On Saturday, Sept 5, someone put a notice on Facebook inviting Trump supporters to parade their boats around Lake Travis in Texas, and such big waves were created that at least four boats sank. Others hit rocks. Here are some factors according to the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/05/us/Texas-boat-parade-trump.html

Winds up to 15 mph, boats going 10 miles per hour, boats as big as 60 feet mixed with boats as small as 8 feet, nobody knows how many boats there were because there were so many. Picture shows a family-size boat with a terrified woman on it absolutely engulfed in waves.

Clearly it takes more than a notice on Facebook to organize a safe boat parade. My reaction to the picture was that it would be very dangerous to rescue someone in those waves, but the DH tells me that to rescuers, those waves would be nothing.

I'd like to hear from catters who are experienced with boats. What do you think happened exactly, and how can this be prevented?

As my title says, I'm interested in the science, not the politics.