Heavy Weather Advice - Beneteau 473

[nigel1]

Good day all, I'm new on the forum, but have dropped in frequently in the past.
Up to recently, I sailed a Colvic Sailor 26', mainly in the Irish Sea, but have just spent my life savings on a Beneteau 473, and would appreciate any advise from anyone with the same or similar type boat

My profession is Master Mariner and am skipper of ocean going tugs, and have been for 18 years, and worked at sea for a total of 32 years. This has taught me that the sea needs to be treated with respect and not to overly rely on weather forecasts. Presently I am working out of Aberdeen, engaged in moving oil rigs, and most of you will appreciate that the weather up in the North Sea is not too clever.

The boat I have purchased is not fitted with storm jib or trysail, nor is there any drag device. The mainsail is single line reefing with two reefs.
There is also a furling staysail, but not rigged.

I dont intend to go looking for bad weather, and will gladly run away bravely from a storm, but on the other hand, if I get caught out, I want to be prepared, so looking at the following options

Storm Jib: One option is the type that can be rigged on the rolled genoa, which are very expensive, plus the rolled genoa is not going to help airflow. I have thought about rigging an inner forestay at the same point at which the staysail could be rigged. This could be left attached to the shroud plates when not is use, and then attached to the deck forestay fitting when needed, and then using a conventional hanked on storm jib, with a suitable long tack pennent.

Trysail: Instead of purchasing a trysail, I have thought about having a sailmaker inserting some cringles in the main to allow a third deep reef to be made. I foresee that trying to rig a trysail would not be easy, short or singled handed.

Parachute sea anchor or drogue over the stern. I would imagine that with a fin keel, the boat would yaw a great deal to a sea anchor, but having never used one, this is just a guess. Would a couple of smaller drogues in series over the stern be a better option. How does the 473 or similar cruising boat cope with a heavy stern sea??

Any advise from someone expereienced with this type of boat would be appreciated. I have read through most of the posts debating drogues v. para's, and there seems to be no defined answer, and is probably left to personal preference