I don't know what size they come in but this father and his 12 year old daughter sailed one down from Portland,OR to Samoa via Panama, the Galapagos and French Polynesia. The only trouble they had was getting wiped out by the tsunami. They were new sailors, bought the boat, fitted her out and headed south. I sailed with them, for 1100 miles they were 200 behind us and we couldn't shake them in our C-38. Seas were 11 to 15 feet and wind 30-35 for days on end. There are many people who probably thought we had no business sailing a Catalina 38 down there either. I saw a Bristol Channel Cutter, a J boat and a Tayana 54DS get hurt out there. I saw a Catalina 36 and a Hunter 42CC make the same run at the same time and not get hurt. It's luck, skill and how well you know your boat, most boats can take more crap than the owner.

The biggest danger out there is the crunchy bits, stationary inert and moving crunchy bits. They probably got squashed by a container ship. I have not read the story yet but the odds are thatr's what happened.