I had a Saris system on my Mazda Protege, both of which I gave to my brother along with my Pygmy Arctic Tern. Their kayak saddles conform better to rounded hulls than hard-chine hulls, but that's kind of true of most brands' saddles. The fact that they mount on tracks is very convinient, but on one crossing of the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge during high winds, I had at least one of the saddles slide in its groove on me during the crossing (and I just about soiled my shorts), but I only had a bow line and middle straps, no stern line, so the kayak started to twist and it moved the saddle.

Since then I bought a VW Golf and a Thule system, because there are pins in the rain gutters that are specially for mounting Thule racks. I use the rubber saddles, not the Hydro-glides, and my no-chined Outer Island stays absolutely rock-solid. I've only used the 2 middle straps with no bow/stern lines, and have had no problem even with gusts from passing semis, although I haven't seen winds like that day with my Mazda and Saris rack on the Mighty Mac bridge.

If you already have the Saris rack, I'd say go with the Saris saddles, just make sure everything is tight. Their gunnel brackets are very nice for canoeing, too, if you do any of that. But Saris parts are hard to find these days, so if you're looking to purchase a whole new system, I'd go with Yakima or Thule. And of those I'd go with Thule, because the rectangular bars don't allow accessories to rotate. I've heard of people with Yakima's Hully Rollers that have had them rotate around the bar as a kayak was being loaded, and scratched or dented the top of their car.

Hope this was helpful...

Dean

: Anyone have any experience with Saris roof racks and their watersport/kayak
: carriers? Thanks in advance. Kurt