It’s been a while since we discussed all those mysterious numbers that both boat designers and journalists are always throwing around to confuse us when they talk about boats. You’ll recall last time I bloviated about displacement/length ratios. One big reason it’s a good idea to go to the trouble to calculate a boat’s D/L...

Aside from its displacement, which we discussed before, another important factor to refer to when evaluating a boat is its length. We usually think first of a boat’s length overall (LOA), but when it comes to sussing out a boat’s performance potential, the more relevant measurement is actually the load waterline length (LWL). This refers...