Had occasion to use my old fat mast today, since getting a skinny 2 years ago. No I will never change back ...but it seemed like it was easier to waterstart like the sail floated higher. Are they less dense / more bouyant?

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Cruiser1755 said...

Had occasion to use my old fat mast today, since getting a skinny 2 years ago. No I will never change back ...but it seemed like it was easier to waterstart like the sail floated higher. Are they less dense / more bouyant?

They are more bouyant.
The volume of water displaced is proportional to the radius squared, so double the radius gives 4 times the volume = 4 times the displacement = 4 times the bouyancy.
Which means if they ever invent a super-fat mast, when your board sinks you can just sail home on the mast. Well ,,,... maybe. Wellll, probably not.

(Although they are not twice the radius so the difference is not quite that much.)

= 4x more water to get trapped in the mast
= 4x more heavy to lift when it fills with water.