Yeah, I was struggling with the physics on this but if you take it to the extreme and consider a surface with absolutely no friction, you really don't care how fast that surface is moving as long as it isn't tied to your motive force. So, as your friction on your running surface is reduced, the amount it moves is less important to your true motion...you guys are right. I think the foil drag is still significant so current does come into play (most definitely upwind) but it is significantly less a factor than it would be on a 6knot SB. If the effect of water current on the old slow monodulls was 90%, I suspect it's closer to as little as 25-30% on the 72 cats.

What I do think was interesting is the commentator's statement that the maximum windspeed allowable for racing was adjusted by factoring in current...funny, this.