Not GP or mech eng, but I suspect something similar to the following: Sail area ~square mast height Mast wind force under sail ~linear sail area Mast diameter

Not GP or mech eng, but I suspect something similar to the following: Sail area ~square mast height Mast wind force under sail ~linear sail area Mast diameter ~square mast wind force under sail Mast wind force reefed ~linear mast diameter If that's right, then you're in quadratic shit. How much bigger was the mast, a metre taller or - like the Bayesian - tens of metres?