On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:56:02 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:13:18 -0400, "Wilbur Hubbard"
wrote:

Instead, you have large,
long period waves with crests that are not breaking or anything close to
breaking

That's on a good day, and then there are the others.

It does not take a wave to throw a boat into a broach if it is dead
down wind with the main sheeted in hard. Any strong gust will do.

Ah, but if you get the right wave you can do 14.5 knots sideways.