The sanding and clear coating of the CST spars is allowed because they, unlike the old southern spars, do not come clear coated. This means that they are not UV stable. We did a review of this 1.5 years ago when the mast change happened with the help of Brian Bennett. Part of that review was how to clear coat them before they are damaged by the UV. The result is that the mast has to be sanded to a dull finish. Since there are ridges, you have to sand until it is dull between the ridges or the clear won’t bond. In most cases this would be with a 220 grit or higher and the ridges are never fully gone.

 There has NEVER been a “goal” of making it smooth or sanding until the ridges are gone. Or making it match the finish of a Southern Rig.

As mentioned, the southern spars are clear coated from the factory so repairing them would fall under the class rules.

In any case, all clear coating of spars has been required to be tracked with images sent to the Technical Committee. In most cases it has all been done before new boats are delivered.