I am located in Maui, Hawaii, and sail a Catalina 30 off the S.E. coast. The
trade winds normally funnel between the two large volcanoes, often accelerating
the winds to 30+ kts.

With suitable reefing and a small headsail, the heel angle is under control upwind,
however the wind chop has built to shall we say, "uncomfortable" levels --
particularly on a beam reach. I'm not sure of the wave height, but it's enough
to rock us at least 45 degrees. We now sail way upwind of our destination,
just so we can run downwind and skip the beam reach. (If we even sail at all.)

I have to counter steer very aggressively when running/very broad reaching to stay
pointed in the right direction. The excessive yaw if I do not tends to make the
passengers a bit green.

I don't see any way around this, and I'm guessing sailors in the Bay area as well
as elsewhere must have to contend with something similar. Is this normal for
those folks sailing in such wind?

Paul
--
Second Wind (Catalina 30), Maui Hawaii