first it was the foil rudders and now the thread is about masts... although masts certainly have more performance impact than foils IMHMFO.
I need to see specific numbers regarding price for a carbon mast for an F16 before anyone talks about how easy it would be to get one! It ain't gonna be cheap and my guess would be at least 2500 to 3k at a minumum. Maybe it is less for a stealth mast if you make pounds rather than $. If carbon were the same price as Al then we would all have carbon masts... if anyone wants to say otherwise bring it on <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I think the real benefit of carbon (aside from the obvious weight savings) is that it is stiffer which can give you more power. Go ahead... argue with me because I am speaking out of my a--! But my limited experience with carbon tells me that. My aluminum F16 mast is not very stiff.
as for the bottom sheave- I used a small piece of spectra to tie a small block to the bottom sheave which makes it much easier to raise the sail. Pulling it out through the cutout in the track would create problems with pulling the luff rope out I would think