Those F18 masts are copies of what classes like the C Class, A Class, Dolphin and later the Taipans have been using for a couple of decades. Nothing new here mate. I was racing with a rig like this on my first cat (Dolphin) in 1992.

As mentioned before, some monos do have wing masts like the Tasar, NS14, MG14

The skiffs don't use it because they have previously spent a lot of $$$$ developing their soft tip rigs and to scap everything and start again developing a wing rig which may not work for them and would cost mega $$$$$.... It is just not worth it.

They also need a lot more support at the top of the mast to carry mast head kites with can be up to 3 x the sail area as our kites. Put your cat kite up the top of an unsupported wing mast tip and see how long it takes before you are calling the insurance company.



Bit of repect there Wouter.

Firstly, compare boats of equal size to each other. A super Maxi will have more rig tension than a T. A 49er is 4.9m long ie 16 foot. An 18 footer is 2 foot shorter than a T or I20 however the rig tension is a lot higher.

I have sailed 12s, 14s, 16s and 18s as well as MANY different cats. Rig tension for a skiff is a lot higher. Just have a look at the compression to an 18s mast when they are cranking on the boat breaker to put the fore stay on. We often thought we were going to snap the mast whilst rigging.



Dont forget that a monos weight without crew is balanced over the keel line and with crew, its righting momentom is the weight of only its crew. In an 18s case, it is 3 crew 7.5 feet from the center line. 15 foot wing span I believe now.

A cats righing momentum is the weight of the platform and its rig from the windward side of the leeward board...... plus the crews weight, 8 foot (or just under 10 foot for a T) out from the pivot point.

Looking at this, the cat has a lot more righing momentum and uses the weight of the boat far more efficiently.

Below is a boat breaker about to be put into action to enable geting the forestay on.