Titanium has been all the rage with motorcycles and quads, why don't we see more of it in sailing other than some hardware? The carbon vs aluminum mast thing got me thinking of it. I'd think there'd be benifits to using it for anywhere we're currently using aluminum, or stainless steel. Except maybe the masts, I think its extremely stiff, but I don't know that for sure.
I bought a full titanium exhaust for a race quad once, almost $900, but I think the complete system weighed something along the lines of a couple of pounds including the silencer.
Simple answer: because the load cases are totally different. Motorcyle is a frame. Material is selected by strength to weight ratio, good for Titanium, CFRP, even some steel alloys (which are as expensisve than as Titanium...)
Sailing mast is a aeroshape, it is build for stiffness and buckling, hence the material must have good stiffness to weight properties. Hence it would be alu or better CFRP (sometimes wood would be even better; not for usual cat mast, however).
Cheers,
Klaus
