I can't comment too much on how the mast got broken, but I can tell you this:

1) Paul Hess is a VERY competent skipper. (Twice Past Natl. Champion, Pan Am Games, etc.) While he doesn't have the spin time many of the competitors have, he knows to leave that mainsheet well enough alone!!

2) The mast broke BELOW where the shrouds come into the mast. So it was definitely not a case of the spinnaker tearing off the top of the mast. Nobody really knows why the mast broke at this point in time, but speculation is that there is an anomaly in the extrusion that failed under the impact of the mast hitting the water. Matt was going to cut into the mast where it failed to investigate further. Stay tuned!!