That's not a speed you see in these boats although they do get it up there. they are capable of sailing a bit faster than the wind speed under the right conditions and on a broad reach, but these things are built as "Course Racers" and designed to be at their best in 20 knots or less of the true wind speed. If the wind bets above 20 or so, they generally cancel.....same is true below about 4 or 5. Also most are designed to handle moderate chop and waves, not dead smooth water nor big stuff as well. They are outstanding, large, match racers....period.

The trade-offs are what makes it interesting. Paul's buddies in Seattle may well have the fastest horse in the barn providing they race in very mid-range conditions. I think Cup racing is probably about 60% boat and 40% crew. In general, the fastest boat wins, but in boats with very close speeds the crew work comes heavily into play. There are so many factors......breakage, sail selection, tactics, and on and on, that it's tough to pick a winner amongst the very similar boats. The "psych job" has long been a part of the whole thing as well. The Australia II thing was a good case in point. She wasn't really all that much faster, but Connor and company believed she was and were probably beaten at the dock. In the last race of a close series, AII broke and made a great job of repairs underway while Connor made perhaps the dumbest move he ever made....and he was a great match racer.

A perfect example came also in the last Cup challenger series where a boat and skipper were assumed to be the best starters around, none better....and they ended up making lousy starts almost everytime. However, the boats they sailed against made even worse starts....totally psyched out!

I'll be travelling next week and I'm going to miss the series. If any of you want to have some real fun and watch the actual numbers in real time, the Virtual Spectator program is a kick in the ass.

Spaw