Bigger thickness in walls is something that has not been discussed at all here. If there has been such changes then these should have been told in advance so that people entering class would know about these things. All available alu mast data is based on original Taipan (I guess?), now if things change and it would have been made to public we wouldn't be having this discussion.
But maybe we have another solution. Considering you feel so passionate about a carbon mast and having it replace the aluminium one then why not do exactly that ?
Order 2 carbon masts from Stealthmarine (after getting a definate price quote) and ship the alu masts back to catamaranparts where they are sold off as secondhand. Sure you'll loose some money in the proces, but building c.q. buying a complete new A-cat will cost lots more.
Or better still, sell your alu masts to the Norwegians and Swedes. There is a Swedish Taipan owner who bend his mast when his boat tipped over in a blow. You guys will meet in the spring time for a Scandinavia F16 regatta right ? Maybe the perfect opportunity for selling off your alu masts while getting some good return of investment. Then you can order the carbon masts and be happy again. I'm sure Rolf is interested in the mast, if not his friend who ordered a new F16 design but that still needs to be shipped to him. Removing the mast shipping costs may well be attractive to him.
It's an idea.
Wouter
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So you are saying it's ok to lie how good alu is when comparing to carbon and when reality hits, you tell that you can always sell your stuff with loss and get better? I would say that in general this is not a best way to welcome a new member to the class, but then again my boat is not class legal unless I eat 10 kg's more, so I don't count.
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Anyways I could be changing mast but I'm not too keen on losing money on six times sailed mast. I based my decision to data posted here on internet forum and what was written in the plans. With my current knowledge I would most certainly do things differently and it's not always nice to learn through hard way.
