Definitely apply it. And varnish, too (unless you're painting the spars).

Laszlo

���Yes I epixied and varnished the mast and spars of my lug rigged skerry. I think it's the right course. The mast and yard do rub on the mast some so the epoxy makes the finish a bit harder. I also made leather chafing gear on the mast at the intersections .

From the dory manual: You could epoxy the spars but it's a pain, adds weight and we wanted to finish the things in less than a week so we just varnish them.

Ok, that's a rough paraphrase based on memory. I varnished mine four (five?) years ago, just redid them last spring. No troubles at all. No leathers either. The eastern white pine I used dents easily but the varish has been quite robust.   

   Yuck, I hate typing on my phone in a website like that last post I made.  "Epixied"?  What's that, tiny digital fairies?  :-)  Anyway, I never understood the bit about too much weight.  I only put a couple of thin layers on.  It can't be more than 8 ounces of epoxy spread over the whole mast.  It does make varnishing easier I think.  Probably 3 coats of varnish and it looks fine.  I've touched up the varnish with a foam brush a couple of times.  If you aren't super picky, you'd never spot the patches. Easier to touch up than paint.  And with the epoxy sealing the wood, less chance of failure due to moisture behind the varnish.  But, give the varnish 2-3 weeks to harden up fully if you can.