On 2008-01-31 18:12:30 -0500, RichH said:

Doesn't matter if windloading heels the boat to 45 degrees or by a rope
tied to the top of the mast heels the boat to the same 45 degrees ....
as if the boat is at 45 degrees over the stress in the wires will be
IDENTICAL. :-)

The loads aren't identical, but for the purposes of evaluating the
standing rigging, the differences aren't significant.

As another said elsewhere in the thread: Each boat designer will figure
out those loads and add what they believe is a proper fudge factor to
come up with a wire size. When a boat's been successfully sailed in all
sorts of conditions for 30+ years, you gotta believe that they were at
least in the right ballpark.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/