Judging merely by lifting effort, the 29' or 30' Blade F16 aluminum mast is lighter.
When I picked up Paul W's mast at Datchet a few weeks ago I thought that was real heavy !
I was expecting the Nacra Carbon section to be around 10-12 kg, are you saying it is more like 20?
I've heard the same weight comparison in the past, made by other sailors.
Pretty much the alu F16 mast as a bare section is only about 14 kg. The same bear alu section used on the FX-ones and Inter-17's (same overall mast lengths) is 17 kg. In addition the F16 mast uses lighter fittings like foam blocks end caps up the mast and not cast aluminium end caps like the big builders are using. Other examples are 3 mm dyform diamond wires instead of plain 1x19 4 mm stainless. All these differences add up.
Indeed the Inter-17 alu mast is expected to be just over 20 kg when fully fitted. If the carbon Inter-17 mast is 4 to 5 kg lighter then its alu brother then it will be right about the same weight as the Alu superwing mast as used on the boat of the class "that may not be named in this thread"
Carbon masts used "in the class that not be named" are lighter again by some 4 to 5 kg's, reflecting your expectation of 10-12 kg for the bare carbon section. The fully fitted carbon masts will be a little heavier then that.
Wouter
