Article in 1986....
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os ... story.html"We decided to refit the masts for several reasons," said Doug Campbell, president of Coast Catamaran Corporation, a subsidiary of The Coleman Company that produces Hobie and Holder sailboats. "Number one, there is concern over the growing number of accidents, and even though power lines have to be installed under new guidelines, old ones still exist. Secondly, the court system said we were the leader in the industry, and we had to solve the problem. Third, we came up with a way to solve it."
Reading between the lines, Hobie got sued and the judge said to find some way to keep people more safe.
If you think it improves performance....I have a bridge to sell.