Conventional wisdom, if there's such a thing here, would seem to indicate that stronger, not lighter wind would favor
Alinghi. After all, the hard wing, with its preformed shape, would be better in light air and harder to depower in heavy air, I would think.
But,
Alinghi was angling hard for a light air race, which would indicate the opposite.
The real surprise is that
USA seemed to average about 5 knots better than
Alinghi downwind, which was where the Swiss boat was supposed to have the advantage.
The next race includes a reaching leg, so there's some unknown there, but for the most part, I think
Alinghi's only hope is for
USA's
mast to come crashing down.