Fancy jet rib vs practical tender

[John100156]

........A guy in our marina has a Walker Bay with a 20HP Yamaha - a solution that the dealers recommend. He is also very happy with his.


.......I've had four very big adults on board, when used as a general purpose tender, and it still planes very easily.

Mmmmm Interesting thread - I spent most of this morning looking at Walker Bay (WB) with a 40hp and Avon (AJ) and Williams (WJ) Jetribs. I too did not see Mike's previous post and just noticed a picture of SWMBO and me on the stern of Jenny Wren in the post!

I was the race marshall on the day when Mike raced his WB against Nick's AJ, the WB was comprehensively beat!

I currently have a couple of offers on the table for my T34 and will be looking at buying a larger boat soon. But I also need a new tender to play in the lagoon and to replace my little Zodiac (which has a huge 2.3hp motor on the back with no reverse or neutral, but takes a few minutes to deflate, roll-up and even SWMBO can carry it!).

Having been I expect one of the very largest adults on Mike's WB, and on one occasion sitting on the bow, I was very impressed indeed with its performance and how quickly it, and me, got onto the plane!

I have also been on the other WB with the smaller 20hp outboard and it too went very well indeed.

So, it looks like I may be going for a WB this year after all! Or should I just stick with.....

 

[kcrane]

Having said all that, I've had four very big adults on board, when used as a general purpose tender, and it still planes very easily.

Do you and JFM have the WB Genesis RIB with a console?

...and having had a quick look, no-one mentioned the other end of the WB line, which might pander to my latent desire to sail a boat, and be fun in a different way: http://walkerbay.com/products/sailboats/sailboat_10perf_features.html

 

[Hurricane]

Do you and JFM have the WB Genesis RIB with a console?

...and having had a quick look, no-one mentioned the other end of the WB line, which might pander to my latent desire to sail a boat, and be fun in a different way: http://walkerbay.com/products/sailboats/sailboat_10perf_features.html

Yep - both jfm and I have the larger console Genesis WB
The other guy at our marina also has the same.

Dont know about the other WB kit but RogerRat did have a smaller WB Rib.
Maybe he will be able to comment.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Yep - both jfm and I have the larger console Genesis WB
The other guy at our marina also has the same.

Dont know about the other WB kit but RogerRat did have a smaller WB Rib.
Maybe he will be able to comment.

Yankee1 also has a WB, I think the 2.7 Genesis, I'm sure a PM would elicit an opinion (last time I talked to him about it, he thought it was fab as I recall). Can't recall what o/b he's got though.

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[RogerRat]

Yankee1 also has a WB, I think the 2.7 Genesis, I'm sure a PM would elicit an opinion (last time I talked to him about it, he thought it was fab as I recall). Can't recall what o/b he's got though.

Cheers
Jimmy

Hi there yo'alll.

Yep , I had the 270 Genesis (more like 285 on a tape measure) with a Mercury 10Hp on it and it was great. About 22knots and plenty of room for 4 adults. As per Jimmy, I was limited with the Targa 40 garage and that meant I had to totally deflate it to use the folding transom to get the larger engine inside and garage & door closed.

So for that reason only, I went back to the Valiant with a Yamaha 8Hp 2-stroke. Which btw, is what 'Yankee1' has on his P42 Princess swim platform. He was also impressed with this dinghy on seeing mine.

Due to the hull shape, the Walker Bay is very stable when loading passengers, even those not too familiar with unstable dinghies. It is also this cathedral hull shape that makes the dinghy such fun to handle at speed as it corners like a 'ZapCat' i.e. turning flat with little role, you can even get the feeling of pulling 'G'!

The negative is that is that it is 'draggy' prone to slamming in a chop which means you need very flat water for higher speeds and top speeds are limited... Apart from being good fun boats, they also are light enough to drag or even carry up a beach in tidal waters.

All round 'W-Bay' are excellent boats but not quite as good value since the dollar rate made them more expensive. The load carrying capacity of the 270 is the best for its size but the 310 is not so good due to the poor console, actually quite disappointing. The 340, as per Hurricane and JFM has a good console and will carry 4-5 people too. It is def. the nicest boat. imho

Hope that helps.

 

[jfm]

Do you and JFM have the WB Genesis RIB with a console?

...and having had a quick look, no-one mentioned the other end of the WB line, which might pander to my latent desire to sail a boat, and be fun in a different way: http://walkerbay.com/products/sailboats/sailboat_10perf_features.html

Yup, we both have the 340 genesis deluxe console model (I copied Hurric 100% - I was about 6months after him!)

Actually I looked at the sailboat too but decided it wasn't sporty enough. I really want a Laser as my second tender - on my next boat maybe. (Though i do have a pair of Sevylor Colorados and they're are fantastic - highly recommended - picture below)

Back to WB (340). I agree 100pc with RRat - the hull is flatish cathedralish. This makes it slam and you can only do WOT with the Yam 40 on flat water. But it makes a very stable people carrier, and the bow is blunt/wide, so it really is an excellent machine to ferry guests ashore and collect shopping. I actually don't find it too flexible/floppyu so I don't share Hurric's worry on that. It's plastic like a Topper sailing dinghy, but I think they've made it stiff enough. Everything is a compromise and I'm happy to have it slightly more flexible for the 100kg ++ weight saving over a Zodiac RIB equivalent.

3 adults can just lift it up the beach. 2 cant, but the clever hidden transom wheels help if you can find concrete to roll it up.

Hurric I'm running a 13 pitch prop, which gives high top speed but not good accel with a w/skier. Need 11p for w/ski - I have one but have never used it yet. Check, but I bet 11P inch is what you've got. Hence I reckon I'd have kept closer to Worlock's Avon jet! In flat water

Overall i think the 340 WB / Yamaha is wonderful. If I were to be in the same position, I'd definitely buy it again. Everything is a compromise in boats but the light weight, excellent people-moving, good looks, etc, make up for its (slight) disadvantages. And the Yam engine is lovely - it's almost silent on tickover and with the new EFI it has an immobiliser plus plug and play digital gauges (which I ordered, with fuel computer, at ridiculous cost, and of course I don't think I've ever looked at them and the fuel computer is no help becuase it hardly uses any fuel in a whole season!) And it's 1/3rd the price of an Avon or Williams jet.

Pic of Sevylor Colorado

 

[jfm]

Kevin
In case it helps, here are some more random pics of the WB340

 

[benjenbav]

Random questions:

How big do the sponsons have to be to support a 175hp motor? Probably directly proportionate to the cojones of the driver? Please tcm, no photos.

Gorges du Verdon? (Pic of Sevylor Colorado)

Interesting that the boat next to Braveheart in pic 3 of 5 pic set has the rail on the stern which was mentioned in context of one of the squeakers at LIBS in a post earlier in the week. I'd never noticed those before.

 

[kcrane]

Heck, that Yam is huge compared with overall size of the WB. I reckon a 20hp would be wildly powerful for us. I am deffo going to look into the sailing RID. It doesn't plane, but then we potter around rather than pull toys, and an hour sailing around Newtown Creek in the sunshine with the mother ship hanging on a bouy sounds sounds appealing. Apparently the RID also rows well, so no need for the inflatable kayaks to get some exercise.

 

[jfm]

How big do the sponsons have to be to support a 175hp motor? Probably directly proportionate to the cojones of the driver? Please tcm, no photos.

I think it was a 4m ish RIB. It was the mercury 175hp jet unit, 2 stroke, prob illegal now, but smaller and lighter than the Williams 104hp Weber. Twas a beautiful engine

Gorges du Verdon? (Pic of Sevylor Colorado)

Kinda looks like it, but water too rapid imho. Off a mercan website, so will be somewhere over there. I do have loads of pics of my 2 Sevylors doing the stunning Gorges du Verdon though, if you want me to post them

Interesting that the boat next to Braveheart in pic 3 of 5 pic set has the rail on the stern which was mentioned in context of one of the squeakers at LIBS in a post earlier in the week. I'd never noticed those before.

You must have just not noticed them. They're pretty common on bigger boats, have been for years. The boat in the pic is a Sq66. (Hull #4 , for any geeks out there, the only one FL ever made with the internal staircase, twas the 2006 soton show boat. A new owner had just bought it before that pic was taken, traded in a Sq58, and had the internal staircase removed by the carpenters at EBY. Nooooo!!!)

 

[kcrane]

You must have just not noticed them. They're pretty common on bigger boats, have been for years.

I noticed them first on Horizons if I recall

 

[benjenbav]

I do have loads of pics of my 2 Sevylors doing the stunning Gorges du Verdon though, if you want me to post them

Yes please. I usually can't bear to look down from the road!! But here's one of the river emerging at the end of the gorge.

Interesting coloured water in the Lac de Sainte Croix - last time I swam in it I was quite poorly - Often see canadairs picking up water from the lake. Now that's a sight.

 

[Nick_H]

Often see canadairs picking up water from the lake. Now that's a sight.

I saw the same in St Florent, though I don't know if these are the Canadairs you are refering to?

 

[benjenbav]

Comme ca: