I dont see how they can do such a thing and still qualify as an international ISAF class. Surely there will be a vote, and I think the changes will pass. If current tornado class members dont have this information, I think they should ask the ITA (I let my membership elapse when we sold the boat).

Undecided, you are partly right. The top teams went through a lot of masts to find the one suiting them bests. Dies for extrusion change over time and together with other variables this was a big enough concern for top teams to spend funds on. What caused the definitive change over to carbon masts was when some teams began developing special profiles and alloys which others could not buy on the market.