Steel is heavy exactly where I dont want weight. I would also like to make the stays myself.
On the Tornado I belive we had 4mm dyform wire. Not far from 5mm..

How big is the drag vs reduced weight, and how to quantify the advantage/disadvantage for each option? I believe the added leverage in the rig when sailing in any kind of waves reduces the propelling force far more than the drag subtracts from the propelling force. But I am unable to quantify this.

Anybody?