: It will be free standing Bill. It pretty much duplicates the Balogh masts
: therefore I think it will be plenty strong. Especially with the extra
: reinforcement of the inter tubes extending all the way through the outer
: tube where as Balogh's only extends about 6 inches as I understand. If I
: run into any problems I’ll keep the fish mouth in mind. Thanks.

: John

Hi John,

Was kinda under the weather the last couple days, sorry didn't work on the mast figures. I would though suggest that since you're free standing the stick that you add a doubler in the mast base. Btw a really nice and strong step for a free standing mast can be made by wrapping the mast base with a few layers of heavy paper, then covering with shipping tape, then lay glass over that, several layers. Once cured the whole thing can be slipped off the mast, the paper slips nicely over itself, and then the tube can be glassed into the boat that will very closely match the mast and support it for it's whole length. Did that for several sailing dinghys and they work great, just drop the mast in the hole and use the downhaul to hold it in place

Bill H.