thats a no i recon, the alloys aged brittle and corroded and really has reached end of life. if you could find a tube with the correct dimensions to sleeve it on the outside it will not have the flex that the mast requires for sail shape and maybe too wide to insert in the mast step
No, that can't be repaired in a way that would keep it legal. You're lucky in that only the outer tube broke so you were able to sail home (assuming this happened on the water!), but unlucky in that now your insurance company thinks that it's no big deal. Would it help to get a written statement from a class official declaring that mast unfit for racing?
Why would you go through you insurance for a $300 spar section? Unless you have a $0 deductible, I wouldn't think it is worth it plus the potential to raise your rates because you submitted a claim. Interesting strategy.
That's good to know! Once I started trailering some distances a good bit I picked up a policy, but figured it would only be helpful for a road incident or it I really t-boned someone on the race course.
No, the Radial mast is still much lighter. The construction (by Ian Bruce, and as I understand it) was made like that to get an optimal bend using standard tubes available in the early 1980s. It was only much later discovered that it may bend permanently under extreme vang tension, and is now being changed to carbon.