Hi mod CF

[Village Idiot]

What advantage does high modulus carbon have over what used to be used?

[aus729]

The High Modulus carbon is a little stiffer, and more reactive. I believe that some of the European mast were using it all the time. It is just new from the C-Tech mast. It has also made C-tech re-think the shape of the mast, they have been able to make it a smaller section while retaining the bend characteristics, this means less drag through the air. They have also placed a plastic track on the mast, which has made the construction easier, and kept the cost down.

I found that I was able to keep up a little better in the moderate breeze.
It was also fast downwind.

[Deleted]

I agree, the faster reactiveness (or better resilience in engineering terms) means the mast flicks back upright much quicker than say a standard modulus mast after a gust has hit the sail. This means more height upwind, sort of like the difference people noticed between the old alloy rigs and the first carbon masts. This also means these masts are quicker downwind.

The downside of these masts is that with high modulus carbon deflecting less for a given load compared with standard modulus masts they are stiffer. Hence less carbon is used to make a mast of a given bend characteristic....meaning these masts are very light and can be hard to bring up to weight.

The euro Celidh masts have always had some high mod carbon in their tips.