I wondered how my Gong masts would compare.
Its gone cold and windless….So some tests have been performed.
Full details of the Testing and Analysis can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cSz ... sp=sharing [Ref 2]
The following gives a brief summary of the findings:
The mast hardware I had to hand was:
a) Gong 85cm Carbon Pro
b) Gong 70cm Aluminium V2 + Baseplate (Note. This was a 75cm mast cut down to 70cm).
Comparison of Gong Carbon Pro with Aluminium V2
The Carbon mast was found to be much stiffer in bending than the Aluminium. Bending rigidity was 153% that of the Aluminium.
The Carbon mast was found to be less stiff in torsion. Torsional rigidity was 64% that of the Aluminium !
It is accepted that the test methods are not representative of real use but they do provide a quantitative method of comparing hardware.
Initially I was a bit surprised by the lower torsional rigidity of the carbon mast.
However, maybe this is not so uncommon:
A review of the (eye wateringly expensive) Axis High modulus mast by ‘Wake Thief’ also noted that the torsional stiffness was less than that of its ‘poorer’ Aluminium relation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV6O5vQep8Y [Ref 3]
Comparison of Gong masts with some other hardware.
The following chart compares the measured deflection values with those recorded in [Ref 1]

Superficially the performance of the ‘Gong Carbon 85’ doesn’t compare very favourably.
However, mast length plays a very significant part in the deflection. (Deflection being proportional to Length cubed) and the Gong Carbon mast was significantly longer than the others.
A repeat test on the carbon mast but applying the load (and measuring deflection) at the same distance from the baseplate as ‘Gong Alu 70’, achieved a much better result.
For each mast, the length and deflection (and load) can be used to determine a ‘Rigidity’ value (derivation can be found in the linked document [Ref 2]).
This provides a fairer comparison as the effects of length are taken into account.
Calculated rigidity values are compared below.
This time the higher the value the better.
The performance of the ‘Gong Carbon 85’ now looks very good.
I’ll probably test a Gong Alu V2 85cm and Project Cedrus 90cm, which I have but not at my current location, at some later date.
It would be very interesting to see how the Gong HM masts compare but I doubt I’ll be getting my hands on one of those for some time!
I'm sure I've previously seen a list of mast performance for various different brands but cannot now find it. If anybody has any pointers?
Peter
