparison between loading my Delta 18.5 overhead sideways by myself onto the van and shooting it up on the stinger. The only downfall I can think of is the factory crossbar flexes when rotated from the load caused by the stinger. That would be the minivans fault though and not the rack.
We initially only bought one stinger to test it out. It's easy to move the boats from one rack to another once on the roof. For convenience though I am going to order a second stinger attachment. They also go on an off easily without tools once you figure it out. I just bought another set for my truck.
I have mounted these on both the factory crossbars on my RAV4 and on Yakima bars on the RAV4 and Dodge mini van. They fit most boats either right side up or upside down. The boats are held securely. The Seawings go on easily and fit right next to the rail support so there is a wide variety of places to mount them.
I have one complaint: No matter how I strap the boats down the carriers howl like crazy. It is almost impossible to hold a conversation at highway speeds. I have tried a variety of ways to attach the straps and have even tried ropes, to no avail. I think the howling is coming from the space between the kayak and the carrier. I have used them with both my Hurricane Tampico 135L and my Dagger Blackwater 12.5, and have experienced the same problem with both boats. I have not had this problem with my Yakima cradles, J-cradles, or Malone J cradles.
My rack had it's second outing this weekend and performed great! Over bumpy gravel roads, serious cross-winds and highway speeds. Loading and unloading is getting easier (but would be impossible without it). I'm a gal who isn't a wimp but certainly can't lift a 60 pound kayak onto the roof of a van either. This was the ticket as the price was affordable and it fits fairly well on my van's crossbars but getting parts to fit every variety of roof rack cross bars out there is probably impossible.
I did take the suggestions of many and put a rubber bottom bath mat on the back window of the van to protect it and that too worked like a dream. Easy with the double doors and stepping on the back bumper to get everything strapped down. Put it on my 2004 Chevy Venture and it carries my 12' Old Town Vapor.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for an easy loading option that isn't going to set you back $600. Got mine off Amazon and have ordered spare parts directly from Malone (I didn't tighten down one of the T knobs and it is now lost forever).
I have had my Seawings since June. They work great, but the rubber is coming off. When I took them back to the store the guy there said the rubber came off his too. I am waiting to see what Malone is going to do...
Malone is replacing my Seawings. That is very quick service.