You are romping downwind in big seas your fast 40ft sportscruiser, climbing the backs of the waves and powering off the top in fine fashion. Perhaps you have become a little overconfident because when a big hole suddenly appears, you are a bit slow to throttle back. The bow goes down and the boat stuffs into the trough. There’s an enormous bang. One moment you are on the water, the next well and truly in it.

You and your companion hang on for grim death and when the boat finally struggles to the surface, the port half of the windscreen is gone and the foredeck portlight above the master cabin berth has gone. The engines have stopped and the water in the cockpit seems not to be draining away. What now, skipper?

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