Darryl-
How about this even more obvious example-
Two 70Kg engineers, both with 5 kg parachute packs strapped on, jump out of an airplane. On the way down one of the engineers, to make himself lighter, takes the parachute pack off and tosses it away, so now it is just his 70kg being attracted to the earth while the other simply pulls the ripcord of his parachute, which opens, but his total mass is still 75kg being attracted to the earth.
Hopefully we all know which engineer takes longer to fall-
Hopefully we can all now move on from this issue-

By the way, it's believed one of the big advantages upwind of the Flyer/A2/XJ hull shape is the reduced aerodynamic drag of the reduced bows compared to more "conventional" shaped bows.

Kirt