WHY IS THIS "BULKY POLE" SO IMPORTANTUpdated a year ago
The importance of the mast is usually extremely underrated. In fact, the mast is comparable to the transmission of a car. Or in other words, a Ferrari with only one gear is not very fast, only the correct transmission maximizes the potential of the engine into v-max.
When you compress a mast using downhaul tension every mast has a specific bend curve. This bend curve has to match with the luff curve of your sail in order to work in conjunction with the sail. On the other hand if the mast has a different bend curve than the luff curve both parts work against each other. Therefore it is utmost important to buy the right mast for your sail.
To say it loud and clear: a wrong mast will destroy min. 30% of your sails performance or in other words will turn a winner into a shit sail!
The only other thing you can do to kill your sails performance is wrong/insufficient downhaul tension.
