Rhino,
(the applied bending moment is opposite to the pre-bend induced moment, though).
Exactly ! So this is a method to arrive at a situation where the bending stresses are much reduced (against increased axial stresses) while sailing.
It is a commonly agreed fact that beams can handle axial loads far better then bending loads. Because of the individual mechanisms that translate either load in (max) stresses it is also easily proven that the resulting axial stresses are LOWER then the resulting bending stresses. For this reason the beams can be scaled a little down and be made lighter.
Wouter
