Is a straight mast faster?
There use to be just one mast configuration; a tapered mast with jumper struts. Class rules now allow for three; 1) the original tapered mast with jumpers, 2) the newer (stiffer) straight or untapered mast with no jumpers similar to those sold as original equipment on new Stuart’s, and 3) the tapered mast with the original jumpers removed. Class rules were modified recently to allow for the removal of jumpers, presumably to reduce the variances between the two with respect to windage and weight aloft. The only caveat is that, if a boat breaks a tapered mast while the jumpers are removed, class rules encourage replacing it with a straight mast, and not another tapered mast. To date, no boat that we know of has broken a jumper-less tapered mast.
