Offshore Sailing

[jankowskiben]

For those who sail offshore, what are the roughest conditions you've encountered?  What were your concerns about the boat?

We've had a couple scares with big waves overwhelming cockpit drains. Thinking of plumbing extras. Anyone do something similar?

[SVJourney]

5 years and 20k+ miles sailing the Caribbean and Pacific:
50knot squall off the coast of Florida caught me unaware at night.  Shredded the mainsail. Lost helm control till I got the sail down. 

40 knot 6 hour storm in the Pacific, laid ahull and the boat handled it well. Short storm so the seas didn't rise over 6 feet.

Carried a Gale Rider drogue with 200' line and a bit of chain and never had to deploy it.  Cheap insurance and peace of mind I suppose.

Only swamped the cockpit once, freak wave.  The drains were adequate to the task.  Some people have glassed in a 2 inch fiberglass tube to the rear wall of the cockpit and aft through the transom.

Overall I found the boat suitable for low latitude sailing offshore as designed.