When Hobie offered the retrofit of the comptip mast for my '85 H-16, they pointed out that the shortening of the aluminum part of the mast would reduce the size of the cone of protection that the mast provided.
...and yet I've seen a comptip that has been struck almost at the top. The best rule is to seek cover asap. If you do the search Mary talked about you'll find a good article by a U of Florida researcher.
