Hi Jake,
Sailboards went from a speed of 28 knots to 40+ knots when the sailing course moved from a real body of water to the swimming pool in France. Now, you tell me what is responsible for the largest improvement in sailboard speed.
The next step is to build some sailing models and test them in a wind tunnel and then scale these model speeds up to full size and claim a world record.
Sailboards and foil boats sometimes sail in the distance races that I sail in and they always finish hours behind. Real world water slows these boats down very much. They can fly on the swimming pool but on Biscayne Bay they don't go so fast.
Good Sailing,
Bill