You are preparing for what promises to be a rough ocean passage. Your 120-foot schooner carries a yard on the foremast, about 50 feet above the water. The yard weighs about 1000 pounds. If you take the yard down and stow it on deck for the trip, you will __________.

Correct Answer: Option B — increase your vessel's GM

Relocating heavy overhead weight like a yard from aloft down to the deck significantly lowers the vessel's vertical center of gravity (VCG). According to fundamental stability principles, reducing VCG increases the metacentric height (GM), enhancing restoring forces.