| ...And the compression on the mast is likely to
| be a multiple of the weight involved.

Capt. Mooron wrote:
No Doug.... I believe that assumption to be incorrect... you fail to
incorporate the dispersion of the load from the mast head to compression of
the mast and delivery of portions of the load to the shrouds.

???

Are you saying that shrouds & stays push up on the mast?


... When you
transfer the load to the vang alone [ via the boom].. the mast is only
subject to a side load from the vang fitting and all the force is supported
by the boom/vang. None of the load is distributed to the entire mast or the
shrouds. In other words any portion of the mast above the boom is not
utilized in the dispersion of the forces generated by the bearing loads.

Please explain further. How is this load "dispersed"? Into the air, maybe?


The only thing muddy here is your refusal to approach this with an open
mind..

If having an open minds leads to conclusions like that above, then I'm
better off (from the engineering standpoint) without.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King