Walker Bay

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Portland Billy

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I'm contemplating replacing my inflatable tender with a Walker Bay (8ft) to give better all round usage for the grand-children - and teach them basic sailing.
Does anyone have any experience of these - and do they stow OK on davits, with or without the inflatable side chambers ?

They seem fairly expensive for what you get.
 
As dinghies they are horrible, heavy and without the inflatable collar they are very unstable; in fact extremely dangerous IMHO. You cannot swim from them like you can with an inflatable. THeir only advantage IMHO is that they are almost indestructible.
 
whipper_snapper said:
As dinghies they are horrible, heavy and without the inflatable collar they are very unstable; in fact extremely dangerous IMHO. You cannot swim from them like you can with an inflatable. THeir only advantage IMHO is that they are almost indestructible.
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Wholly concur.

I have one which I've dumped in a dinghy park. I've used it once in about the last 5 years when I was too lazy to blow up the floppy. I've come close to ploughing under water on more than one occassion. They may look nice but, imho, they are incredibly unstable.
 
I had one with the rubber skirt and it was great - good enough for some toe-rag to steal in fact!

Still got the sailing gear and oars which I could be persuaded to sell if the OP goes ahead and wants to save a few bucks...
 
With the inflatable collar they are superb. We never came close to a scary moment and that included transfers to and from a mooring with two adults, child, toddler and dog. It stowed beautifully on davits motored fast and the sailing it works really well - great fun teaching the nippers to sail.

Without the inflatable collar they are by all accounts very unstable, imagine using a RIB without the inflatable bits!
 
GSL said:
Whipper Snapper


Please can you clarify the exact model of Walker Bay you are refering to as being unstable etc.

Thanks

Graham
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10' version.

I guess the collar would have improved it a lot, but even so I imagine it would have wallowed because the collar is so far clear of the water. It is also damn heavy; two adult males are required to heave it onboard which caused serious wear and tear to the boat, not the dinghy! I also imagine that the collar would have been vulnerable to damage as we wrestled the thing on board.

It was such relief when we swapped it for a simple inflatable.
 
The collar sits a very small distance above the water so no wallowing, Walker Bay have a video of a chap standing on the gunwale of a dinghy with collar fitted and it is nowhere near capsizing. The 8' is only 35kg so not much for two to lift, the 10' weighs a lot more.
 
You mean something like this?

It is extremely stable, and motors/rows very well, but sail performance upwind is iffy.
I am adding a wee bowsprit and foresail to mine this winter.

Mrs FC will have nothing else, and, as is ably demstrated 5 year old grandson loves it.



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Portland Billy said:
I'm contemplating replacing my inflatable tender with a Walker Bay (8ft) to give better all round usage for the grand-children - and teach them basic sailing.
Does anyone have any experience of these - and do they stow OK on davits, with or without the inflatable side chambers ?

They seem fairly expensive for what you get.
Click to expand...

You have had posts stating that they are unstable, which was my experience using one without the collar. However We are very pleased with our WB Genesis 2.7 rib-it has proper washboards to keep your feet dry,and storage compartments. Needs a bigger engine than our old Caribe rib to plane though.
 
Try and Buy

Thanks for all the replies - it seems the inflatable collar is essential, which is what I thought.
I'll probably give one a try out before purchase.
 
Portland Billy said:
I
Does anyone have any experience of these - and do they stow OK on davits, with or without the inflatable side chambers ?
Click to expand...

These dinghies are very beamy so you need to check that the model you are considering will actually fit under your davits. IMHO, if you store it on your davits without the inflatable tubes, you will lose the shock absorbing effect of the tubes and you will have to make sure it is very tightly secured to stop it banging about in a rough sea
 
Portland Billy said:
Thanks for all the replies - it seems the inflatable collar is essential, which is what I thought.
I'll probably give one a try out before purchase.
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May I disagree with my esteemed colleagues.
We have the walkerbay 10 without the RID and whilst it isn't as stable it isn't as tippy as many make out. Ours is used only as a shore -> mooring tender. It stays on the mooring whilst we're away as it won't fit on the boat and we don't have davits. A couple of times we've towed it - but we go slowly so that is a reasonable option for us. We have an inflatable onboard too.

If someone is finding it "tippy" then quite frankly they need to consider their own balance! If my Mother and Father in Law can get in and out then most ppl should be able to.
With more agile adults I've had 4 plus kit in (without the RID) but this was pushing it a little.
Ideally we'd like the RID as this provides both fendering and more stability, but as it costs as much for the RID as it does for the hull it's not high on the list !
£/pound - the Walkerbay withstands huge amounts of mistreatment - far more than an inflatable would and is suited to environments where you're frequently taking the vessel ashore for storage and can either load on davits, tow or leave behind - I wouldn't consider getting it aboard unless you've got a loading area close to sea level or a crane.
 
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