On Fri, 4 Jan 2008 12:37:43 -0800 (PST), "
wrote:

On Jan 3, 11:06 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 23:38:18 -0800 (PST), "

wrote:
There's no harm in catching up with the wave in front of you per se
(though it gets harder to do as the waves get bigger and faster).

That invariably results in a lot of green water over the decks in my
experience, and can definitely pitch pole smaller boats as the bow
digs in and stops.

Invariably? You need a new skipper! As a former racer of a
trapeze dingy I know that full stop that launches the crew around the
forestay. In the conditions where that happens the winners get to the
bottom mark without crashing even though they will overtake a bunch of
waves on the way... Of course, the dingy racer is moving very fast
over relatively slow, small waves with an unreasonable press of sail
barely countered by the movable ballast of the crew perched
precariously on the back corner of the boat. Racers live to be on the
edge of control. I don't want to generalize too much, but the
situation offshore in an ocean capable cruising yacht is likely to be
very different. Even in a yacht fast enough to be overtaking large
waves the prudent cruiser will reduce sail to keep the boat within its
controllable speeds and will remove sails that press the bow down and
sails that increase the tendency to broach. In many conditions these
tactics will allow fast boats to overtake waves in comfort and
control.

-- Tom.

A lot depends on the shape/steepness of the waves, type of boat,
racing vs cruising, etc. When racing offshore we would almost never
shorten sail as long as the boat was more or less under control.
Cruising is another thing altogether. On a very fast, seaworthy 50
footer with high freeboard, we used to stuff the bow into the backside
of waves all the time, typically bringing green water back past the
mast. No big deal in normal, mildly gnarly conditions.