I'd like to hear from Ben or some other mast builder as to the designed strength of masts, if there is some 'magic formula' as to how much sail area and or downforce (cunningham, trapping wt. etc.) they use to decide how strong to build the masts.

I doubt if any beach cat mast would break based soley on the lift being generated by the sail itself, no matter what the wind strength.

I think what causes masts to break (other than flipping the boat onto them) is the compression force of trapping, added to the backward bend caused by mainsheet tension, and foreward pull of the forestay and/or spinnker.

Still, I haven't seen too many masts break under sail forces alone, only when the crew lands on them or they roll in the surf.


Blade F16
#777