A Walker Bay Eight was our first sailboat. Like most 8' dinghys, it could row 1-3 tolerably well, and tracked reasonably well, but it was so short going over 3 mph was lots of work! Sailing singlehanded wasn't real comfortable, but it could be fun in for short periods. The daggerboard was high aspect and thus stalled at low speeds. With plenty of wind, it would make 5 mph on a reach, and I never dumped her. She was a very cute little boat, but limited because of her size. She weighed 70 lbs and was awkward to carry any distance for one person. A couple of her clever features were a tiny plastic wheel in the skeg at the transom, allowing her to be rolled wheel barrow style on smooth surfaces, and a hollow skeg that made a good bilge, keeping one's butt dry. A sponge mopped her out easily. She made an excellent water toy. The kid's favorie games were "king of the boat" and "capsize"! Steve Tyree, P-15 In a message dated 3/22/2004 12:40:52 PM Central Standard Time, gordonallgrove@mindspring.com writes: Scott, Before you resort to/invest in a Walker Bay Dinghy, you might want to be on the lookout for a Monty 8. The used ones often sell for a very reasonable price (like ours did), sail kit and all. Gordon