Why more cruisers should go wireless

You see a yacht with a mast, or masts held up with no rigging and think: ‘What’s going on? Why does it not fall over? This must be wrong – masts are supposed to be held up by wires, yes? All sensible boats have rigging, surely?’

Some of us sailors, and many yacht designers disagree. Freestanding masts are not an experiment, but are wellestablished technology. So why are there not more of them?

Because few sailors have any experience of sailing them. As they are not commonly accepted, the production yacht companies, quite logically, tend not to make them. Designing and building yachts is a very competitive business and sales to such a small minority is unprofitable. Following on, they’re