Walker Bay Dinghies, 8 and 10

    These Volksdinghies are the favorite of the marine store chains, at least partially because they nest tightly together and are easy to deliver and stock. What's tops in the chains ends up being 'popular' by default. But is there more to these ubiquitous little boats than sales and marketing momentum? As a matter of fact, there is.

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    It took a moment to decide whether to make this article a boat review or a Chandlery piece—but only a moment. Walker Bay dinghies are unabashedly placed, by both manufacturer and ship’s store, as items to be picked up along with paint and sandpaper. They lean against the outside walls of the store. They rest in the aisles, filled with season specials like PFDs and bottom paint. They’re front and center. You can just nab one at the counter on the way out.

    Walker Bay Dinghies,  8 and 10

    The prices aren’t shocking; in fact for such big physical items, and such necessary ones, they’re cheap. If you’re used to going into West Marine or BoatU.S. and dropping a few hundred dollars on a piece of navigation gear or some good-sized ground tackle, you could just as easily leave with a Walker Bay boat on your car. And many, many people do.

    Walker Bay was kind enough to loan Practical Sailor the sailing versions of both an 8-footer and a 10-footer for a couple of weeks this summer. We rowed, towed, and sailed both boats. We trailered them and cartopped them. We pulled them on their stern wheels over hill and dale. (Actually we left Dale outof it.)

    The essential fact about these boats is that they’re very, very plastic. This is both their weak point, in that they have none of the warmth of wood, and their strong point, in that they’re effective, no-maintenance, and virtually indestructible.

    We learned quickly to suppress our Bristol Fashion Sense, assuming that those with lovely wooden boats—character boats—will generally prefer to be seen in the company of character dinghies like peapods or Whitehalls or even Dyers. Then we went on with our evaluations.

    Background
    Founded in South Africa in 1997, Walker Bay is now based in Union Gap, Washington, with offices in Vancouver and Paris. The stated aim of the company is to bring its boats to the masses, worldwide. It’s off to a good start, with sales recorded now in 50 countries.

    The Walker Bay 8 was first out of the molds in 1998; the 10-footer was introduced this spring. Both dinghies were designed by Paolo Rista, described by the company as a “water-sports professional and artist.”

    There’s a lot involved in the design of dinghy hull forms, just as with any boat. There are issues of entry, rocker, freeboard, deadrise, transom width, weight and balance—and there are always scads of small-boat builders eager to debate the details. The debates will always go on because, in a dinghy, when you move something, everything changes.

    Mr. Rista deserves credit not only for using a good, versatile form, but, presumably, for specifying the ersatz lapstrake construction that gives the injection-molded hulls some rigidity fore and aft. By this we mean that if you removed the thwarts you could possibly fold the boats from gunwale to gunwale, but not from bow to transom. After the thwarts are secured, the Walker Bay boats are well-supported in all directions, except, perhaps, in the 10-footer between the middle thwart and the bow. More on that later.

    On both boats there’s a full-length molded skeg (or keel, if you prefer) from transom to bow. This too, adds stiffness and helps the boats track straight when rowed or towed. It also houses the handy rolling wheel aft.

    Solid vs. Inflatable
    In a water world increasingly populated by inflatable tenders, there are still plenty of good arguments for solid dinghies, as long as they’re relatively light and manageable, which these are. Solid dinghies don’t have to be blown up or deflated. They can be stowed upside-down on the decks of larger boats and lowered or tossed overboard easily. They usually tow better than inflatables, and they always row better, especially in a headwind. Size for size, they have more carrying capacity, although again, any advantage depends on the distribution of weight and the efficiency of the form when loaded.

    Walker Bay Dinghies,  8 and 10

    Most importantly, some hard dinghies, like these, can be sailed, and there’s nothing more fun than poking around a far-flung harbor at sunset in a sailing dinghy.

    Walker Bay would of course like to see their sailing rigs used in more and more junior and community programs.

    A new JY Trainer costs about $1,850. A new Optimist costs around $2,325. The Walker Bay 8, with performance sailing rig, costs $920. One-design fleets? They could happen.

    Construction
    Both the 8 and the 10 are made of polypropylene resin, which is injected into a steel mold and pressed at 5,000 tons. With a slick mold and such high pressure, the boats emerge smooth and detailed, including molded spaces on the underside of one set of strakes to retain stainless hex nuts for the thwarts. The basic hull is born in about five minutes. Take that, Noah.

    At the chandlery or at home, the solid, foam-filled thwarts are then set in place and bolted through the strakes. That’s about it for construction.

    Performance
    It would have been most efficient to test all performance aspects of both boats at the same time. Of course, that’s not how we were able to do it. Instead, over the course of two weeks we had to move them around quite a bit, on and off trailers and cartops, across yards, and up and down dock ramps. This process, while not at all convenient, allowed us to get to know the boats well. We found them easy to wrestle (usually by one person, the editorial “we”) and very tough when being dragged, dropped, and tossed about. Just as importantly, they were meek neighbors when alongside other boats. They don’t scrape and bang, and they don’t leave traces of themselves on people’s topsides. They’re not much of a worry in any respect.

    We sailed the 8-footer in a light harbor breeze of about 6 knots and found it surprisingly nimble and fun. It tacked and jibed easily and quickly, without being tender, and it was fairly comfortable to sit on either the center thwart or in the boat bottom.

    A few days later we sailed the 10-footer in a stronger offshore breeze of about 12 knots with puffs up to 14. The breeze later faded to about 6 knots.

    In the heavier air the 10 was not ideally balanced with one person in what would be considered a reasonable steering position; the boat sailed slightly down by the stern, and dragged water. This would probably have been helped by the addition of a five-year old child or a loaded cooler forward. Unfortunately we had neither of those things handy, and it wasn’t possible to balance the boat correctly without leaning well forward on the middle thwart. Sitting on the thwart while sailing doesn’t work, because the sheet is led down from the boom through a block in a clamshell-like device that clamps to the aft edge of the seat.

    Moving through light chop in the heavier air, the boat’s bottom oilcanned some forward of the middle thwart. This is one area where too much may be expected of thin polypropylene stretched over an unsupported area. It’s not really a structural problem because the stuff is so resilient—you could probably leap into the boat with hobnail boots without hurting it, but oilcanning is not good for speed.

    Despite the stern-down attitude and consequent sluggish steering, the 10 went well—4.8 knots on a reach.

    Walker Bay Dinghies,  8 and 10

    The sailing characteristics we experienced in the 10-footer slightly undercut some very thoughtful design and manufacture work on the part of Walker Bay: The sail kit and fittings are first-rate: a well-cut sail of 3-oz. Dacron with a big window, a tensionable shaping batten near the head of the sail, nicely shaped daggerboard and rudder, and an excellent rudder-mounting system. The clam clamp for the sheet block is also smart, but we’d prefer to have the sheet simply come down from the boom the way it does on the 8-footer.It’s perfectly possible to have it that way—just unmount that clamp.

    Both boats rowed very well. Walker Bay sent along an outstanding pair of 7-1/2′ wooden oars with rubber collars that set neatly in round plastic oarlocks. The oarlocks are placed fore and aft in the gunwale sockets, and as they’re turned outboard they lock in.

    This is good, except that you have to remember to unship your oars early when coming alongside someone.

    We rowed the boats with differently sized people and batches of gear in various places, and found that we could put our backs into it without fear of breaking or deforming any of the plastic parts. Most gratifyingly, the boats were balanced well enough that increased labor yielded increased speed. Nothing is more frustrating than finishing a stroke in a badly balanced dink and finding that all you’ve done is turn the bow into a plow. These are not pulling boats by any stretch of the imagination, but they do well enough.

    Finally, we towed both boats at varying speeds behind a motorboat on long and short tethers, making arbitrary turns. Here again, both the 8 and the 10 were well-behaved, tracking straight on their skegs and planing high on the water without skittering or swerving. We weren’t able to tow them in rough water, and can’t speak for what they might be like in a seaway. (Some hard dinghies will follow a mother ship obediently through hell and high water, and some quickly become swamped drogues.) If we had to guess, we’d say they’d do well.

    Once the boats were planing, we hand-tested the tethers for tension. In flat water behind the towboat, the 8-footer tugged back at about 15 lbs. The 10-footer pulled at roughly 20.

    Conclusions
    These Walker Bay boats are already a juggernaut, thanks to a firm initial concept, good design, excellent plastic engineering and manufacturing, and the goodwill of retailers. Far be it from Practical Sailor to stand in the way: We like these boats just fine. They do the several things they’re supposed to do very well, and more besides, all at a price that has to be one of the best values in sailing.

    The 10-footer clearly has greater cargo-carrying capacity, and will be able to stay out in rougher water longer. It’s a good choice for those who need to do more serious transport than harbor touring.

    Our favorite, though, is the 8, not because we enjoyed sailing it more than the 10, but because it’s so easy to manage: You can sling it on your back like a turtle shell and walk far with it. You can whip it up on the roof-rack. You can throw it around, leave it alone—it doesn’t mind a thing.

    Also With This Article
    Click here to view Walker Bay 8 and Walker Bay 10 specs.

     

    Contact- Walker Bay Boats, 607 West Ahtanum Rd., Union Gap, WA 98903. 888/449-2553, www.walkerbay.com.

    Darrell Nicholson
    Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him at darrellnicholson.com.

    9 COMMENTS

    1. I have an 8 foot model and the centre board is extremely stiff to lower and retract which would make use less than ideal for anyone not of great strength and balance. One needs to stand to pull it up when approaching shallows. The sail being sleeved over the mast before stepping makes getting underway into an onshore breeze difficult and this is exacerbated by the centre board stiffness. The sail/ mast would benefit greatly from a more normal and expensive sail attachment system. The rudder attachment pins look frail but have so far held up but be warned and do as I do, to take your oars with you when sailing to avoid an embarrassing Bismarck moment. Can’t expect much for the price I suppose and even with its shortcomings I am having great fun with it every time I get onto the water. Oh and a pulley block it’s can clear makes the world of difference to arm fatigue by removing the need to continually hold the main sheet.

    2. Thank you for this excellent and amusing review; I was waffling between the 8 foot that I can “sling on top of my car and carry like a turtle shell” (as I am very strong and am frequently alone during my excursions), I do believe it would be most advantages for me to simply get the 8 foot that is so manageable and does not need a freaking trailer versus the 10 foot that is more boat than I can manage by myself. HOWEVER..I am also planing on using a nice quite trolling motor on my boat as well. Did you get to try the dinghy using a trolling motor? I am wondering about battery placement/storage. Thanks

    3. We are looking for a dinghy/skiff type boat to cross the bay over to a large sand spit in Morro Bay, CA. We happened to see a Walker 8 and loved the look. What is the weight capacity? Also, can a trolling motor work with it? Lastly, I read somewhere that they are no longer being produced – is that true? If not, we are very interested in buying one. Thank you.

    4. The Walker Bay is now being produced in Mexico and without wishing to impugn the quality of Mexican products in general, the quality control is slipshod. I bought an 8 and sail kit last year and the holes to install the drainplug were mis-drilled requiring me to re-drill them. Worse, the rivets holding the plastic plugs in the top and bottom of the daggerboard had not been made flush. Fortunately, I found this out using the short plug instead, because it took two full grown adults using a screwdriver and a 2×4 as a lever to remove the plug. Had it been the actual daggerboard, I would not have been able to remove it without taking out the thwart. Having realized that the 8 was too small for me (I’m not as limber as I used to be) I ordered a 10. The boat arrived missing a number of bolts for the thwarts. The dealer I ordered through was told that the sail kit was missing pieces. Walker Bay refused to send the sail kit without the pieces and also refused to say what pieces were missing. For over two months both the dealer and I were constantly assured that the pieces were on their way when in fact they were not. After an incredible amount of foot dragging, the sail kit was finally sent sans the missing piece which turned out to be the daggerboard. On setting up I discovered that the clam cleat which is supposed to hold the clew outhaul was mounted backwards. It took another month for Walker Bay to send the missing daggerboard which, like the first, required me to flatten the rivet heads so it wouldn’t get stuck. Throughout this ordeal, the representatives at Walker Bay flat out lied to both the dealer and myself, and resolutely refused to make any sort of amends for their mis-dealings. The 8 and 10 are both fine boats, but I suggest buying one used rather than trying to go through obtaining one from Walker Bay.

    5. I have had my 8′ West Marine PRU 3 roll up dinghy as my ship to shore boat for my Cal 25 sailboat in Mission Bay San Diego and it’s a used 2018 and it can leak a bit and it can be a challenge to get it up on the foredeck. I see a 2015 8′ Walker on Craigslist with a sail and orrs for $499 and I think I can buy this Walker and sell my inflatable and have a better boat to bring my wife a gear ship to shore. What do you experts think?