After hanging out on our displacement yacht my 7yo son has just started his first formal sailing program and is loving it. He is enjoying it so much that he has started asking about getting a sailing dinghy so he can go sailing and not be reliant on when the sailing program is running. I'm all for that, as the idea of having a sailing dinghy to play around in and watch him enjoy and learn in certainly gets the thumbs up from me.
We currently have one of the Walker Bay 8's as our tender and we got it because of the option of adding the sail kit at a later date for children etc and are very happy with it. I'm considering the options of getting the sail kit for the WB8 or pursuing one possibility I have found that would see us swap the WB8 for the WB10 (with a sail kit) and sell the WB8. This alternate option would get us the sail kit as well as a larger tender (don't need a larger one but the larger boat won't be a problem as we don't store the tender on our boat only tow it behind and use it to get to and from the mooring).
So my question is about other peoples experiences of the WB dinghies with the sail kits. How do they perform? It is worth the investment in the sail kit or is it just too much of a compromise between tender and sailing dinghy for it to be worth while? Would the money be better spent purchasing something like a second hand Laser (though this then adds an extra boat as it couldn't also be our tender)? I'm not looking for a high performance sailing dinghy just something that the young fella can play around in, learn how to sail and get confident about his abilities.
Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.

How lucky for you that your son shares your passion for sailing. I would get hold of a Walker Bay 8 sailing kit as quickly as you can before the weather, or his attention turns.

The kitted out WB8 won't compete with the sailing club classes such as Optis etc but it sails very well, is stable and safe and perfectly suited to someone of his age. I think you would find that the WB10 is significantly bigger in every dimension, including weight. So there would be disadvantages to an upgrade, quite apart from cost.

So many WB8 sailing kits are lying around unused, I am sure you would find one on Gumtree or eBay.

Here's one in Qld for $550. Looks brand new. boats-from-au.com/not-specified/walker-bay-8-sail-kit-80187

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Gravy7 said..
How lucky for you that your son shares your passion for sailing. I would get hold of a Walker Bay 8 sailing kit as quickly as you can before the weather, or his attention turns.

The kitted out WB8 won't compete with the sailing club classes such as Optis etc but it sails very well, is stable and safe and perfectly suited to someone of his age. I think you would find that the WB10 is significantly bigger in every dimension, including weight. So there would be disadvantages to an upgrade, quite apart from cost.

So many WB8 sailing kits are lying around unused, I am sure you would find one on Gumtree or eBay.

Thanks Gravy good point re the size / weight.
I was really only considering the WB10 because I did find one with a sail kit and hadn't had any luck finding a sail kit on it's own for the WB8. thanks for the link though. Might follow that one up.

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MatM14 said..
After hanging out on our displacement yacht my 7yo son has just started his first formal sailing program and is loving it. He is enjoying it so much that he has started asking about getting a sailing dinghy so he can go sailing and not be reliant on when the sailing program is running. I'm all for that, as the idea of having a sailing dinghy to play around in and watch him enjoy and learn in certainly gets the thumbs up from me.
We currently have one of the Walker Bay 8's as our tender and we got it because of the option of adding the sail kit at a later date for children etc and are very happy with it. I'm considering the options of getting the sail kit for the WB8 or pursuing one possibility I have found that would see us swap the WB8 for the WB10 (with a sail kit) and sell the WB8. This alternate option would get us the sail kit as well as a larger tender (don't need a larger one but the larger boat won't be a problem as we don't store the tender on our boat only tow it behind and use it to get to and from the mooring).
So my question is about other peoples experiences of the WB dinghies with the sail kits. How do they perform? It is worth the investment in the sail kit or is it just too much of a compromise between tender and sailing dinghy for it to be worth while? Would the money be better spent purchasing something like a second hand Laser (though this then adds an extra boat as it couldn't also be our tender)? I'm not looking for a high performance sailing dinghy just something that the young fella can play around in, learn how to sail and get confident about his abilities.
Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.

sometimes it might be worth keeping an eye on the facebook marketplace or gumtree, I just sold mine 8 with a never used sail kit cheaply and looks like the guy did not really want the sail kit. But I think they are overpriced as new. I think lasers have better reputation as sailing dinghies here, while the EB 8's are mainly used as tenders

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Seebreasy73 said..

MatM14 said..
After hanging out on our displacement yacht my 7yo son has just started his first formal sailing program and is loving it. He is enjoying it so much that he has started asking about getting a sailing dinghy so he can go sailing and not be reliant on when the sailing program is running. I'm all for that, as the idea of having a sailing dinghy to play around in and watch him enjoy and learn in certainly gets the thumbs up from me.
We currently have one of the Walker Bay 8's as our tender and we got it because of the option of adding the sail kit at a later date for children etc and are very happy with it. I'm considering the options of getting the sail kit for the WB8 or pursuing one possibility I have found that would see us swap the WB8 for the WB10 (with a sail kit) and sell the WB8. This alternate option would get us the sail kit as well as a larger tender (don't need a larger one but the larger boat won't be a problem as we don't store the tender on our boat only tow it behind and use it to get to and from the mooring).
So my question is about other peoples experiences of the WB dinghies with the sail kits. How do they perform? It is worth the investment in the sail kit or is it just too much of a compromise between tender and sailing dinghy for it to be worth while? Would the money be better spent purchasing something like a second hand Laser (though this then adds an extra boat as it couldn't also be our tender)? I'm not looking for a high performance sailing dinghy just something that the young fella can play around in, learn how to sail and get confident about his abilities.
Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions greatly appreciated.

sometimes it might be worth keeping an eye on the facebook marketplace or gumtree, I just sold mine 8 with a never used sail kit cheaply and looks like the guy did not really want the sail kit. But I think they are overpriced as new. I think lasers have better reputation as sailing dinghies here, while the EB 8's are mainly used as tenders

Sorry but Lasers are terrible!
Shocking build quality, very hard on your legs to hike and heavy!!

Once he graduated from the WB8, go for a Sabot and go from there!!!

We had the WB 8 with sail kit when the children were about that age.
I was very happily surprised with how well the thing sailed. (Initially I thought it was a bit of a joke that would entertain the young ones).
Good fun was had by all, and it was a great learning boat. My daughter is now better at close upwind helming than I am and my then seven year old son has helped win his class in S2H and an around the world race.
They are heavy on fuel to tow compared with other dinghys.

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SailMark said..
We had the WB 8 with sail kit when the children were about that age.
I was very happily surprised with how well the thing sailed. (Initially I thought it was a bit of a joke that would entertain the young ones).
Good fun was had by all, and it was a great learning boat. My daughter is now better at close upwind helming than I am and my then seven year old son has helped win his class in S2H and an around the world race.
They are heavy on fuel to tow compared with other dinghys.

I suppose it is fine for a size of a kid, but anything heavier or if you are taller, forget it. Maybe the WB10, but the WB8 is a bit of a joke. It weighs something like 40 kg, and the load limit is like 160 - 180 kg. And hope that there is no chop, becuase there is not much freeboard.

+1 for a sabot or a manly junior. An OK tender and good little sailboats both being actively campaigned

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Gravy7 said..
Here's one in Qld for $550. Looks brand new. boats-from-au.com/not-specified/walker-bay-8-sail-kit-80187

Must be a dud add. Left a number of messages with no response. Trouble is it's the only 2nd hand stand alone sail kit I have come across. Every body else is selling the kit with the boat. One thing I don't need is another boat

Mat, I would make a dagger board, rudder and a wee little rig for the one you got ? Just check one out and copy it !