[quote=wlrottge]Back during the aluminum Tornado mast days, because of the variance inherit in the extrusions, teams would buy multiple masts (like 10) just to get one that they liked. Even though they all came from the same place, some were stiffer or more flexible than others; they even needed to attach corrector weights to the tip if they came out too light. Granted, those masts were made for a higher performance boat, and likely to a smaller safety margin than a typical consumer boat; therefore the extrusion is probably thinner than what Nacra or Hobie would sell and variations is the extrusion thickness and grain structure of the metal would be more noticeable. I don't have any data to support this, just a hunch.
Also, don't forget that different alloys have different properties and the base metal could have slight variations from job to job. Additionally, as aluminum ages, it's structure and properties change; assuming I remember correctly, it will get harder, but more brittle over time. Another guess would also be variations in the extrusions produced as the tooling ages and wears.[/quote]
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