On Tue, 3 Mar 2009 20:18:50 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Any reasonable thoughts on strategies for such conditions to avoid
turning over? Any thoughts on design of a boat to minimize such?

Naval architects have theorized, confirmed by testing, that *any* boat
can be capsized by a wave of the right size and shape. There are
screening formulas that you can search for, but as an approximation, a
steep breaking wave with a height of slightly more than half a boat's
maximum width (beam), can cause a capsize. Large Bertram
sportfishing boats have been capsized, 120 ft Alaskan fishing boats
have been capsized, heavily ballasted keel boats have been capsized,
and many, many others. In other words no boat can be considered
totally safe in extreme conditions, and small boats become unsafe very
quickly. The coast guard has rescue boats that are designed to
survive capsize by virtue of rugged water tight design, heavy
ballasting, and carefully designed mechanical systems. They can
survive capsize but can not totally prevent it.