problem is mast is round, so whatever you cover the mast with, all the force of a mast impact will be applied to a 1/2" wide area on the board nose. So what soft material is not going to compress too much in that scenario, and not be too bulky on the mast when windsurfing? As long as you are on water, a nose pad will only have to absorb some of the mast impact, because the board will get pushed into the water. So you just need a nose pad that will slow down the mast impact enough so that the board has time to push into the water. That is what my two layer nose pad does, and has done many times. 1/16" stiff plastic layer spreads out the 1/2" wide mast impact, 1/2" dense EVA adsorbs part of the impact, and both give the board time to push into the water.