I know the question is not directed at me but I think you misunderstand my post

There is no shape that an alu mast can be made in that can not be be done with carbon. That is not the point I was making.

The point I was making is that some people think that ALL aluminium masts are inferiour to carbon masts. This is false. I can give a direct comparison between an alu WING mast and a carbon TEAR DROP SHAPED one of the same length featuring the sail sailarea on a similar platform were the alu mast is seriously superior to the carbon one. This is because the behaviour of a wing mast is so much better. A carbon wing mast is slightly better still BUT less so than the difference between a teardrop shaped mast and a wing mast of the same material. The case I'm refering to is actually a very funny one as the carbon mast is even heavier than alu one. In in this particular case the expected gains that people have of carbon were simply not there. But the warm glow they received from the word CARBON made them part with alot more money then they had to.

The list pretty much goes like this;

-1- Carbon teardrop mast = better than alu teardrop mast
-2- Wing mast = better than teardrop mast
-3- Alu wing mast = better than carbon teardrop mast
-4- Carbon wing mast = better than alu wing mast

But the gains decrease in magnitude when going from -1- to -4- . The last step is actually the most expensive one for maybe very small gains indeed. Especially when class rules specify an overal minimum and the platform is considered stiff as it is. In this particular case positive effect of the weight savings are gone as well and we are only left with a better weight to stiffness ratio with respect to gusts. But an Alu wing mast can be designed to have the same ratio. So what we are really left with in the end is the fact that this ratio can be optimized for your crew weight with carbon while alu is "one ratio fits all". At this moment we have really began to look at 0.5 % performance gains or less (about 20 second per hour racing). Enough for Olympic sailors and alike to justify spending money on but for recreational sailors ? I don't know. No the big wopper is made when going from -1- to -2- (or -3-) Here the gains are measured in several %.

I hope this clarifies my earlier post

Wouter