A foil sail goes smooth over water and the mast does not need to have the reflex of a slalom sail but needs to increase stability of the rig to help keep the balance of the foil.
The way a foil sail is cut is to have no back hand and if the mast can follow this characteristic, it will offer the sail a bigger range.
The fact that the luff lengths of foil sails are different to the slalom sails, the reinforcements can follow the luff curve needs to enhance performance in the different areas of the sail.
Generally, a foil mast can be stiffer in the IMCS to lock in forward the profile of the sail, reducing drastically the power of the back hand. Exactly the opposite to a fin sail.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU USE A FOIL MAST IN A FIN SAIL?
The profile will increase in the front and therefore the pressure point will go more to the front, meaning that the power will be taken out from the back hand. When this happens on the water the sail will feel more dead as you won’t be able to push the power to the fin to accelerate and you will lose stability and wind range capacity. The sail will feel stiffer and not reactive. We don’t advice to use a foil mast on a fin sail.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU USE A FIN MAST IN A FOIL SAIL?
The sail will work well till the wind will not be powered up. At that moment, the backhand power will increase, and the stability of the foil will be less. The wind range will be less when powered and some of the stability lost also in the easier conditions. We still advice to use it if you will not be interested in a dedicated mast.
