Hi, have had my AI for a couple of years now and have been visiting the site for about the same time, just joined.
I am running a Humminbird 383c combo FF/GPS which sadly does not down load info to a card or anything, wish I bought separate units now.
Couple of old Videos when my fastest speed was 10.2 knots, the video is at around 7 to 9 knots, in the second video you can see where the FF/GPS is mounted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EEFzRi2_xohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LH4uNLKcu0This last video is from a group meet but we all split up due to different levels of experience, sailing was also slow as my AI was laden with dive gear and tacking/jiving directly into 20 knots the return run was a bit quicker at around 5 knots while we trolled lures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu6gNjMdUbI Like okzook I have reached speeds of 11 knots on several occasions with my fastest ever recording being 13 knots.
Most times I reach these speeds I am close to shore where the waves have not had a chance to build but the sail is catching the 20 + knot winds and sailing from Broad Reaching to Close Reaching. I find once the wind gets around 30 knots the AI performance drops as the waves interfere with the bow taking constant dives and slowing me down. On days like this my average speed in this position would be around 6.5 to 8 knots and only for brief and ideal bursts reaching the 11 knot speeds which are not necessarily attributed to a wind gust more like the AI seems to truly plane.
When I reached 13 knots I was surfing across the face of a clean 2 meter swell in 20 + knot winds with a Broad Reach on Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, Australia with the sail 2/3rds reefed, my sphincter was tighter than security at a Mint as the AI flew across the surface, seconds later I came the closest I ever have to a pitch pole as the wave broke over my bow, but luckily it didn't.