The three masts that broke had some extra help in breaking.
One boat flipped over and hit the beach
One boat flipped and got it's mast stuck in the bottom,
One boat it is suspected that the spreader bracket came loose from the mast.
Each of those situations could have resulted in a broken mast on a H16, N20, etc.
You can strike the N-20 from that list I've done all of those and the mast has survived so far.Of course there are telephone poles that are lighter than a Carbon N-20 mast.
@ Brucat, and sail7seas, Apples and oranges both of those boats have aluminum masts.