As you well know Macca, there are some manufacturers who charge way over the odds for a Ali mast, I think the N20 owners were having a right old whinge about the fact they could buy a carbon mast cheaper from an outside source ( I think it was Marstrom ) than the Ali unit from the manufacturer.

That excess price comes simply from having only one class supplier which we could easily end up with if we ban carbon masts. Composites are a great low volume production method and if we take the first 10 masts as the cost of production then I would say the Composite masts would be a cheaper cost per unit. The problem with Ali extrusion are the initial numbers required to make the die and production viable.

We could also end up with the mast supplier refusing to do business with a new manufacturer, leaving the newbie no alternative but to set up a batch of masts to service his annual production of 10 boats a year. I somehow don't think we would have many new manufacturers starting production anytime soon.