Charles,
There were three approaches to mast configuration in the Race:
The unstayed rotating wing masts of Team Philips were the more radical - and the alternative that concentrated more efforts in the mast base. As you pointed out, more flexibility would have dissipated part of the energy - but would probably reduce the speed as well.
The Multiplast boats' rotaing wingmasts were less radical, distributing part of the efforts to the rest of their structure via stays. Still, afterwards they had problems in the mast base and in the mast itself.
Playstation's mast was the most conventional, being fixed.
When one puts the facts in this order, it could be imagined that the problem is with the degree of mobility of the mast, but I don't think this true. Self supporting masts can be very safe. Gary Hoyt's Freedom line and many other boats have been using unstayed masts successfully for a long time.
Probably the main problem has to do with the higher dependence on each iindividual fiber, resulting from the use of a smaller total number of fibers due to the higher moduli fabrics. I read somewhere that the ORMA open 60 designers are questioning the use of high modulus carbon in masts on this grounds.
Do you know anything about it?
