I don't know about a DPN for the last group of AC boats but I remember watching them sail upwind at about 11 knots and the annoucer saying "They were flying!". I think the fastest they could go downwind was about 15-17kts.

In that type of racing it has always been about tactics, and strategy, not speed, as long as the two boats were pretty close in speed. With Cats, it's going to be much more about boat handling and speed, with some tactics thrown in, especially at the start. I just want to see a monster cat going downwind in 20+ knots of breeze on flat water! How fast do you think they will be? 40kts or more? That will be the exciting part for us cat freaks.

Of course the mono-slug guys will say it's not a tactical race so it's not worthy of the AC event. And then they will go out and buy a cat... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />