When a design is open the Curve of Areas window may be used to determine the Sectional Area Curve for the current datum waterline.

The form of Sectional Area Curve displayed may be chosen in the Preferences dialog in the View menu.

Three choices exist:

·  Section Area.

Graphs sectional area against longitudinal position from the zero point.

·  Section Area / Maximum Section Area.

Graphs sectional area normalised by maximum sectional area to allow the comparison of sectional area curves from different designs of similar displacement.

·  Section Area / Volume.

Graphs sectional area normalised by volume^2/3. This allows the comparison of sectional area curves of designs with different displacements.

The Sectional Area Curve is made up from a number of sectional areas. Most are spaced equally along the datum waterline with additional half stations at each end. You can specify the number of sections used to display the curve by choosing the appropriate Sectional Area Curve Stations button in the Preferences dialog.

To display sectional area values along the curve, simply click on the movable crosshair and move it to the required position. The station position and current value for the curve will be displayed in the bottom left hand corner of the window.