For a quick way to calculate Sail-area-to-displacement ratio and
Bruce number, I use a script I modified
from the SA/D calculator at nwmarinedesign.com.
The original is here:
http://www.nwmarinedesign.com/sadscrip.htm ,
and the new version, including Bruce Number, is here:
http://www.nuomo.com/boatSadBruceCalculator.htm .
It's not rocket science, but I've been doing so many what-if
scenarios with mast height and sail shape that I got tired of plugging
the numbers in. I also had little feel for the different values of the
BN until I saw them calculated next to the SA/D each time. Now it's
really easy to see what another crew member or some extra roach might
do.
- Mike