Carbon or not Carbon

I don't want to be accused of class-bashing, but OKs definitely went from being cheaper than a Solo, to more expensive than a Solo when they introduced carbon masts. As someone who was considering buying both at the time the uncertainty and speculation about manufacturers like Ceileidh (spellcheck) who may be able to produce super quick (but very expensive masts) in moulds, with inflatable bladders and high modulus fibres blah-blah, drove me towards the Solo option. 

I am sure that many OK sailors think going to carbon masts was a good move, and has made the boats better, but from outside the class it is difficult to see what has been gained.

Not really.

Carbon is about £100 a kilo, epoxy £20 a kg, so the raw material for a mast is a pretty small part of it. what does a bare merlin mast weigh? <4kg I think, so perhaps 2kg carbon, 2kg resin or £240 ish. The value is in putting it together right! Only mass production will drop the prices.

Are Carbon masts really that expensive??  Most masts are retailing around £1000-£1500.  I think if you compare them to the cost of a set of sails they seem like good value.  Although i can appreciate if your pride and joy is an older model and not worth a great deal (money wse) that can seem like a hell of a lot of cash!!  But there seem to be more second hand or broken masts available on the market nowerdays and these seem to be forsale for around £500 making carbon affordable for the masses.