Masts

a stayed mast can be tensioned using the shrouds and the jib
You can set it to crew/helm weight etc

An unstayed mast can only be racked on kicker/main sheet

Originally posted by alstorer Stayed rigs give much more control of the mast shape and postion. Unstayed mast are usually so for ease of rigging and simplification of sailing.

Although an unstayed mast such as that on a finn surely makes the sailing more difficult?

Potentially also a reduction of drag, although the beefier mast section required will add more weight compared to the stayed equivalent.
If you really want to stayed masts can be made ridiculously thin (see Star) but the attendant risks in case of rigging failure or oversight are greater. (see errrr.. Star...)

Bu**er. agreeing with the grumpy one again.  The way Una masts are built now'a'days is extremely complex (laser rubbish exempting.. ). Ask the guys at tropical who built Shirleys Europe mast if they think a lack of stays equates to a lack of complexity.

An unstayed mast can only be racked on kicker/main sheet

Errr in a word NO. 

Edited by tack'ho

Originally posted by m_liddell ...for singlehanders there no doubt that can be made to work well.

Made to work adequately anyway... folk keep trying them in Moths, but I don't think there's been a competitive unstayed rig since the 1960s - about the time the Europe branched off.

Its worth noting that, AIUI, a lot of the complexity and manufacturing difficulty in SRs notorious Europe mast was as a result of the need to get the bend right whilst conforming to the tight class rules on external dimensions. This meant that they couldn't add or subtract layup from the outside of the spar to meet the requirements. Consequently changes had to be made to the inside which is rather trickier to do.

Edited by JimC