This looks like a good article to me, it summarizes the important stuff and makes it easy to remember.

safe-skipper.com/capsize-understanding-the-risks/

Yes, good article. Tell me exactly what 'lie ahull' is and what does it do in relation to your boat and the waves ?.

My understanding of lie a hull is to lock the rudder, batten down the hatches and stay below until the storm passes, hoping for the best. My cousin had a 44ft Kauri boat and did that once, he said they got completely rolled over.

Wow. I would have thought a rollover would have been the last thing you would want to happen. Would heaving to be safer ??.

Lie a hull is, as explained above, to lower the sails and lash the tiller to leeward. It is essentially the same as heaving to, without the sails. The boat will try to turn into wind but MB lies almost beam on in this configuration, I think most yachts will although some with smaller keels can even lie head downwind.
If the waves are not too bad you will bob around like a cork. If they are big and/or breaking it is uncomfortable and you run a risk of getting rolled.
With sails up (suitably reefed) heaved to you can adjust the sails to change the way the boat lies to the wind. Bring the boom in and you point higher, ease the boom and you lie more beam on. MB heaves to very well and I can have her lie about 60 degrees off the wind. Even so we have had waves break against the hull with a crack that sounds like a shot gun blast. The first time it happened at night I jumped up expecting to see the mast over the side. After a few more I realised what it was and went to sleep.
As I have noted previously on this forum I heave to quite a bit for various reasons. I have never lied ahull except to see what she will do. It isn't as comfortable as heaving to.

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samsturdy said..
Wow. I would have thought a rollover would have been the last thing you would want to happen. Would heaving to be safer ??.

Sometimes it may be more comfortable to fore reach

They didn't intend to be rolled but my cousin told me at the time the weather was so bad they couldn't control what the boat was doing and were exhausted. After reading that capsize article I think its easier to be rolled than many people thought, including me.

I know MB has said he's been down to bare poles in really bad weather. so if you didn't lie a hull MB what
did you do to stop a rollover ?.

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samsturdy said..
I know MB has said he's been down to bare poles in really bad weather. so if you didn't lie a hull MB what
did you do to stop a rollover ?.

MB has a very high AVS and the waves really need to be breaking heavily to be a big problem.
As I noted above the only time I have lay ahull was to see what MB would do. I've run downwind bare poles but again to see how she handles, not because I needed to.
MB heaves to well and I have done it up to about 55kt gusts in comfort (relatively), that is my foul weather option. It would be highly unusual to get worse winds than that where I might sail. If it ever got too bad for heaving to I'd sail downwind as best I could.

Like most things it depends on the boat even quite similar type boats you need a different plan

modern boats with high lift keels fore reach really well and safely
sure you get a few big knockdowns but boats are made to take seas front on
one modern boat fore reached really well with just a storm jib while another went better with just a trysail

You will not know until get there

If you are really unlucky you might get one proper gale at sea in your life

your life will never be the same

of course wind does not cause boats to capsize so wind speed is a meaningless measure
it is all about the sea state

Proper gales don't last hours but days so either it stops or you stop
simple

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samsturdy said..
Yes, good article. Tell me exactly what 'lie ahull' is and what does it do in relation to your boat and the waves ?.

In the days of long keels and heavy ballast ratios, lying a-hull was popular. The theory is that as the boat drifts downwind, the long keel creates a turbulent slick to windward, which hopefully will cause steep waves to break before they hit the boat. Similar idea with towing warps and the Jordan multi drogue.

Thank goodness, never had to try it. Did do a run under bare poles with wind vane doing the steering, but that was in high wind/ relatively small seas.

The drifting lie a hull would never work for my Martzcraft 35 I think. Ive tried letting the boat go by herself in large steep swells and it turns broadside and the rolling becomes extreme. I think if we tried it we'd need a sea anchor or drogue.

Problem with a sea anchor is that if the length of tow rope is close to that of the wave length, both boat and anchor can be moving forward at the same time, so little drag. The bright idea of the Jordan multi drogue is that with multiple little ones along the line, there is always some that are "biting".

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lydia said..
Like most things it depends on the boat even quite similar type boats you need a different plan

modern boats with high lift keels fore reach really well and safely
sure you get a few big knockdowns but boats are made to take seas front on
one modern boat fore reached really well with just a storm jib while another went better with just a trysail

You will not know until get there

If you are really unlucky you might get one proper gale at sea in your life

your life will never be the same

of course wind does not cause boats to capsize so wind speed is a meaningless measure
it is all about the sea state

Proper gales don't last hours but days so either it stops or you stop
simple

I agree, worst conditions I've ever encountered were, 36 hrs of 50kn+ 7 to 8 meter waves with occasional 12m breaking sets, 2 POB a modern racing boat.
we mostly broad reached with 4 reefs in the main & no headsail. I'm convinced that the only way the boat survived was by us continuing to drive & avoid the breaking waves. My mate said afterwards that we were driving for our lives.

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Trek said..
The drifting lie a hull would never work for my Martzcraft 35 I think. Ive tried letting the boat go by herself in large steep swells and it turns broadside and the rolling becomes extreme. I think if we tried it we'd need a sea anchor or drogue.

Nice boat!

www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-14/solo-sailor-limps-way-to-port-lincoln-after-bight-storm/11000862?pfmredir=sm&fbclid=IwAR3kX-A09_LiQKoqyUzGYFDHu34uEEcZirGr7rZLT5WeNkpIQLrOuTSNg3s

This is guy certainly got knocked down last week a few times.
,

Moody are a solid boat I believe. Must have been terrible out there.

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MorningBird said..
Moody are a solid boat I believe. Must have been terrible out there.

Yeah I like that model boat, it was tied up for a number of days at the berth with no sign of the owner. The spreaders may need re - adjusting! And a call was made on where to get a new boom.