All_at_Sea
Well-Known Member
Anyone got one of these. I am thinking of putting one on my davits but don't know how strong they are for fittings through the hull to attach davit eyes/hooks?
Strength of Walker Bay dinghy
- Thread starter All_at_Sea
- Start date
VicS
Well-Known Member
You dont say which version WB 8 , WB 10 or one of the RIDs with inflatable collar.
However, you can see all the tech details including how to easily fit lifting eyes, in place of the seat fixing bolts, by downloading the appropriate pdf, and other documents, from the WB webpages
http://walkerbay.com/dinghies-sailkits/rigid-dinghy/
http://walkerbay.com/dinghies-sailkits/rigid-inflatable-dinghy/
When ever I have helped anyone up the slipway with one it has always seemed very heavy, but that would have been one with an inflated buoyancy collar which I guess adds quite a bit of weight. ( about 8kg in the case of the WB 8 / 275 RID )
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sealegsjim
Well-Known Member
I had one and I thought it was quite heavily built. I got rid of mine because I found that they were very unstable as a tender without the collar.
sarabande
Well-Known Member
if you do hoist any dinghy on davits, remember to take out the bung , and to replace it before launching. That will keep the weight down....
VicS
Well-Known Member
jimmyk
Well-Known Member
The bung for mine only weighs a few grams.
probably to stop it filling with rain water
sarabande
Well-Known Member
rainwater.....
thank you JimmyK
thank you JimmyK
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
rainwater.....
thank you JimmyK
Whooooosh...
Anyway my 10 was fine on davits (RID) I made up my own lifting ring set for £6 rather than the walker bay £45 one - they go in the four holes in the gunwale. It is heavy though and wet and sits very low in the water. A modern dink or RIB is much drier and feels safer. Without the collar it's rather tippy but it's a cracking sailing dinghy, good performance and a nice feel to the sailing.
VicS
Well-Known Member
You can rely on someone rising to the bait !
Skylark
Well-Known Member
I've had an 8 without collar for many years and it's spent most of its life dumped and unloved in a dinghy park. Its tendency to tip and plough is scary. I hate the thing!
Is it really a cracking sailing dinghy? Is it worth buying a conversion kit? On those very rare occasions when the UK weather is obliging, I've often fancied a sedate dinghy sail inside the harbour and around the marina.
FulmarJeddo
Well-Known Member
I have the WB10 and it is the best dinghy I have owned for my use. It can feel a bit tippy, but I have never felt as though it is going to go over. I find it far dryer in a chop than other rigid dinghies I have owned. I do find I need a tiller extension if I'm on my own with the outboard. Mine gets a bit of a battering on the concrete slip and has suffered no more than a few scratches in the relatively soft plastic.
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
Definitely get the kit, though cheaper to buy a complete used one with collar and sailing kit and sell your old dinghy. It sails really well and it's a bit cool sailing ashore and back without using the motor. The 10 is a big improvement on the 8 but is much bigger and heavier.
Giblets
Well-Known Member
We have a WB 8 with the sailing kit which regularly gets sailed out round the forts in the eastern Solent from the Island and between Bembridge & Ryde. Great fun if a touch moist at times.
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I don't own a WB but my marina provides the 8 as courtesy dinghies. I find them a delight to row and very stable without the collar. If I needed a hard dink they would be top of my list.
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Seajet
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My practical, actually useful 8'6" tender is kept ashore alongside a Walker bay job with inflatable collar.
The collar has deflated via U/V and or abrasion, leaving a tiny, very tippy, extremely overpriced boat.
As for them being a ' well performing sailing dinghy ' - only a motorsailor type who's never sailed a proper boat in their life could possibly state that !
Just about adequate, maybe at a pinch as long as not beating into a breeze if nothing else available - and NB these things don't have the buoyancy tanks to right after a capsize or swamping which real sailing dinghies have...
Way overpriced trendy junk.
The collar has deflated via U/V and or abrasion, leaving a tiny, very tippy, extremely overpriced boat.
As for them being a ' well performing sailing dinghy ' - only a motorsailor type who's never sailed a proper boat in their life could possibly state that !
Just about adequate, maybe at a pinch as long as not beating into a breeze if nothing else available - and NB these things don't have the buoyancy tanks to right after a capsize or swamping which real sailing dinghies have...
Way overpriced trendy junk.
Giblets
Well-Known Member
I seem to recall that "actually useful 8'6" tenders" have a habit of dumping their occupants into the mud!
Errmmm!
They do have buoyancy bags similar to Opi's
But can be dragged up a shingle beach without fear of scraping the paint off the hull and don't require a launching trolly!
Horses for courses I fancy.
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
Seajet
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If once in 13 years of ownership is a habit, yes by all means - ask at the club for other people's experiences !
As for ' buoyancy bags like an Oppi ' - I managed to avoid that introductory route into sailing but I think they are recoverable from a capsize ? - The Walker isn't, in the way proper sailing dinghies can just be righted, self drained and one carries on.
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
I wish I had your boundless self confidence, the ability to pronounce as absolute fact without any empirical experience; seriously it must be lovely up there 
Is it alright if I have a go?
Any small yacht without a side deck means the owners frequently hits other boats when coming alongside because they can't fend off; additionally Andersen 22's with their abnormally high coachroofs result in non existent forward visibility and have resulted in many deaths of swimmers in Chichester harbour.
How did I do? I must confess my heart wasn't in it though.
Is it alright if I have a go?
Any small yacht without a side deck means the owners frequently hits other boats when coming alongside because they can't fend off; additionally Andersen 22's with their abnormally high coachroofs result in non existent forward visibility and have resulted in many deaths of swimmers in Chichester harbour.
How did I do? I must confess my heart wasn't in it though.
Giblets
Well-Known Member
The sad thing is I very much doubt that Seajet has ever sailed a Walker Bay 8 rigged for sailing so is purely talking from his own jaundiced view as an outsider. If he has then I apologise unreservedly. Agreed it may not be seen as a "proper sailing dinghy" but, if it is capsized one just rights it, bails out (not all "proper sailing dinghies" have self-bailers fitted) and carries on sailing - a fact which I have proved many times! 
For the benefit of the OP here is a .pdf which shows the lifting points on the WB8 including the size of the eyes. http://walkerbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/WB-8-SPEC-SHEET-2015.pdf
The full owners manual is shown here. http://walkerbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WB8-10-Owners-Manual-2014-for-web3.pdf
For the benefit of the OP here is a .pdf which shows the lifting points on the WB8 including the size of the eyes. http://walkerbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/WB-8-SPEC-SHEET-2015.pdf
The full owners manual is shown here. http://walkerbay.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/WB8-10-Owners-Manual-2014-for-web3.pdf
