The Wright Brothers figured it out over 100 years ago, if you want to go fast, get out of the water!

So at what point is a "Flying Boat" not a boat? Maybe they should design the aka's (the beams) more like large wings, with the foils at the ends, and generate some lift like an airplane. If they design them right, 49 knots is plenty of wind to generate a useable amount of lift.

And on the whole speed sailing records thing, I think they need to continue to do the runs in the Ditch to develop what is fast. Then they need to figure out how to apply it to a real boat that will operate in the real ocean. That Tri is out in the real ocean, or just slightly above it! Too bad there wasn't a fast windsurfer next to him for comparison!