Ahoy Nathan,
This is the long version: 629 sq ft is the actual square footage of the sails on most original Westsail-32's. That is 303+177+149=629. The 177 and 149 only represents about 82% of the fore triangle. The W-32 worked well with these sails. Most cruising boats advertised their sail area as the sail area that was actually used. The industry standard, which represents most boats sold, used 100% of the fore triangle to calculate sail area. Using that standard, the Westsail-32 measures closer to the 705 figure. Westsail Corp. later on used 753 sq ft as their sail area in their literature. That is, 303(main)+301(yankee)+149(staysail)=753. ALL THE BOATS WERE EXACTLY THE SAME.
The explaination is purely marketing. Many big names - Robert Perry for example - were exploiting the SA/DISP ratio of the W-32 to show how their boats were better. By raising the SA on paper, it made the Westsail look a lot better. Just think if Westsail chose to use a Triradial spinnaker in their literature. Wow! 303+1168+149=1620 sq ft.
Good Luck, Dave
