dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
Just wondered before I started lusting after one
D
D
would anyone like to sing the praises of Walker Bays?
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
FullCircle
Well-Known Member
I have a Walker Bay 8 with tubes and sailing kit. A so -so dinghy without tubes, a brilliant dinghy with tubes.
I also have the sailing kit, but I added a bowsprit and a Laser Pico jib. A so-so sailing dinghy, not good upwind, a good dinghy with better upwind performance with the jib added.
Very good to row, and works well with the motor.
Very stable with the tubes, I can stand on one gunwale and it won't capzsize. Not stable without the tubes, of course.
Oars are very good quality, 2 piece locking.
Downside: Eye Wateringly expensive new.
I also have the sailing kit, but I added a bowsprit and a Laser Pico jib. A so-so sailing dinghy, not good upwind, a good dinghy with better upwind performance with the jib added.
Very good to row, and works well with the motor.
Very stable with the tubes, I can stand on one gunwale and it won't capzsize. Not stable without the tubes, of course.
Oars are very good quality, 2 piece locking.
Downside: Eye Wateringly expensive new.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
thanks for that....
so can you sail it without the tubes
money has never stopped lust
just the satiation of it
D
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FullCircle
Well-Known Member
Yes you can sail it wiothout the tubes. I have the genuine underseat buoyancy bag they make for it. If you get one and need the bag let me know, as I don't need it.
Sybarite
Well-Known Member
It's woth remembering that those sort of tubes can be bought for other dinghies too.
sealegsjim
Well-Known Member
I had one. Never again as they are very unstable. With the tubes, which cost an arm and a leg , they are stable without them they are awful.
Giblets
Well-Known Member
We have an 8ft one with the sailing kit (no tubes) at the sister-in-law's house on the Isle of Wight. SWMBO spends more time sailing in it than ashore when she is down there. Quite happily bimbles out from Seaview, round No Man's Land fort and back again! :ambivalence:
dslittle
Well-Known Member
Yep. Great for the dog.
SiteSurfer
Well-Known Member
My Scouts love them, given that they are practically indestructible and dead easy to wheel around.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
blimey.... well there is a range of views
I am planning to tow a dinghy for the coming exploration of Scotland
I want it to be a stem dinghy that rows/sails/motors
the walker bay hits all the right points except the price
I am planning to tow a dinghy for the coming exploration of Scotland
I want it to be a stem dinghy that rows/sails/motors
the walker bay hits all the right points except the price
fireball
Well-Known Member
We had a walkerbay 10 and I don't recognise the stability issues mentioned of the 8.
Unfortunately we didn't get the sailing kit or tubes - we used it as a tender to get to our mooring - usually carrying 3 adults at a time.
Unfortunately we traded it in for the Walkerbay Genesis 310TFL - I say unfortunately, not because the new boat is bad - far from it - it's great - 4 adults plus baggage with no issue - but we now no longer need it and whereas I may have got away with keeping the Walkerbay 10 - I can't justify the Genesis ...
Anyone want to buy a practically brand new Genesis? Btw - I hear Phil Collins is thinking of un-retiring ...
Unfortunately we didn't get the sailing kit or tubes - we used it as a tender to get to our mooring - usually carrying 3 adults at a time.
Unfortunately we traded it in for the Walkerbay Genesis 310TFL - I say unfortunately, not because the new boat is bad - far from it - it's great - 4 adults plus baggage with no issue - but we now no longer need it and whereas I may have got away with keeping the Walkerbay 10 - I can't justify the Genesis ...
Anyone want to buy a practically brand new Genesis? Btw - I hear Phil Collins is thinking of un-retiring ...
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
We tow a Heyland Swift for our Scottish jaunts. Rows well, tows well, sails well, very stable. Expensive new but they come up second hand regularly. Look a damn sight more like proper boats than Walker Bay things ...
mainsail1
Well-Known Member
The trouble with towing a dinghy is twofold. It slows you down and it can become unruly just when you don't want it to (e.g. when the wind or sea increases). A walker bay is a great dinghy but you won't get it on deck and therefore, as the old song says, 'there may be trouble ahead'.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
there may be trouble ahead - that is for sure.
However, having sailed in scotland last summer and seen the number of blokes towing dinghies around, the amount of sheltered water and those little locks and bays that are begging to be explored in the dinghy
Plus Jill has decalred that Maggy is to spend more time on the boat so I think that the time has come to grasp the nettle.
Even if I end up buying an old Mirror dinghy as a stop gap
Eyore
Well-Known Member
Absolutely agree, awful .
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
I've never had significant problems with a towed rigid dinghy and I put up with the drag for the benefits it confers.
Dylan, if you want you can have my spare Ferrantiboat 10 on the same basis as Harmony - one quid plus half of what you get when you sell her after your Scottish jaunt. She's roomy and sails well, though being double skinned she's a bit heavier than some dinghies. You can pick her up on your way north - I'll deliver her to Isle of Whithorn, Portpatrick or Stranraer.
Judders
Well-Known Member
I think the Walker Bay 8 was probably the best boat I've ever had. Very light and easy to move around the boat yard and launch. Rows well. Very stable. Fun to sail. Motors well. Can't fault it.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
had a look on the web for one of them
could not find one
would it car top on the polo?
and do you have the sailing rig?
D
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
these are little boats that obviously create division of opinions. Thanks for that. Soft spot for clinker - simulated or otherwise.
