YouTube - 33ème America's Cup - Alinghi 5 Sailing

YouTube - 33ème America's Cup - Alinghi 5 Sailing: "33ème America's Cup - Alinghi 5 Sailing"

Looks like a fairly slow sail, (guessing by the spray from the boat shooting the images), I'd evaluate the speed at no more than 15 knots. Then again, there seeems to be very little wind blowing as well (estimated from the state of the water surface). I'd say no more than 7-8 knots...
Which gives us a boat speed of twice the speed of the wind. Not bad.

It will be really difficult to evaluate the speed potential of Alinghi vs BMW-Oracle. I suspect this is an exercise everyone on both team is doing: guessing the speed potential of each boat. the new rigid Sails on BMW-Oracle give it an almost unfair advantage. If the wind conditions start to get a bit rougher the inability to reduce sail area might be a factor.

A great chapter in sailing history is being written I suspect.