The spars
The original spars were made by Needlespar and were those currently used by the Europe class. This gave the Lightning a very flexible unstayed mast and a stiff boom. The mast is simply dropped into a socket in the hull which means that there is no tuning required for the mast position or the rig. A benefit of the strict one design. This very flexible mast when combined with a stiff boom makes the sail easy to control and therefore the boat can be sailed well by helms of a wide range of weights.
Many boats have a two piece mast which is much easier to transport by those sailors without a trailer. This mast differs only in the details of the join between top and bottom section and performs identically with a one piece mast.
Recently the original spars have become unavailable and an alternative was found from Superspars. This alternative mast is produced with a carbon fibre top and an alloy bottom section. The class association purchased a mast for trial, and after a number of different helms had tested it over a year, its performance was almost identical to the original Needlespar mast and so the Class rules were amended to allow the use of this new mast.
If any sailors have an accident a 'Hybrid' mast using the original bottom and carbon top (or vice versa) can be constructed. Please contact the class association for details.