Charter sailing - when things go bad 

This is an important document for aspiring sailors. It’s hard to find videos of events unfolding because people usually don’t have the calm to document it. Highly educational. Thanks for posting!

Lots to learn from here: 1) When things get sketchy, all non-essential crew should be ordered below by the captain. An MOB in this situation would have been fatal, and a crowded cockpit is impossible to manage. In this situation two crew were needed on deck - a helmsman, and someone to sort out the headsail. 2) Never use a winch to force a roller-furler. You need to ease the sheets and head into the wind to take pressure off the sail and gear. Use your engine if necessary, but get the bow into the wind before attempting to furl - that's basic seamanship 101. 3) Try letting the sail out a bit if it jams. Sometimes this will fix the problem, and you'll be able to roll it again. 4) If all else fails, CAST OFF BOTH SHEETS. This will take all pressure off the sail, and it will flap parallel to the wind. The boat will right itself, and you can either motor in circles to furl the sail, or let it flog until it shreds. Either way, the boat will be back under control. I don't have a problem with the late PAN PAN call - You were occupied trying to get the boat under control, and the situation, while scary, wasn't dire. The lesson here is never put to sea in high winds if you can avoid it. You were reefed down to the bare minimum from the start, leaving you few options if the wind kicked up even more, which it did. You said you'd had problems with the headsail furling system from the start. Never put to sea period if critical boat systems are suspect. The prudent course of action here would have been to stay in port, assuming adequate shelter. Failing that, keep the dodgy genoa furrled and motorsail under reefed main only. Good seamanship starts by knowing the limits of your boat, yourself, and your crew, and respecting those limits. The sea does not suffer fools gladly, and shit can get real at any time.

As a Captain you ALWAYS have to think ahead! When the genoa jammed it was already too late. The difference between 20 and 30 knots is not just 10 knots, its exponential concerning Everything, not to mention 30 to 40 or even worse 40-50knots (here they had winds over 50knots) I would Not have sent anyone ahead on this boat to try to fix the genoa, they had no safety lines and the crew did not seem experienced enough, in this case its way to risky to send someone upfront to fix things. In this situation start the engine so you get better steering control and send unnecessary crew down in the cockpit , turn downwind and get the wind behind you, steer and wait it all out!

An old sailors' maxim: "If you even think it might be time to change the sails, it is time to change the sails". If you're wrong, you can always change them back. If your instincts or fears are correct, you've set yourself up for safety and success and peace of mind. Good nail-biting video!

Thanks for sharing. It takes courage to share bad experiences but that is how we all learn and grow.

It takes courage to share mistakes. That was one of the best sailing videos I have seen. Thank you!

The old salts who taught me to sail 30 years ago always said: the time to reef is when you think about it. Reef early and continue making lunch or whatever. It is much easier to fix issues on the foredeck in 20kts of wind rather than 30kts.

Despite the things that you might have done wrong, the main thing you did right. You all stayed relativly cool and didnt start blaming each other or stuff. Congrats for that. You can read here in the coments how people loose their cool just from watching a youtube video.

Once again a fine boat design saves the day against a little weather, inexperience, and poor (no) planning. Thanks for the vid...it may save a future sailor.

Some impressive displays of bad seamanship here. If I was the skipper of this boat I would consider taking some more tuition and sailing with a more experienced skipper before taking a boat to sea again. For example, why were there untethered crew on the cockpit doing nothing but hanging on while the boat is beam on to the sea? Why did no one attempt to sort the jam with the furler? Why was the boat not put onto a downwind course to stop the genoa flogging itself to death? Why was the pan pan made when the boat was out of danger and not earlier when the situation looked ominous? Why weren't lifejackets put on earlier when conditions can be seen to be deteriorating? (One of the crew even suggests it as he's clearly anxious but no action is taken). Sorry if this all sounds a bit patronising but I wouldn't like to think that a novice sailor would watch this and think that the skipper did a good job.

Glad to see them getting to a safer area. I would never allow crew or passengers to be on deck without life jackets in that sort of weather. Everyone on deck should be tethered to the boat in rough seas. Chances of recovering a Man overboard are slim to none in conditions like that.

On that same moment I was sailing out of Santorini , just a couple of miles behind you, on a bavaria 50. That was the craziest and completely unexpextec wind Ive ever experience since then.

Thank you for sharing Robert. I hope you can ignore all the vitriol know that you have done a service by sharing your story. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. We are all learning.

The best diagnostician is the pathomorphologist. He has the cadaver and knows what should have been done in the treatment process. My sailing instructor 40 years ago used to say - don't comment- draw conclusions. I've been sailing for longer than I can remember, but I do remember making mistakes that could have been tragic. I know that now, it was fun back then. Now I know what I would do in that situation (looking at the film), but I don't know what I would do if I were exactly there. Let's drink to a happy rescue! Let's meet again at sea!

Really, it's hard to find a better movie to show that it's not always colorful at sea. A great lesson for all beginner sea sailors. Also for me. Thank you.

Hi Robert Diggle, Thank you for sharing the video. Forget all the negative comments below. As a sailor with 40+ years experience ___ I think you guys/gals did a great job under the circumstances with a novice crew, jammed roller furling and 60-70 MPH winds. While your crew may have been novices they all remained fairly calm and shifted their weight to the high side.. Most of the negative comments are from people who have never sailed a vessel on their own or from sailors who never leave the dock when the wind is over 15 MPH.

Hi Robert, thanks for sharing this film. all of us, "sunday skipper" can learn "how things can go worse". I'm sorry that so many people here insult you. We all don't know all the details about your situation & what happens at the beginning of the day. as I can see it was not easy for you guys, and you had a lot of bad luck... notwithstanding.... you had also a lot of good luck. your responsibility for the life always goes first also in this situation you can't manage MOB! send crew down

Guys, this made my pulse go up. We were in the bad storm on Corsica in August 2022. Your video made me remember how brutal it was. At some point the wind is too strong to fight against it with the engine. Heeling over that much feels shit scary although the boat won’t flip. But the danger of falling off is very real. I sent everyone inside who wasn’t required on deck and had them prepare a grab bag. Glad you made it!

it's better to be in a pub wanting to go sailing than to be at sea wanting to go to the pub

Phew, well done and lessens learned. I was hit with similar conditions in the golf of Biscay with a stuck furler and 50+ knots wind for three days. Suffered two knockdowns in the first night and didn't dare to wish seeing my wife again. I know exactly how you felt and your video had my blood pumping again. These thing can happen to anyone, even when well prepared. Luckily most boats are much stronger than its crew so you'll hold out till the end and use the experience gained for the next trips. And.. don't forget to tell the tell in the pub! Happy sailing!

These are the things you dont learn in a two week sailing course. Very brave you filmed that for other sailors👍

Thank you for publishing this video, it is extremely valuable to learn from. Especially how the storm builds. All is good and fun, then a bit exiting, then suddenly the moment of decision have passed and you feel at mercy of nature. There seems to be both lack of experience and social mechanics at play here, common in so many different accidents. I'm glad all went well and that you have the wisdom to put up this video for others to see. Too many stories and videos are about heroes, but you rarely get to see it raw like this. I hope you or your crew didn't get scared off sailing! All the best. - Also a lot of people here arrogantly pointing out mistakes. The thing about sailing is that you can read about it in books, but reality creeps up on you really fast if you don't have experience. How powerful and relentless the wind can become is something no book can truly teach you. At what windspeed does that exact jammed foresail become unmanagable? How calm and brave is your crew really? How calm and _decisive_ will you as the captain be? This captain learned a lesson about limits now, and he's all the better for it. Good luck next time!

I agree with Peterandsberg comment. We all have to learn form our experienced sailing and or captains but we never know when the wild beast seas stress us until we personally are out there and learn from your own experience after reading or learning from others. Great video. You guys did well with less experience crews. Thanks for posting for us all to see and learn from. Jim Rodgers

Thanks for sharing Robert, really useful for all potential charter skippers in Greece to see how quickly things can unfold. It was also useful to read the comments, also very easy to critique from the armchair.

Perfect example of money>brains. Heeling with starboard rollers like that, life jackets still in the cabin, nothing lashed or reefed, guy didn't even know how to operate the radio. On top of that, the captain didn't even have a harness, meaning if he got washed over, everybody would be in trouble. No joke, this guys lucky no one went overboard or worse. All passengers and crew are the responsibility of the captain, never forget it.

I think you guys did a fantastic job of not panicking and staying aware of what was going on and powering through things. Furler jams can be from many reasons and not very predictable. If I was on a charter boat and didn't know exactly why the jam was happening, I would have done the same thing. If you go up to try to fix it, you risk getting hit in the head/face with the sheet, you might end up letting more sail out, or otherwise make the situation worse.

I was leaning to the left the whole time watching this video!!! Wow, great sailing and holding out.

I can't understand why the sails weren't reefed and the dinghy lashed down long before this weather hit. So much wrong here. Incredibly lucky nobody got hurt.

Of course, there are some mistakes, especially not being attached with lifebelts. But that is how things are going sometimes during a revreational sail with not especially trained crew. But it is really great that you posted this video, so others can learn from it, and they do for sure as the video is really impressive! Well done on that!

I feel that by filming and sharing this, learning moments are not just lost on the few.

Yes, like others, thank you for sharing; I am glad all hands faired OK, as there could easily have been fatalities. There is no way this green crew could have carried out an MOB, particularly in the worsening sea state. For teaching my crews and aspiring captains, your video is of immense value, and typifies what many in the cruising and charter world know: these companies have no business letting charters set out with such inexperience among virtually all aboard, given the roles they should have been far more familiar with.

One of the best rough sailing videos. I’m glad that you guys made it safely.

HI, thanks for having the courage to share this moment in time. You "hear" about this kind of stuff and what not to do, or rather what to do and it's hard to relate. I'm happy everyone was ok. We are new to sailing so this puts things into perspective.

Thanks for sharing, I love to get knowledge from somebody mistakes. It will imprint in my head. Thanks again

"Experts" like these are why I only single hand.

Very happy that everyone was ok. Your video had taught me to respect the sport for sailing.

Wind was not the problem. Unexperienced crew was all to blame.

In Greece it is very common for people with no sailing experience to go sailing in strong winds, there are always problems with charter boats crashing into boats of experienced sailors, trying to get out of the moorings in strong winds, and just as the bow sticks out or the stern the boat gets out of control and they end up colliding with other boats. This happens every day. Anyone can rent a boat and if they rent it for 3 or 4 days, they go sailing every day, they do not take into account the weather and they want to make the most of the money spent on the rental, and take many photos for instagram. It doesn't just happen in Greece, in Greece it is very exaggerated, but it happens everywhere, in Spain we also see it a lot. Then all those boats that are not even suitable for scrapping, are the ones that are sold to people with few resources to buy new boats, with poorly done repairs. That is why today it is better not to buy this type of boat, and look at old boats that have never been used for charter. Happy photos for instagram to all those who rent boats without having a clue about navigation.

Thank you for sharing your experience! We all never stop learning and this will help many in many ways! Joe

Had these rough windspeed crossing from Norway to Scotland. It was a lovely trip but me and my collegue were better prepared! Nice vid. Thanx

I consider those videos as extremely important. Thank you for sharing this one. You did good !!

Hi Robert, many thanks for sharing. Glad, that nothing seriously happened with the boat and crew. I used this to discuss with my crew to see what we can learn. A very useful exercise! Always easy to look backwards or to sit on the warm couch instaead being in that situation. ;-)

I appreciate your honesty showing this video which may have ended up in a total disaster, I would indeed appreciate a professional and seasoned skipper analyzing it and bringing up the mistakes made the skipper and also what was properly done to save the onboard lifes. It is easy to identify mistakes however I was not there and I am not a professional sailor, I would indeed love one commenting on a constructive way

Loads of gobshite comments, and loads of sensible constructive advice thankfully. I watched this shouting "get the fuckin head to wind, get all those people out of the gangway". I've done exactly this, in a wind acceleration zone too off Las Galletas.. I wasn't watching what the wind was doing, it got tasty so I told my novice wife to furl the headsail. Going well and then it jammed. I tried it with her motoring into the wind but she didn't really understand what that meant because I'd assumed it was bloody obvious and not shown her / got her to do it... The sail ended up with a 5' long burst in it, but no harm done other than that, a rope burn, a huge dented ego but importantly a lot of learned lessons. Good on you for posting it.

Thanks for this video. Everybody can learn something from this video. Sea is bigger than all of us :( :(

Only Turks and Greeks know the extent of the "surprises" of the Aegean Sea! I learned sailing in the Aegean Sea and it was very easy for me to cross the ocean 4 times because the sailor/captain who grew up in the Aegean knows very well what it means to always be foresighted and "sober". Remember, the sea always demands seriousness.

There are a lot of comments that conditions were a bit too rough well before to sail without shoes, lifejackets, and with nothing prepared to hook up to should someone need to go to the bow. No need to repeat that. But even with that - the "jammed" jib was something that you should have reacted much earlier. First, fire your engine, head to the wind, and get rid of it. If nothing else - wrap it with a line around the forestay. Or cut the sheets, if everything else fails (although you might need them). I know, easy to say, but there is more in lack of preparation than conditions to blame. And of course, I cannot be sure, and you might have the wind reading, but to me, it looks a solid 40, maybe 50 knots, but far from 70 ... You would not survive side wind and wave at 70, and at moments you were half wind.

Roller furling… a gift and a curse. Glad y’all made it to post!

Thank you for sharing this! Very calmly handled.

It's always a good idea to turn on the VHF radio, the storm warning was probably repeated every 30 minutes on 16. These people really had no idea what to do. Thanks for posting it though.

Everyone survived, so they did everything to the best of their ability. We all have or will get caught out in conditions we aren't prepared to handle, and yeah, there's plenty to critique about this, but this was the best possible outcome, so I say good on them. Thanks for posting. This is a great watch for any and all who like to spend time at sea.

Oh I just love being entertained by all the arm chair sailors.

Thanks for sharing this, it was really good to watch. I’m glad you’re all safe. I won’t write what I think you should or shouldn’t have done. I enjoyed watching the video Warren s/y Legend

Thank you very much for sharing this! Good for me as a beginner as a warning and respect for the sea and storm...

YES! thank you for posting, it is good to see the both sides of sailing in good weather and in bad so we can all learn from it.

thank you for sharing this amazing footage. Glad no one got hurt.

Wow. Lots of armchair admirals. Most have never been at sea in those conditions. I've had a stuck furler once, it's not easy to deal with. Thanks for sharing. Live and learn.

Whow, you really captured the scary moment and it felt like being there on board with you 😩 so glad you made it safe😥

Hmmm, many years ago, as a young sailor, I made some (but not all) of the same mistakes. Its terrible to watch, and a reminder of the great responsibility you have as captain on a boat.

Also, I hope that after this experience, the captain learned an important lesson and has since taken training and practiced and will take sailing a bit more seriously.

This is incredible, we ran into exactly the same situation just south of Paros a couple of weeks after you did, and made the same mistakes. Tried to furl the Jib heading upwind, furler blocked and the jib ended up ripping, not quite as badly as yours did, we were able to have it sewn back into one piece a day later, and luckily we didn't broach either. Lesson learned, always go downwind before furling the jib, even in lighter winds. However, I must say that not wearing vests and life-belts in these conditions before things start heading south is inexcusable.

"The sail rips off, that's ok", tells everything

I believe the most useful solution is to heave to. The sail wouldn't have ripped, the boat wouldn't have pitched, and gives you time to look at your situation. I am surprised by how many skippers don't know this technique. No mater what the wind is blowing this will keep you and the boat safe. It is also our preferred technique for MOB drills.

It reminds me of a 10 force sailing between the sillies islands and ireland : 2-3 days of very frightening conditions. Thanks for sharing that !

He doesnt know how to sail, but he sure wears that glowes like a pro

I had sail jammed in strong winds a couple of times. It demands a quick reaction to go on foredeck and give it a try to unjam it before the situation gets worse. With a vest on and tided up onto lifelines. As I see in the video, there was a chance to do that right at the moment when the sail got jammed. But nobody was up to the task. Thankfully the boat took care of you.

This is the mediterranean sea. Full of surprises above and ship wrecs below. Glad you were all safe.

The heart of a sailboat often outlasts the sailors. Great job by the captain having a blast at the helm. I'd pay em double to run it back next week.

I love all the arm chair quarterbacks, yes we would all do things differently, but THANKS for taking and sharing the video.

Thanks for sharing. Must have been an intense experience for your crew.

Thanks to get that recorded and for posting this. And also for taking the heat from all the commenters ;-) As a lot of other posters, I also state that mistakes where made, and the whole situation could have been much more eased if, from the very beginning at least one or two had worn lifejackets and belts and could have solve the hazzle at the furling. But also to remember; Sailing is knowledge much more important; experience. A skipper new to a situation like this, will handle it differently to skipper well experienced with strong weather and strong winds. Also this skipper, will act in a very different way, next time, the weatherforcast says: strong wind. And don't forget, we are all lifelong rookies, because there will always be a situation new to us, even if we thought, we were well prepared.

Thanks for sharing your learning experience. Living through these is how we learn.

I think that since 2014, wind prediction software evolved and improved... "touch wood"- over the past years i have not been in a situation yet where a 70 kts was not predicted. Having said that, we were caught with a stuck genoa furling system in (only) 25 kts in Greece last year, and it was NOT a pleasant feeling... 😞 As a tip: as a skipper, I insist for all crew to have quality self-inflatable PFD's (personal floatation devices) with lifelines. As a standard rule, PFD's are put on whenever crew does not feel comfortable, OR for any winds > 20 kts OR whenever we sail during night times.

Nice to share your experience. Good to see what not to do. Life vests a bit late and no harness ! They knew since several days that the Genoa reefing was not functioning properly and didn't fixe it. And they decided to sail like that with a lot of wind. Charter capitain not serious at all ! At 3:36 a girl almost stand up outside the cockpit instead of siting. She could have gone overboard (without harness). This is the captain responsibility to tell and teach his clients what to do and not to do. Near Santorini, my parents and myself also faced strong wind (a bit less), all of us decided to put harness for the first time. For the first time my mother was sea sick. The helm was so difficult to held that i finished with a arm tendonitis. It was on a Odyssey 31 from Jeanneau. Finally, we also managed to get protected behind an island (IOS island). People on an other sailboat going up wind were wearing diving masks ! 🙂 Greeting from France

I’m glad they posted this as painful as it is to watch. I have made almost all of these mistakes at some point or another. As others have said there is a lot to learn from this video. This is a good one to read the comments on. One thing I’m curious of peoples opinion. My first instinct in weather like that would be to just drop the jib and throw it in the hatch as soon as it jammed. I think Im glad they let it rip instead of having someone go on deck untethered. I don’t think they were in any position to recover a mob. Excellent example of how small things can escalate quickly and compound. The one thing they did right was keep their cool.

Lesson number 1 on the ASA bareboat: a good reefer is an early reefer. But thanks for sharing. It reminds us to never let our guard down 👍

Thanks for post it. Every sailor has made mistakes, share it for learn each other. Meltemi is not joke

Bad seamanship but thank you very much for sharing! It takes some courage to do but we can all learn from this video! Thumps up!

Thank you for sharing this. It's easy for people to sit here behind a keyboard after the fact and say "you should have done this" . Like picking lottery numbers after they have been drawn.

This happens, when you don't have a clue about sailing and weather forecast. But thanks for sharing the video, it's a good tutorial for would be sailors.

A bunch of us from Seattle, all sailors, chartered a few Baltic 40's back in 1983. We got into the Aegean and blew out the reefed jib, not repairable, and the main had to be re-sewed in the next port of call. Winds at least 55 knots for 20 hours.

Thanks for sharing. Learned a lot. Glad everyone’s safe.

Thanks for sharing what looks like a good lesson learned for all involved. Well done for taking that on.

Thank goodness for keels. We'll done for posting, we should post all our videos, good and bad, so they can be discussed and learned from.

Thanks for posting . Not sure what took so long before putting life jackets on. Please be safe out there.

Thanks for sharing. It's a very nice example of how you should not act on a sailing vessel. Top down from Skipper to Radio. No offense here, this is just really great for teaching, how things should NOT be done. I know, lots of crews, similar experienced, are out there, just for some nice "summer sailing trip", ending up in troubles if weather changes fast. So it is a really super-great material for teaching. Not only in official courses but also for informational talks on crew-meetings e.g. I am really impressed by the person who filmed that all. Staying calm and the camera on focus in that situation is really a huge task! So again: thanks for sharing.

I think most of the negative comments are from people who haven't been there. I've been sailing all my life. There are automatic habits that form over time that you do without thinking: Life jackets, ethering, a plan for foul weather, pre-emptively striking sails when the weather starts to feel like it's headed south. These you only learn with experience, and even with that , sooner or later something like this happens. The skipper and the helmsman, regardless of experience stayed calm and focused, and as a result the crew stayed calm. Yes hindsight is 20/20 but the fact is you got through it, no one freaked out and no one got hurt. The jib was the only casualty. And roller furlers never jam when it's convenient. Yes it's better to clear the cockpit, yes maybe heaving to would have been better, but no one got hurt. It was brave of you to share a realistic view of what it's like when the fertilizer hits the impeller, and you have done the rest of us a real favor. Good on you and thanks!!

A few years ago a similar thing happened to me, in the Ionian Sea in August got caught in a Katabatic wind and the the Genoa furler jambed. I'd like to say a few things in defence of the the people sailing this boat. You can charter in Greece with a Day Skipper cert (or ICC). You don't need a VHF licence. A Day skipper is a basic sailing course and doesn't (and isn't intended to) train you for these circumstances. Should charter companies ask for a higher level of experience? Maybe, but that would affect their potential client base. Should they have been tethered? Looking at their lifevests I doubt there were tethers on board, I not sure you could attach a harness to them in any case. Can't see any jackstays on the boat. Sending someone up to unjamb the furler in those conditions would be madness. Getting an inexperienced person to go on the foredeck and drop the genoa even worse. Were there even sail ties on the boat - there weren't on mine. Given there was a certain amount of panic on board I think the skipper stayed reasonably calm and no-one went over the side - which would have been the worst outcome - OK, he could have sent some people down below - but would they have complied - and anyway he stay focussed. Weather forcasting - Nobody knows whether he checked the weather forecast - a surprise squall or funnelling or katabatic wind aren't necessarily shown in weather forecasts. I think a little more sympathy is required - in the end he got his crew back safely - and learned something from the experience - how else do move from being a novice to experienced.

I've sailed that exact piece of water give or take 50 times, both upwind and downwind. That weather event was definitely out of the ordinary. That's the type of Squall you'd see in Croatia, the Cyclades are generally more predictable. Yes, this could have been handled better, but some of the comments here show some sad human nature really! I admire the way the skipper stayed calm, and if there is one thing to learn as a skipper when shit gets real it's STAY CALM. Your mood dictates the crew's mood, losing your cool will freak everyone else out and things can go downhill real fast from there. In saying so, a little motor and turning downwind would have completely changed the complexion of this scenario. No flapping, probably saving the sail and a short sail back into the caldera @ 8-12 knots boatspeed. He'll do better next time I'm sure!

Felicidades!!!! Pasaron la prueba con 10 .saludos desde Montevideo Uruguay 🇺🇾

Well done ! Take shelter behind the island! But always be prepared 😮 I was a sailing instructeur and ouer group of students was hit by a real hurricane during the summer of 1997 in Holland The wind was that strong that large sailing boats where blown flat to the water ( without sails ) . Its was a mirracle that everyone came in safe ( on a close by lake several people drowned) Stay safe and keep sailing

A genoa furler mostly jams because there's too much furling line in the furler, next time roll a bit of line out and you're done. Then, where are some proper life jackets and sailing cloths? If you lose the genoa, you will need to keep controll with at least a bit of main sail up, to be able to steer. Also, never go out with less then two experienced sailors in such conditions. Be very carefull to sail on charter boats in these regions in such conditions: to be in controll safely you will need to really know the boat. Charter boats are often very beamy and unstable, causing to get your rudder out of the water very quickly. I am so glad you survived this without any injuries, but please, please don't try it again

Pan Pan Yea, we'll be right out as soon as it stops blowing 70 knots. 😅

One of the Best sail experience video I have ever watch cause its %100pure reality.

That “Captain” should never be allowed to command anything larger than a rubber duck in his bath - and even that, maybe.

"the sail is ripped; that's good." WTF There are few "surprise storms." Usually, there is a failure to check and understand the weather. Great video of what not to do.

OMG…😮 haven’t you mind the weather forecast? The crew looks pretty unprepared in this situation…🙈 But anyway cool to share this incident with others. There are many sailors who would never show…👍

Every one needs dry land and a beer! Glad to see y'all got though it safely.

Wow. Thank you for sharing what not to do. Not one person has a PFD on UNTIL the storm starts going bad!

lucky you got on cam same thing happened to me last summer while i was single handed from VA to NYC just before the tip of cape may about 50 /60 knots of wind out of no where. i had my Geno out for the day and when wind picked up i did not expected to be that bad .. in few seconds wind and waves where beyond control and mast touched the water i released the Genoa and boat got back rushed inside to start bildge pump as water got in the cabin came it and the lines got caught on the propeller .. it was really a disaster called CG and they came towed me to safety untangled the lines from the propeller and replaced Genoa with a Jib "Geno broke" and stayed there for the night . the listen is never over trust the weather and rife as early asap before it is out of control :)