There seems to be a bit of confusion on this.
I have previously been told what easty said above and so that's what I believed, but,..
A few weeks ago I bought a new boom which is supposed to extend out to 222cm.
When I pull it out to the last stop and pin it there, I measured the distance as 222cm from the front of the mast diameter to the inside edge of the clew.
So now I don't know.

Is Albert Einstien on this forum by any chance?
We need someone who is familiar with space/time distortions to answer this one with some authority.
Actually, someone who makes sails would do since Albert is off doing other things.
Maybe someone else can measure their booms in the fully extended postion and see how they measure up compared to the stated extension range, and post it here.