There is an impact of 3 main forces on the yacht.
1.) Wind force
2.) Kinetic energy (caused by movement of the yacht)
3.) Energy caused by current & waves

Kinetic energy has a particularly crutial impact on the yacht during a storm. It can be calculated with the following mathematical formula.

E _kin = m v ² / 2

E _kin … kinetic energy [ Joule ]
m … yacht's inertia [ N ] (Info: 1 Kg = 9,81 N ~ 1 daN )
v … speed [ m / s ]

Example 40' yacht:
Area exposed to wind: 15 m²
Weight: 10 tons

Kinetic energy follows an  exponential curve.

Twice the moving speed results in  4 times the kinetic energy!