Interesting analisys Steve and I agree with it completely but let me offer another way of looking at which may be helpfull. I dont consider the effect the current has as resulting in an apparant wind. I simply view the true wind as modified by the current as the new true wind I'm sailing in. Viewed in this way there is no lift or header effect you discuss. The significant result as I see it is that competator floating in the current is experiencing a different true wind than the race committee anchored to the bottom. This often results in the committee setting a course that is rotated when veiwed from the racer's perspective. No tack is favored by the current but the rotated course requires you to sail more on one tack than the other. Sorry Mary, we digress