  The ability of three wave theories to predict statistics and the crest
kinematics of a seaway is quantified. The three wave theories are high-order
spectral (HOS) theory, free-surface mapping (FSM), and volume-of-fluid (VOF).
Issues associated with applying these methods are discussed, including
free-surface adjustment, smoothing and filtering, and forcing. Two long-crested
regular waves with varying bandwidth and moderate steepness are used to
benchmark the performance of the wave theories. As a more stringent test, a
broad-banded long-crested seaway is simulated.
