My opinion on the masts is if exposed to extreme conditions the mast will snap, (actually easily). In my experience that point is showing a full sail pulled tight in 15mph winds or higher, and winds from the side. You can see when the mast is pushed to one side over about 3 feet at the top, the mast is under great stress. Putting the mast under that much stress is not neccessary, (you won't go any faster). What most of us experienced guys do is furl the sail in one turn in winds over 10-12mph, then a couple turns in 13-15 mph, (or whatever works for you). The boat goes just as fast and there is much less risk of capsize. I never go out on purpose in anything over 15mph winds. The main reason being at least with my boat when running just the main sail I have tremendous difficulty sailing up wind in higher winds. Yea the boat is sailing like crazy as you tack back and forth, but most of the time my actual vmg (velocity made good) is negative, (in other words I'm being blown out to sea and can't do anything about it, the stock boat is simply not capable enough). Tape on the mast in any area where abrasion occurs ( say from rivets), is the easiest solution in my opinion, ( that's what I do). It's also pretty important to protect the mast from banging into stuff, I found that one out the hard way, the masts are very delicate. If running additional sails it's probably a good idea to add a rear stay line. If really pushing the boat too hard with massive sail sets you can expect many failures, so always have backup systems to get you home safely. The dozen or so time we have floundered or heavily damaged ours while out offshore (we have had many horrendous crashes and failures), our emergency backup outboard always gets us home. Actually the mast itself is the least of your problems, a half dozen other critical components are more likely to fail long before the mast goes. The best advise I can give is when going out offshore in conditions that the boat was not designed for, always have backup means to get you home safely. FE Edit: about 50% of the time when we go offshore and get caught in extreme conditions (never on purpose), something fails on the boat, (ie... masts snap, sails blow out, AMA's fall off, mast holders fail, delrin bearing plate snaps off, rudder pin breaks, rudder gudgeon breaks off, rudder lines snap, nylon sheer bolts break often, folded hulls (at the front hatch), aka bars fail, pitch pole, boat fills with water, etc, etc, etc). This is just my own experience running TI's offshore for near 8 yrs now, ( most every weekend year round until recently), I feel the risk is too high for me anyway, you can die out there, (50/50 odds are just too high). I recently sold my TI and am waiting for Hobies heavier version of the same craft ( fingers crossed). I'm not interested in anything else, (love those mirage drives, and the ability to use as a kayak), just need a little heavier duty version with better sailing capability, (jibs, screachers, etc), but I still want the furlable sail, ( love that), basically something with an EC 'C' rating for offshore use in the keys.
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