Jim,
The position of the mast is arranged so that the center of effort of the
sail plan is directly over the center of lateral resistance. In most cases
this places the mast over the leading edge of the keel, but it does not have
to be there.
Steve
"jimthom" wrote in message
m...
I was wondering if the position of the mast in relation to the
leading edge of the keel was sacrosanct, or indeed if there was any
significant reason at all to establish this relation.

I am planning to move the mast aft from station 4 to station 5
(approximate), but keep the CE of the sail plan where it is by
altering the sail plan to a cutter rig. The leading edge of the keel
is fixed around station 4.

Of course I will have a qualifed person design my new cutter rig, but
I was wondering in theory if this is a practical objective.

Thank you,
jimthom