Aluminum vs. Carbon Mast and Fusalage

[kitegirls]

Making a decision this week. What do you feel are the pros and cons of each?

[Foil]

i have both.
ali slingshot 2019 masts 71 and 91, and carbon Moses 101.

The price
My carbon 101 cost just shy of £1000 gmb
the 91 ali mast without base plate was £90
so if you have the £45 base plate you can get 10 new slingshot 91cm masts.for the price of one carbon 101 Moses

in use for non racer.
once going I could not detect much difference sailed back to back,
which was surprising and a little annoying.no noise,or vibration at speed,both smooth.

off the water
the longer 91 ali is heavy, no surprise there, and can literally be a right pain to carry to the water if a long walk is needed,
it requires a little looking after with greased up screws if using in salt water, mega easy but do at home and wash down with soapy cloths after, the tiniest bit on a finger will ruin a days sailing if you contact the wings or mast with oily fingers.

looks
some ali masts look cheap,
the new 2019 slingshot mast looks awesome in black and gold.and is cheap.

dangers and other points
the ali one hurts like hell if you kick it underwater, (swing weight resistance)
my 633 wing always sinks when using either the 71 or 91 ali masts, which is great as no body dragging back to kit on its side,
I sure as hell would not like to collide any part of my body against the ali mast,
also when new the trailing edge is lethal, and being heavy will cut very easily,
all my masts have been blunted correctly to reduce the risk without any performance loss.
might have missed a few points, but these are the main ones for me.

view how to blunt (tune) your sharp bits , mast and wings-

[alowishus]

Would be good if SS made a longer mast say 101 in aluminium but somehow a bit lighter than the 91. Surely this is possible I’d buy one

[windmaker]

What kind of weight are we talking of ? Slingshot aluminium masts are known for being particularly heavy.

I own 2 F-One masts. The pre preg carbon 95cm weighs 1.5kg whereas the hollow aluminium 90cm is actually 5 grams lighter .

Anyhow stiffness is way more important than weight .

[alowishus]

What kind of weight are we talking of ? Slingshot aluminium masts are known for being particularly heavy.

I own 2 F-One masts. The pre preg carbon 95cm weighs 1.5kg whereas the hollow aluminium 90cm is actually 5 grams lighter .

Anyhow stiffness is way more important than weight .

The 91cm Slingshot mast is just shy of 2kg. About 22 g per cm length. I've got the old one though. Unsure if the newer ones are different.

[cglazier]

It's simple with masts. Carbon can be a bit lighter and a lot stiffer than aluminum, but it is more expensive. You decide whether you want to spend more money for a nicer ride. Plenty of people are happy with their aluminum masts.

I notice that some top manufacturers (like Levitaz and Alpine) only offer aluminum fuselages so I presume that the advantages of carbon are not as significant with fuselages.

CG

[Kamikuza]

It's simple with masts. Carbon can be a bit lighter and a lot stiffer than aluminum, but it is more expensive. You decide whether you want to spend more money for a nicer ride.

I've heard conflicting information regarding weight vs stiffness for carbon... I'd love to see actual data

[grigorib]

Carbon masts
[+] light for carrying and travel (or jumping)
[+] thinner, less drag (I can feel that)
[+] doesn’t corrode
[+] luxury
[-] costly
[-] less durable, more prone to damage
[-] single piece - not modular for length choice
[-] single piece - can’t disassemble mast from plate for travel
[-] can’t be shortened and re-tapped

Aluminum is just opposite of above

Few tips:
- look for custom alternatives - Stringy’s Slingshot mast plate is 0.8lbs vs 1.5lbs original
- look for custom components - Stringy’s and HoustonKiteboarding Hoverglide-to-Moses adapters are awesome
- make sure mount holes will match the board. Common standard for carbon is 165x90mm spacing, 140x90mm for aluminum

Slingshot 42” (105cm actual) mast 4.1 lbs
Slingshot 91cm mast 3.3 lbs
Slingshot 30” with Moses adapter (80cm total) 5.47 lbs

[OzBungy]

I have had aluminium. I now have carbon. There is almost zero chance I would return to aluminium. The only way I would consider aluminium is if my current gear got destroyed and I was not able to replace it. Even then I would go to extreme lengths to buy something similar to what I have before I settled for aluminium.

The two most obvious benefits of carbon are weight and maintenance. My carbon kit is extremely light. It's super light to carry. The whole kit assembled weighs no more than a kite surfboard. I did a long walk back recently after the wind dropped out. It was less effort to carry my fully assembled foil under one arm than to carry the folded 7m kite in the other hand.

The weight doesn't affect performance that much. It does let me get away with doing some pretty silly moves. I have pulled off quite a few "air tacks" where the foil has popped out of the water mid-tack and I have completed the rotation, landed and sailed away. The foil is so light it just flops around on a single front foot strap.

It's safer. If (when) it hits you it is so light that it just bounces off.

I have 266 hours on my mast. There is zero maintenance required. Absolutely nothing. I scrubbed it once with a scourer and cream cleanser because it looked a bit grubby.

My foils (wings) get the occasional filling of scratches and chips with epoxy paste, a lick of spray paint and a quick sand. That's mostly for cosmetic reasons. My first carbon foil has over 300 hours on it and looks brand new.

Raw aluminium mast is very much cheaper than carbon. But by the time you anodise it and powder coat it and do all the other brand specific things the end product is only a few hundred dollars cheaper than my carbon kit. There's certainly no difference at all when you compare my full carbon sandwich kit with a high end foil brand, and about only $500 more than a complete mass market foil.

PS I also strongly addicted to one piece fuselage and wings and deep tuttle board connection. So nice to use. So clean, simple and robust.

[Huib]

There can be large differences in quality between carbon and aluminum masts.
The aluminum mast from Alpine are lighter and stronger than some carbon masts from other brands.