My wife and I took our last sail of the season on Sirocco on Sunday. Winds were really odd....light and variable with occasional gusts up to 15. So, we're moseying along headed West with south winds under a full main and the 165 out on a beam reach and I decide to turn South back down the lake. Just as Sirocco heads up we get hit with a blast that I later discovered was yowling at us at about 37 mph. That wind came out of no where and I didn't see it coming, either.

I've always loved living a bit on the edge but that wind caught me completely by surprise and tempered that love somewhat. We immediately heeled to 35 degrees and I was knocked down into the cockpit. I managed to hang on to the tiller, get Sirocco's bow a little more into the wind and finally get that 165 reduced to a manageable size. I didn't try to reef the main with my addled wife at the helm.

I'm somewhat new to sailing and I'm wondering, from a technical point, if I handled the problem of the unexpected high winds correctly and if I did not, what should I have done?