pinched this line from the N20 thread

And if we're to switch masts (from carbon to aluminum), why not consider a wing-shape rather than teardrop? Might as well upgrade if major changes are going to happen anyway...

someone help me out here, i can't make sense of it

teardrop section is pretty easy to understand

but wing-shape section seems impossible to me as 99% of wings don't have a symmetrical chord section as they only need lift in 1 direction

a mast needs lift in both directions, so it has a symmetrical chord section, so it's basically a teardrop!

OR, does wing section just mean it's longer in the major axis?

if so is there any accepted definition of when a teardrop mast becomes a wing mast?

there is graph on the web somewhere showing wing mast efficiencies compared to major axis length as a percentage of sail foot length

it starts with masts where the major axis makes up 5% of the sail foot and moves up to around 20%?

this would imply that any teardrop section mast that was at least 5% of the sail could be called a wing mast. but that would mean my 26 year old nacra has a wing mast and the general feeling in cat world is that that is not true

so when is a wingmast a wing mast, 10% and up?

or it it something completely different from a teardrop mast