no kidding...what was it? 18 months ago a trailer incident destroyed one hull? Hull replaced, then the whole boat was airmailed to the woods by a twister? Two new hulls this time and now the mast....boy, I would be soul searching.

With regards to the downhaul, I suspect that when you see an a-cat mast break in a pitchpole that the downhaul was still cranked. We talk here locally about being sure to release it for the run - especially since we sail in some pretty gusty stuff regularly. I've seen and experienced some pretty violent pitchpoles on the a and haven't seen any damage. It adds a lot of pressure to the mast.