Axis, Unifoil, Project Cedrus are really good. I’ve seen a few lift and gong masts break, but can’t comment on their HM version carbon masts.
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Thanks have not heard of unifoil so need to check that out.
In the masts you have seen break was there any common reason or point of failure?
The Unifoil product does seem nice and not quite as crazy expensive as some of the others. Thanks again for that info.
1050usd, not crazy expensive? You must have a good salary 
Or no kids…
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No to the salary and yes to kids😀
I was comparing the $1000 US to $1500 US neither of which would I ever buy. 
I can see value in paying more for good quality motor, vesc, battery and to some degree the foil wing but I personally just don’t see the logic in the huge cost differential of a CF vs Aluminum mast. I don’t ever see myself riding in such a manner that I would even notice the performance difference.
Of course that price/performance/aesthetic value is an individual choice and if someone can afford a state of the art all carbon rig and it makes them happy then more power to them.
I did that with my likely last windsurfing rig. Full on matched race gear - cost a bunch but to me it was worth it at the time. I would be lucky to get 10% of what I paid if I tried to sell it today😉
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This picture speaks for itself: thinness, rigidity, plenty of room for the cables and the forced flow cooling (Raiden 7 
).
Credit: 2023 TRIBORD WNG 500 wingfoil mast by Taaroa for Decathlon. They are more expensive than Gong though.
Taaroa-kitefoil launched their first production carbon race kitefoil, the Sword, in… 2012.
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If you would like to learn about mast design, here is a podcast dedicated entirely to that: Stream episode Kyle Lobisser of Project Cedrus Masts by The Progression Project podcast | Listen online for free on SoundCloud
The short summary is that a well designed carbon mast will exceed an aluminum mast by every metric (weight, stiffness, strength, and drag) albeit more expensively. I cannot tell you whether or not it’s worth it. That is a personal financial decision, not a technical/engineering decision.
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I think otherwise, a more holistic approach is to ask what can this money add to my kit?
when you can get 3-4 wings, or one wing and a board instead of buying one carbon mast it cannot be said to be worth it.
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So from your site carbon is $1100 and aluminum is $230 - $330
So ~ 4 X cost differential, is it 4 X better in all of the qualities you state?
I don’t see it personally. I’m with @larsb I would spend the other $750 on something else.
A new Porsche 911 is 10x more than a used Honda Civic. Worth it? A carbon bike is usually 2-3x an aluminum with the same spec. Worth it? A Prada shirt is 100x the cost of H&M. Is that worth it?
These are worthless arguments, as they are entirely personal. I have an e-foil, and I kite foil, and I wing foil. When I wing and kite, I absolutely appreciate the 1kg less weight I have to walk around the beach or maneuver in the water. When I e-foil, no it doesn’t matter and my aluminum mast is fine. I have customers who buy 4 carbon masts in their desired lengths because they foil 200 days a year. I also have customers who say the aluminum mast is too good! Spend your money however you wish, I’m not hear to argue that. I’m strictly here to offer from a technical standpoint that the carbon fiber is a superior material to aluminum and when designed properly can yield noticeable benefits over an aluminum mast. Whether the benefits are the worth the cost to you is not something I can argue.
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Yeah, i agree with your logic. To each wallet their own choice😄
Maybe a better question is for who is it worth it, really.
A pro rider with 200 days per year, yes
An intermediate / 95% of us commoners? Maybe not?
And an even better question is how much actual CF mast stiffness is left after damaging the foam core with the cable routing channel. In a pessimistic scenario you end up paying more for an inferior outcome. However it will still be lighter than alu.
It’s not about a pro rider or not…
If you have the money and it feels better to you, then it’s worth it.
Heck even brand junkies that fundamentally know their brand choice is worse and are willing to pay for it, tell you it’s worth it. Most of it actually just comes down to an emotional justification…
I’ve ridden 5 different aluminium efoil masts and the lift carbon mast. Ironically the most fun I’ve had has been on the cheapest and thinnest aluminium mast but with the best wings…
Hmmmm kind of an aggressive response to my question and for that matter off tone in a forum of supportive users, particularly for a vendor who is promoting their product.
I started the thread in this Category
I’m hoping there can be a productive exchange of ideas and sharing of hands on experiences using the two main choices of mast construction. The price/performance metric is a big part of that comparison imho.
Let me try to rephrase my question
You mention 4 metrics - weight, stiffness, strength, and drag
Can you provide a percentage or measurable difference for each metric?
For example is the CF mast x% or y grams lighter the equivalent aluminum product
I think if he was promoting his product he’d just tell you carbon was outright better. I think his tone was actually fair and helpful.
For efoil a carbon mast is more luxury…
Carbon masts gain no stiffness or strength from the foam core. The core (whether it be wood, foam, etc) is a byproduct of the manufacturing process and used to reduce the weight of the structure by using a lower density material near the neutral axis of the beam where it is subject to less bending stress. Cedrus and NoLimitz and Cabrinha are all hollow due to different manufacturing processes than typical compression molded solid carbon masts (Axis, SAB, etc).
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If you actually listened to the podcast, and reviewed the blog, you could answer all of those questions. Instead you simply stated that the carbon mast is $750 more than aluminum and therefore not worth it to you. So you posted your question in a forum dedicated to learning, and an industry veteran with 20 years of design and engineering experience offers to help, and you blow him off. Sounds like your decision was made before you even asked the question.
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OK more aggression.
I assume one of the reasons you are on this forum is to promote your product(s) and in fact now having read some of your previous posts that’s exactly what you have been doing at least in part.
You are suggesting I spend 1.5 hrs listening to a podcast to “educate” myself rather than answer some simple questions about your products and how they compare.
If you don’t want to answer in a civil manner that’s your choice but I have the same choice when it comes to which vendors product I buy.
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This is not aggression and this is my last response. You asked for information regarding carbon masts, so I sent you a podcast regarding carbon mast design and how they can be superior to aluminum masts. You didn’t listen to the podcast, but instead reposted a site for Project Cedrus and brought up pricing yet accuse me of promoting my product. Every single question you ask can be answered if you listen to the podcast and/or browse the site. There are weight differences, discussions RE: stiffness and drag, and so much more. But like I said, you seem to have made up your mind and don’t really want to actually learn or acknowledge that what may not be worth it to you is worth it to others. As someone who designs and sells both carbon and aluminum masts for a living, I do not think I am being aggressive by simply stating facts in response to your very subjective feelings. I don’t appreciate the accusations and assumptions you make, and will happily resign from this forum seeing as though people do not find value in the technical knowledge and experience I bring. I have no interest in being a salesman; I am an engineer. So no stress whatsoever if you chose to spend you money elsewhere. Fortunately I have hundreds of customers who recognize the quality of my design and manufacturing and are happy to buy masts.
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This is from my intro post to the thread, so yes I came in with a biased opinion but was open to being convinced otherwise.
Your first post in the thread was a link to your own podcast and thereby the products you are selling. The link wasn’t posted by someone else so that’s “self-promoting” which I personally dislike so I chose to not listen to it.
In that post you also made a statement:
“well designed carbon mast will exceed an aluminum mast by every metric (weight, stiffness, strength, and drag) albeit more expensively.”
I researched your products because I wasn’t familiar with them and found that the cost differential was about 4X and therefore asked if the CF version was 4X “better”
You somehow took offence to my post and replied in a manner that I found aggressive in tone. You have decided to continue that tone, which seems to be a recurring response in many of your other posts where you have used the term “ignorant” or used bold text to make your point.
I would point out to you that you are not the only participant here with an engineering degree or vast experience in design or depth of subject knowledge in foiling so perhaps you are not the sole arbitrator of “facts” or how other participants should learn something.
Since you have declared you are not going to post in this thread again I attempted to answer my own question on the 4 metrics using info that I could locate on your website.
Weight - for an approximate length of 80cm your CF classic mast is about 500-600grams lighter. For my e-foil application this is a non issue given total weight of rig.
Stiffness - I couldn’t find any actual test numbers - I would believe that CF is stiffer than Aluminum but by how much in all dimensions is not defined.
Strength - Again couldn’t find numbers but you indicate that both the Aluminum and CF masts are very durable and don’t seem to differentiate between the two so I can only assume they are equal in real life application.
Drag - Again no data posted that I could find but since the actual shape in cross-section of the two products is the same I can’t see drag as a meaningful metric in the first place.
In summary my opinion is that the 4X price/performance ratio in your products is not justified for my use case. As I stated in prior posts in this thread others may feel differently.