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You can determine the height of a mast by using the tangent. Measure the distance from the base, and the angle of elevation of the top of the mast as observed from that distance. The tangent is y over x, so substitute x for the distance from the base and y for the height of the mast. Solve from there.

For instance, if the angle is 60 degrees and the x distance is 25 feet, then...

tan (60) = y / 25

25 tan (60) = y

y = 43.3

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Q: How do you determine the height of a mast?
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The mast of a yacht is 20 meters in height and is positioned 6 meters from its bow what is the length of the yachts forestay?

Assuming that the mast is vertical and that the deck is flat Pythagoras's Theorem can be used. We need the square root of ({20x20} + {6x6}) The square root of 436 is 20.88, surprisingly similar to the mast height. In practice many decks are not flat and some have an upsweep towards the bow. The rigging wire (forestay) will not usually go down to the deck proper as it will be attached to the bow roller fitting, stemhead roller or whatever the term for it is in your country. Some yachts have a swept back mast which will affect the calculations. Another variation is to have a "Baby Stay". This is like a forestay but joins the mast about halfway up. Its purpose is the bend the mast slightly in order to improve the shape of the mainsail. Note that sailing a boat fast creates tremendous tension in the rigging and it is common for alloy masts to get metal fatigue and cracks at the mast head. Amazingly it is possible to hire expert yacht riggers who will TIG weld the cracks in-situ. A crane and a bosuns chair are used.