WalkerBay 8 dinghy

We have a WB8 without tubes which SWMBO really enjoys sailing when on the IOW. She quite happily sails it from Seaview out to round No Man's Land fort and back. :eek:

Haven't used it as a tender yet but hope to later in the summer so the staff can pick me up from my yacht and ferry me ashore for dinner!:D Thanks for the tippy advice - I'll wear my drysuit!:)
 
Roach1948 said:
So basically the story I am getting is that they are tippy (I have heard this before) unless they have the tubes on (which almost cost the price of the boat itself!) - I dont think I can afford boat and tubes, but maybe it is possible to upgrade to the tubes later on - or are these factory fitted?
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You can easily retro fit the tubes. Buy one with the tubes on already - they are great.
 
I have to say that I am very happy with mine. OK, she is not as stable as a flubber, but after owning several hard dinghy's, she is more stable than most - I use mine to row to the mooring, and for that she is fantastic. A couple of criticisms though:

1. The curved transom might look nice, but it does mean she looses bouyancy when stepping on the aft thwart top get aboard. Higher freeboard at the stern, and a straighter transom could have prevented this considerably.

2. Rear thwart should be higher, or an arched void under the flotation in order to brace ones feet when rowing.

3. The oars are a nightmare to stow along the gunwhale; I have had to design stowage from shock cord and lacing brackets.
 
ROAM1962 said:
I have to say that I am very happy with mine. OK, she is not as stable as a flubber, but after owning several hard dinghy's, she is more stable than most - I use mine to row to the mooring, and for that she is fantastic. A couple of criticisms though:

1. The curved transom might look nice, but it does mean she looses bouyancy when stepping on the aft thwart top get aboard. Higher freeboard at the stern, and a straighter transom could have prevented this considerably.

2. Rear thwart should be higher, or an arched void under the flotation in order to brace ones feet when rowing.

3. The oars are a nightmare to stow along the gunwhale; I have had to design stowage from shock cord and lacing brackets.
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We have one with performance sail kit and without tubes. As a tender it is, ofcourse, more tippy than an inflatable but no worse than many other hard tenders. In 3x seasons of heavy use we have never scared ourselves ... but we do have a small boat / dinghy sailing background. I too have been known to steer by weight distribution from the bow when alone with the outboard. BTW: I agree with the oars storage issue
 
Got a WB8 with tubes?

FWIW, after a quick bit of "Can you go to *that* stand and measure *that* boat?" at SIBS a couple of years ago, http://www.pinbax.com/ should have plans on file to make a cover for an upside-down WB8 to keep the sun/rain/snow off the tubes - IIRC it was about £60.
 
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