simply....righting moment. The whold point of crew on the rail is to balance the forces of the sails, which, if you are really interested to understand the physics behind your boat, can be calculated on the follwing site: http://www.sailingusa.info/cal_wind_load.htm

:: Hi Paul & Tom:
::
:: I'm was trying to compare weight against weight in the %
:: crew weight example.
::
:: Not weight against a whole other grouping of physical
:: aspects which begin with sail area.
::
:: Regardless, what's this sail vs weight metrix telling
:: us?
::
:: Please advise
::
:: Mike
::
:: :: Thanks Paul, you beat me to the punch this morning, that
:: :: was exactly what I was going to do to prove my point.
:: ::
:: ::
:: :: :: If you look at crew weight to sail area (main+jib), the
:: :: :: story is a little different.
:: :: ::

:: :: :: - Moore 24 -- 3.34lbs per square foot
:: :: :: - Express 27 - 3.19lbs per square foot
:: :: :: - Olson 30 - 2.89lbs per square foot
:: :: :: - Antrim 27 - 2.04lbs per square foot
:: :: :: - Melges 24 - 2.03lbs per square foot
:: :: :: - Melges 32 - 1.98lbs per square foot

:: :: ::
:: :: :: I tend to agree with Bob though, you can support almost
:: :: :: any position with carefully chosen statistics.