Reviews on Walker Bay Generations RIB

We saw them at the Newport boat show and they are intresting. We like their layout a lot. They have a lot of similarities to an AB. Does anyone have any experience with these RIBs? How is thier quality? Do they ride dry?

Jeremygavin said:

We saw them at the Newport boat show and they are intresting. We like their layout a lot. They have a lot of similarities to an AB. Does anyone have any experience with these RIBs? How is thier quality? Do they ride dry?

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We picked up a WB Generations 360 at the beginning of the year and love it. It's 12' long with a 40 hp and is much dryer than our other RIBs. While none are perfectly dry, splash is directed outward well and it's takes lots more wind and wave to splash water over the gunwale and get the person at the bow wet.

I have a 2009 Walker Bay Generation 390 with a 40 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. This was the first year for this model and there were some design and quality issues. All have been satisfactorily resolved. Based on my observations of the new WB RIBS I would say they are even better today than 9 years ago. Mine provides a very dry ride and is pretty comfortable for a small boat. I do at times wish for more horsepower, mine weighs almost 800 pounds fully loaded. Factory support was actually quite good. These are Yacht quality tenders. I would definitely buy Walker Bay again

I purchased a Walker Bay Genesis 340 with the console, seats, etc package. I keep the dinghy on my GHS platform on the back of my 460DA. After a couple of years, the paint on the transom and around the metal trim of the seats started to delaminate. I called Walker Bay and they said that the transom was not covered under warranty because it was not part of the hull. ?? wtf?? The paint around the seats was not covered and WB acknowledged they had changed the design because it was a recurring issue. They no longer paint the surface of the trim. I asked how they could say that the transom would not be considered part of the hull and they told me that since the transom door could fold as part of the design, it was considered an accessory. The transom is an accessory??? Yes, according to WB. The Walker Bay person, who was the highest company person I could talk to, asked why it mattered so much since it was not a structural issue, just that it looked bad. Seriously, that was his question. I asked him how thought I felt about his product sitting on the back of my well maintained Sea Ray 460, with the WB paint falling off and looking terrible. Denied.

This year a crack appeared in the hull. I did not hit anything that I am aware of and could not find any indication that I had. It leaked a considerable amount of water. I took pictures, went through the authorized dealer that I purchased it and have it serviced through MSI (Maritime Solutions, Portsmouth, RI.) MSI was great, wrote up the claim and sent it to WB. It was denied because WB said that the crack was in a location that "could have been caused by hitting something." No one ever inspected the boat. No one looked to see if there was any evidence of a collision, accident, etc. Denied because it "could have been...." At least have someone look closely at it and tell me why you think it is not a warranty issue before sending an email denying the claim.

I liked the product but if a company cannot stand behind its workmanship, I have no use for them. I will look for another manufacturer when I make my next purchase.