Coming back from the Caribbean a couple of years ago we experieced the worst weather of the trip just outside the bridge-tunnel atfter sunset. We saw it coming and furled the head sail. We had 2 reefs in the main alone when we were hit by 60+kts in a strong thunderstorm. We keep the main full and tried to get to the edge of the storm but on
radar it went from side to side of the Bay. Lightning struck all around us but we were not hit. It waas scary for 15 minutes then went away completely. I only once before experinced a storm like this off the Bermuda banks in mid-summer.