So ok, we're going racing as soon as the legal debate over the date of the match is settled (this is going to be a bump in the road but a minor one). What kind of boats are we going to see? My early, early prediction are catamarans with center stiffening pods (that may or may not touch the water) and outer hulls with lifting foils (banana or other) and perhaps lifting foils with some sort of variable geometry. Based on what I know of current airborne foiling monsters, they really need to reach to be effective - otherwise, they're dragging a lot of hydraulics and underwater appendages.

As far as the rig goes, I think a full-on rigid wing sail is too risky...these things will have to go a long 20 miles downwind and the complication of adding downwind sails to a rigid wings are tough and risky for failure. I do think we'll see a very large chord mast with fabric sails and an array of screachers and smaller head sails working off a very solid central pod like the D35 catamarans. The big variable right now is the location of the match - will it be a light, flat, and shifty venue or a heavy, big seas, full-on venue? That part is up to Alinghi and could have considerable impact on the design parameters.

As far as the racing goes, I think someone is going to come out of the gates with an awesome machine and the other is going to be left breathing spray off the rudders and this is going to be a 3 race series decided in 2. I'm really rooting for GGYC.