I was sitting with a wind meter in my face all day on the pin, and it was steady high teens / low 20s with occasional gusts into the mid twenties.

Yes, there was a lot of carnage, but to say that it was steady 25+ is just wrong. The squall that went through (we weren't racing at the time) was pretty interesting. ~40 kts and sideways rain. But it only lasted about 15 minutes.

That being said, 9+ hours in a 17' Boston Whaler, wrangling huge marks in that kind of breeze - I'm knackered. It's time for Advil and bed.