The loop are indeed not a cure for all. All they do is prevent early warping of the wall itself under load. This has the beneficial effect of suring up the mast making it appear stronger. By definition it is not stronger then it was before but it will move any damage mechanism to higher stresses then before. The net result is that the mast will be more resistant against abuse and overloading.

How can I explain this better. The loops themselfs don't add any strength but they do allow the already existant parts of the mast to take higher loads/stresses before any failure mechanism results in damage. So in practical terms they make the mast stronger.

The fact that the loops themselfs don't add strength means that they also don't affect the bend characteristics much at all. This is not a side effect but fully intended property of adding the loops. The mast design will behave as before but still is it will be able to take higher external loads (gusts, sheet tensions etc) I feel we are after the last thing.

Most masts do not fail because of some stress exceeding some maximal material property, but rather because the masts enter into a instability failure mode. Buckling is one such example. The material should be able to handle the buckling loads quite well but the fact that it bends out of colom seriously lowers the stresses at which damage occurs.

I feel that with this mast the instability failure modes are to blame for the damage and not the mast strength per see, the damage is not in a particulary highly loaded spot. Suring up with loops seems like an attractive option in this situation.

But I fully admit that adding loops is optional

Wouter