On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:35:27 -0500, sherwin dubren
wrote:

I am not a racer, so raking the mast has no advantage for me.


Not necessarily true if you are interested in light air performance.

This sail maker was sent a sail plan. What is also strange is that
about the same time frame, we ordered a new main sail from Ratsey
in England. At that time, they had access to the sail plans of
all the Westerly Boats, but that sail also was cut too big. We
had to take it into a sail maker in Islamorada to have it cut down.

Do I detect a pattern here?

It's possible that your rig is different in someway from the original
plans. Why not get a steel tape and measure it ?