I can tell you that I went faster than I have every been on a cat before in the Tybee...I think it was day 5 to Fernandina. Frank and I were double trapped and wrestling to reach deep (no spinnaker) in a pretty good patch of breeze, Frank is watching the GPS and calling out speeds 23 mph!...22mph! 23.5 mph!...24 mph!...and then a gust hit and about jerked the boat out from under us. Frank dropped the GPS to work with the sheet and I eased the traveler thinking we were doomed. My eyes stayed glued on the bows (I remember wanting to close my eyes but I couldn't look away) but to my amazement they stayed dry. I don't know how fast we actually went, but the GPS recorded a max speed of 29.9mph (26 knots) - and I might actually believe it. I don't think it's that unreasonable to expect one of those beasts to be able to touch 40 knots - unlikely ... maybe ... but all this is simply conjecture.