Roger Long wrote:
Nope. There are other design aspects where the designer is concerned
with wind speed but not when determining rig strength.

Well, that's what I was getting at, in my unclear muddled
way of speaking

A deigner has to have an idea about how much sail area the
boat will need in order to achieve the desired performance,
be it a super-zippy hi-tech speedster or a crab-crusher.
After that part is worked out, and then things like desired
aspect ratio are fiddled with, the designer knows
approximately what the boat will need in terms of mast
height, etc etc. Somewhere in there, a desired range of
righting moment is worked out (the shape of the curve as
well the max).



If you were designing an exhibit boat fixed in a concrete berth on
land, you would have to figure out the maximum wind speed likely to
occur and then design the rig to withstand that.

Right.

... A boat in the water
heels. No amount of wind can put a greater force on the rig than that
which would heel the boat to the peak of the righting arm curve.

Agreed. I was not saying you were wrong about that, not at
all. In fact I have said the same thing a few times, in
years past.



.... You
resolve that back to a corresponding load to design the rig.

I think we are using the words "rig" differently.


When determining sail plan or hull characteristics, the designer will
ponder wind speeds in order to produce a boat that will carry its full
sail plan at optimum heel in a specified wind velocity. The design
question is not, how much wind the rig should withstand but how much
strength is required to match the loads which are determined by the
hull's stability.


And I think at this point, the word "rig" encompasses the
mast section, the shroud base & spreaders, as well as sizing
the standing rigging... somewhere in there, the deck layout
has to be planned too, completing the circle back to winch
size & sheet load


This is all a complicated way of agreeing (which is what I was trying
to do in my reply to your post) with your statement that it's silly to
talk about the rig loads of a 150% Genoa in a 35 knot wind.


Yep. Even though a few of us have done it!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King