The red pole in the pictures was actually pretty light. The main reason for me to use it was it was free! I say was, because I did end up breaking this pole - not because it was weak but because I screwed up. I spent a good amount of time mocking things up, but I neglected to re-tie the stop knots where the bridles attach to the bows (through a hole drilled in the deck lip) - one eventually pulled out leaving the pole unsupported, and it broke. Lesson - after you mock things up, go back through everything and make sure it's ready to go!

After that pole broke, I got another free one (lots of these things laying around...) and set it up the same way. The second pole is heavier and stiffer, it seems to have a thicker lay up. I would guess an aluminum or carbon pole would be lighter than the second pole, not much lighter than the first one. Lesson there - all windsurfer masts are not the same!

Tack block - the picture maybe exaggerates the situation, but for intents and purposes the load on the block takes up right pretty much right with the bridles. I wanted it be this way, because I figure if the tack block is any significant distance from the bridle lashings the load is more on the pole than the support lines, and if you have any doubts as to the stiffness of the pole... It's in front of the bridle lashings because the rearward pressure of the bridle lashings would probably mess up with the block lashing if it were to the rear.

The 18 has roller furling, and the forestay adjuster extends down below the furling drum. The usual way to support the pole would be tie a line around the bridle/forestay junction and the pole. I didn't like that, but I wanted to keep the functionality of the roller furling, so I found a Harken furler upper swivel - that attaches to the bottom of the forestay adjuster with a clevis, and the other end is lashed around the pole. The pole is supported side to side by lines running in from the hull forestay/bridle mounts and lashed around the pole just in front of the swivel. These side lines don't really need a whole lot of effort - I never witnesses any bending or flopping, and I never had these particularly tight.