*Eeek*, is it the joystick that is sticking out behind the skipper? Nice way to crack it if it catch the right wave or when the crew go out on trapeze. I keep the tiller when going downwind if it is relatively light and I want my weight a bit forward, but in conditions like that it would go behind the boat as soon as I came inn from the trapeze.

Sure they are setting the spi. If you look at the boat in front of them the crew there also seem to be working on the spi. Having the mainsheet a bit slack when setting the spi isn't that dangerous if you are going deep to help your crew, but I agree that this is overdoing it. Skipper looks ready to trim in both mainsheet and traveller once the spi is up tough.
Must be nice pressure with the battens bending like that.

What classes did the participants of the Alter cup come from? With all the talk I have the impression that they mostly came from non-spi equipped classes? Am I right, and are spi-boats still relatively rare in the US?