Thanks for clearing that one up for me, Jack. I sailed Hobie 16`s for 4 years, so I wondered if there was a change of rig design which we, in deepest darkest Africa, had not yet heard of. Interesting point is that there are many new (less than 2 year old) H16`s here, imported from France, that still have all-aluminium masts. Obviously no law-suits in Europe yet. I think it`s a good idea - I know a sailor who`se son was badly injured in a land-yacht in the same way, and is now a paraplegic from age 12. That`s a big price to pay for not looking up while sailing a land-yacht / wheeling your boat to the beach.
My question was aimed at finding out if you could add a section of fibreglass mast to a aluminium one to lengthen it by about a meter (3ft) to get an old design 16ft boat to fit into the F16 class - also be more flexible at the top, which is how the skiffs handle all that mainsail, more flexible section twists off in the gusts.
The Hobie 16 already has enough sail area, no need for a 34 ft mast !!