I'm sorry. Actually, I don't have any idea how fast a Wave could go on a beam reach in heavy air and flat water, especially if you can get enough weight WAY AFT and basically ski on the skegs. It would be interesting to find out.

It's just that I would not expect any cats under 18 or 19 feet to be able to go 20 mph and over. Usually, the shorter the boat, the slower its maximum speed capability.

In general, the Wave is close to the speed of a Laser, except that the Laser can go faster than a Wave off the wind when the Laser can plane.

I have seen some anecdotal testimony from Laser sailors who think they have gone as fast as 20 mph on a plane in high winds (25-35), but they don't know for sure, and in those cases, they said they were only going that fast for a matter of maybe 5 seconds until they crashed.

So.....? It's still a question in regard to the Wave, but since you are using a GPS, please let us know what you find out. Maybe you will have higher winds in the fall.