I'd like to back up what Georges says about the seaworthiness of the 48. We have no prior experience of other cat rides ourselves, but have been happy to take our 48 out in pretty big stuff. The only time we turned back was at the cut near Georgetown when we were getting large waves on the beam and it would have been a 90 mile beating. We subsequently found out that a tropical storm had formed in the vicinity. Small craft warnings on the Chesapeake and the Sounds were never an issue if you were prepared for a bit of a bumping. We will be taking our boat to the Bahamas in May for a couple of months confident that it is capable of dealing with the wave situations there. Jonah and Jo. www.jonah-art.com www.jonahs-whale.com