Coastal Cruiser
Most new Hunter and Catalina offerings below 40 feet have capsize screens over 2.0. This means you should not risk conditions that could roll the boat upside down. That in turn, means _breaking_ waves greater than the beam, and probably more like 20 to 30 feet. While day sailing, or cruising along a coast, or even crossing to the Bahamas in a good weather window you can probably stay away from those conditions with reasonable weather reporting, and responding to worsening conditions by finding a port of refuge. But you would want to think twice about getting days offshore in blue water where you have no refuge from an unexpected storm. By the way, the capsize screen was developed after a number of boats turned turtle, and did not right themselves causing lost lives in a Fastnet race in the 80's. The best measure would be to analyse the stability curve, but these are often not available. David Lady Lillie
