Thanks so far;
good comments. Shall get the books mentioned.
I am reworking a mast arrangement and needed some details.
Naturally stresses are different along the lenght and calculatiuons are not
done with a simple formula.
So any references are welcome.
regards mikl

"Dave W" wrote in message
...
You have asked an interesting question. Of course these forces change all
the time as the wind, sea state, heading and sail set change. If you knew
these numbers exactly, what would you do with the data? A prudent
designer would multiply the forces by a safety factor (like 10 or more)
and then develop the stresses. For practical purposes, assuming you are
interested in rigging a real boat, take a look at similar successful boats
in your area and plagiarize.