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[dserrell]

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[newt]

I got knocked down in 60 knt winds with my wife, daughter and grandson (age 6months) on board! The boat did great, but the sink drain flooded a bit. I'm going to put a stopcock in that this winter. but no other problems.

[jamato323]

Many years ago, my mate and I were sailing from Scituate, MA to Provincetown (25 sm) in our Cape Dory 28 when a rapidly forming ling of squalls built 12 to 15 seas and reduced visibility to under a mile in gusts 40 kts. I put out a scrap of foresail, doused the main and we both hung on the the ride of our lives. Lots of roll and green water over the bow. 5 hour trip turned into 8. I never appreciated the stout strength of that boat like that day which I thought would never end. As we rounded Long Point we saw white caps in inner harbor, I knew we would have a real thrill maneuvering in close quarters. I radioed ahead and Provincetown Marina supplied extra help to man lines as I only had a 2 lung Volvo and one shot to make the slip. After securing double lines and going ashore to calm our nevers, my only thought was "tomorrow we have to go back". We've been caught in worse weather since but nothing builds skills and nerve like that first challenge.

[HenryC]

I've sailed in worse weather (most notably, a two-day October Pacific gale off the N California coast in a 28' Bristol Channel Cutter: 20 foot seas and 50 knot winds), but the scariest ride I've ever had on a boat occurred in broad daylight on a sunny day in San Francisco Bay.

I had just moved to the the Bay Area and had bought a boat, a brand new MacGregor 22 (AKA as a Venture 22).
The Venture was a good little boat for the money, fine for Florida or lake sailing, but I was to find out it was, at best, marginal, if not downright flimsy for the Bay. 

On our maiden voyage, my wife and I (she was new to sailing and had no idea what she was getting into) left our marina at Oyster Point in the placid South Bay and set sail to meet some friends in Belvedere, near Tiburon in Marin County.  I was an experienced Florida sailor, but I had no idea what conditions were like in the North Bay.  Immediately after sailing under the Bay Bridge, as soon as the Golden Gate came in sight, we were hit with the afternoon 20 knot blast from the northwesterly trades.  But to complicate matters, we had a strong ebb tide , and coupled with the fast speed of our ultralight, we had an apparent 30 knots across the deck and I was soon fighting for my life. 

We were under full plain sail, unreefed main and working jib, and the motion and heel was so violent (along with a vicious chop) that I was afraid to send my inexperienced crew up forward to drop the foresail.  As for myself, I dared not leave the tiller and sheets for even a moment.  All I could do was hang on, and pick the course that seemed least damaging to us (closely pinched into the wind on a port tack).  With the tidal current from starboard, our course made good was almost directly to windward.

I've never been so busy in my life.  Both of us were hiking out to windward and we were soon soaking wet as  wave after wave washed over our backs.  I was continuously manipulating both sheets, trying to find the narrow point between spilling excess wind from the sails and having them flog themselves to ribbons in a luff.  The boat heeled to the point where we needed to brace ourselves with our feet against the lee bench of the cockpit.  The most awful moaning sound came from the rigging, and I watched in horror as the hull flexed, the backstay chain plate slowly emerging out of the transom, pulling curlicues of caulking along with it.  The 500 lb swing keel rattled around in its trunk as if it were alive, making an awful racket. Sandy asked me if this was normal, and I, of course, had to act as if it was all in a day's work.  But I was terrified.  All I could visualize was dismasting, capsize, and 50 degree water.  My book larnin' suggested I should heave-to and take in sail, but I had never done this in this boat and I wasn't about to risk it.  So I just hung on. 

It seemed like hours later, but eventually we were swept into the lee of Alcatraz where things settled down to the point where I felt safe going forward and securing the jib and I put a first-batten reef in the main.  We emerged from the wind shadow and sailed, briskly but with more confidence,  the rest of the way to Belvedere Cove where we met our friends and dropped the hook for dinner and a stiff drink.

The MacGregor made it fine through the experience, with no damage, except several of the factory sheet and halyard shackles were severely deformed and had to be replaced with heavier duty hardware.  I installed a crude jib downhaul through some fairlead blocks on deck so the jib could be lowered from the cockpit, and I recaulked the backstay chainplate.  The centerboard locking pin (a 1/4" bolt) was so severely bent I almost couldn't pull it out, so I replaced it with a 3/8" and always made it a point on future sails to carry a couple of spares with me.

I sailed the Bay in my MacGregor for several years after, with no serious problems (although I never had the courage to sail her out past the Golden Gate).  But I never went into the North Bay again without a reef in the main and my crew standing by the jib in case it had to come down in a hurry (and sometimes it did!).  Fortunately, the Venture sailed well under reefed main alone, I could always shake out the reef if conditions proved acceptable on the other side.  I never felt in trouble again, no matter what the Bay threw at us.

[NateD]

I tend to pick high wind days to take the boat out (sailboats need wind, right?), but the conditions I have faced really haven't been that bad yet. For some good heavy wind stories, check out the massive Big Freakin' Sails thread at SailNet:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/general-discussion-sailing-related/47351-big-freakin-sails.html