Nevertheless, some innovative designers and builders have lately achieved results that bode very well for the future. Today's unstayed, rotating rigs owe a lot to the round-section, unstayed rigs developed by Garry Hoyt, Mark Ellis, Eric Sponberg and Yves Tanton. In some cases, they also helped to establish the credentials of carbon-fiber masts during an era when this material was, to a large extent, banned from yacht racing. However, it's been nearly three decades since the launch of Hoyt's original Freedom 40 cat ketch with its thick, free-standing masts and rather uninspiring upwind abilities. We've finally reached the point where the all-around performance of the latest unstayed rigs is drawing level with most of the conventional alternatives.
Unstayed rigs tend to bend in gusts, automatically de-powering the mainsail as needed.
Provided the engineering and construction are right to begin with, an unstayed rig should normally last the life of the boat. But even with the latest advances in carbon construction, it's so far not been possible to build free-standing wing masts as light as their stayed counterparts. On the other hand, the difference isn't great, and in most cases will be largely offset by a lower center of gravity. As for relative cost, the extra carbon required, particularly to reinforce the butt portion of the unstayed rig, is offset by the absence of spreaders and standing rigging. A major breakthrough in unstayed, rotating rigs for voyaging yachts came out of Britain when Carbospars Ltd. unveiled its AeroRig in 1991.