Wisely, like most here, I'm not going to pretend to be a match racing expert. And, I didn't get to see the races, so all I know is what I've read here.

But, it's very possible that on an open course at full speed, they were not comfortable getting into match racing maneuvers or tactics. Regardless of whether the match racing rules applied, the mindset (tactics and strategy) of racing just one other boat could have led them to try things that would force a penalty rather than get them around the course faster. But, they chose to go for speed.

To a person (and yes, they're all monohull sailors), I've talked to a number of folks at the high end of USSA, and if you listen between the lines, the main reason the next cup is likely to be on monohulls is that they don't consider fast boats (as fast as multis) to provide good match racing, and they believe that at its core, that's what the AC is supposed to be.

From what I've read and heard elsewhere, the best match racing boats are boats that are well matched (to one another), and go roughly the same speed upwind and downwind. This is to prevent a boat from getting so far out front that it becomes a horse race. They want to see a knife fight from beginning to end.

The other reason the next cup will be on monohulls is that no one at that end of the game really has an interest in multihulls going forward. Several months ago, there was a press conference with Alinghi, BMWO, and several other folks. One of them (I forget exactly who now) was asked about using multihulls in a future cup, he started to explain why he thought it would be a good idea, and the facial expressions, body language and groans from everyone else in the room was incredible. They all looked like they wanted to puke and leave the room.

As for this cup, I agree with the others who have said it was all about boatspeed. Especially in race 1, when BMWO simply ran past them. Yes, this was primarily due to design, but from the accounts given on this forum, my sense is that they also had better boat handling to keep the speed going on all points of sail.

Mike