This is a practical rather than an engineering answer.
Wooden masts are most associated with often older wooden boats. But good boats are designed and built in harmoney. For example, a beamy old ketch likely has a sail plan of lower aspect than modern rigs - inherantly less stressed. Even some fairly lofty rigs, imagine an older Rhodes in the 40' range, are lower stress because the hulls heel more readily than many modern great flair go-fast sleds.
So, while compression strain in unlikely to harm the mast, there's no reason to overstress the rig or wring out the garboards. When tuning older boats, I get the mast(s) centered athwartships and with about the rake that appears right for the design, with a firm "hand taught" on the turnbuckles at the shrouds and a bit firmer on the backstay and jib stay. To adjust the highest shrouds, I use the simple old way of bumping a halyard rail to rail to measure when the truck is centered. Then I do the aft lowers to have the mast in colum under that, and lastly the foreward lowers.
Then off for a sail in a moderate or fresh breeze (Force 4 to 5, wind say 15 to 20 kt). The leeward shrouds will be slack and the mast may sag off a bit to leeward. I tighten from the weather side, no more than one turn at a time, tack by tack, usually ending up with the final adjustments devoted more to getting any lateral bend out. I'll also drop sail a couple of times to do the halyard bump making sure the truck is still centered - which it usually is as I take the same number of turns on the screws on each side some stuff happens.
The goal is to end up with the mast remaining in colum on each tack with just a sense of unloading but not real rattling about on the leeward side.
This approach is slow and not too scientific but my life in older wooden boats has me trying to be as nice to the rig as possible and it makes the tuning process a proper consumation to the spring courtship.
G'luck
Ian
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