Have just bought 2 North ram sails and need a 430 sdm mast. I've just read about potential mast-sail incompatabilities.
Will I need to get a North mast or will an alternative make mast (say, Gaastra) be OK to rig with a north sail?
Cheers,
Pete
This page outlines what masts work with each sail. North masts are constant curve so you'll be looking in the middle columns of the chart.
www.unifiber.net/masts-selector
It's best to run the right masts on your sails. North themselves have info on what works with their sails:
www.north-windsurf.com/eng/nodes/display/pages/mast-technology
Gaastra is a no-go.
The sail makers will always try to sell the same mast of course and generally speaking it is the masts they have been tested with. I think north sails are not so sensitive (how dare you i hear north lovers say) but so long as its the right size and carbon content and your not super,super competative the average sailor will not notice
that unifiber table is brilliant - suddenly I understand ! I have an unplanned collection of sails arising from guys retiring from the sport - I end up using the NP gear most becasue I cant quite get the other sails to quite rig right. I though NP gear was middle of the road re flex & masts but they arent!