The worst conditions were relatively common by Georges Bank standards. Per the NOAA data buoy (see plots below), the wind speed peaked at 40.8 kts, gusts at 58.3 kts, and wave height at 29.2 ft.
Looking back at my Georges Bank Exploratory Drilling paper (1983), a spring storm in April 1982 generated 105 mph winds and 35 foot swells. I’ll post information on the rig performance issues during those operations at a later date.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 