While working at the recent Open Boat Day at the Broker Building in Alameda, I showed our selection of 7 boats to a guy who is just starting to look at buying a boat, sometime in the next 3 years. So, I took the opprtunity to point out something that I had not really noticed previously, about the masts on three boats that happen to be lined up next to each other. I took some pictures to illustrate and compare them. Two of them have no backstay, which is a rather significant feature.
The top picture is the most striking: the 1998 Freedom36, which has a carbn fiber mast with no backstay. The middle picture is of a 2007 Hunter38, which also has no backstay, but it supported by sweptback spreaders and interwoven shrouds. The bottom picture is a 2020 Catalina355, with a traditional mast and backstay, for comparison.
There are other things to notice and compare, but my focus at the mement is on these masts themselves and how they are supported by the standing rigging (or not). Some people love the simplicity of the Freedom and others want the openness of the Hunter cockpit that result from no backstay. Others prefer an old fashioned traditional mast with a backstay. As always, there are tradeoffs in these design decisions. I guess the final judgement is in the eye of the sailor.
If this topic interests you, come walk our broker docks and look at these boats with me. There are many more boats with features to point out, compare and contrast.