Questions about my Triton rig

[sully75]

Hello all,

First post here and if it sounds like I don't know much, well...I don't.

I have a 1961 Pearson Triton. I sailed her quite a bit this summer, mostly a shakedown, around RI and MA. The boat was great.

I had the rig taken down a couple of weeks ago and it was a bit of a wet shower. Very well recommended rigger pulled the mast (deck stepped) and was shaking his head the whole time. Things he commented on: mixmash of old looking bronze turnbuckles and some (I guess) outdated stainless ones, old swages, old looking wire. The mast has a sleeve of aluminum riveted to it at the spreaders, which he says either a) is hiding some damage or b) is going to cause it to work harden and fail there anyway. There is some amount of paint cracking around the sleeve although on a quick visual nothing is obviously wrong with it.

I talked about having an assymetrical spinaker and he pointed to the jumper spreaders at the top of the mast and how that would interfere with that. I hadn't really thought about it. Additionally I've thought about adding a storm stay-sail, there appears to have been one installed in the past but the fitting is not backed up below deck and the fitting is cracked.

Additional things I've noticed is some rusty stains on the stainless backstay chainplates and on the bronze stem fitting. There is also some discoloration on the sidestay chainplates. I pulled bolts in the spring and everything looked ok but now there is more discoloration.

I really didn't plan on digging into the rig this winter, but now that it seems there's a lot to deal with, I want to get as much done as possible. Also a bit bummed because I will end up paying as much as I paid for the boat and maybe more than it's worth, but I do like the boat very much, and can't really afford another boat, additionally if I bought something else I'm sure that would have problems too.

My desire is to make a bullet proof cruising boat.

I'd love some feedback on my basic plan for the winter.
1) Have the rigger design a new double spreader masthead rig for the boat (same sized mast). I'd like to keep the main the same size as the original as the boat sails great under main alone, but I would like to have the convenience of the masthead rig and the option of having a large jib to deal with weather helm...although the boat generally balances well.
2) find a used mast of slightly larger section than the original. Get someone to weld a strong masthead fitting on it.
3) Based on the riggers plan either splice or swage my own stays.
4) Return all halyards and reefing lines to the mast/boom (currently everything is led back to the cockpit, which as a single hander I thought would be awesome but I end up having to get to the mast to reef the main anyway, so I'm finding it little advantage

I guess my questions are
1) does all this sound reasonable?
2) If I switch to a masthead rig, would I be able to get by with my genoa and working jib as they are for a season or two?
3) splice vs swaging...splice definitely would save some money and additionally I'd have a skill I could use to repair problems in the future...swaging seems a lot easier
4) any experience with the Triton masts? James Baldwin, who is sort of the dean of Tritons apparently broke his at some point, not sure the circumstances.
5) Any thoughts about using a used mast? Obviously not a corroded one but anything else to look for? There are quite a few Tartan 27s getting junked in this area, so I've thought about using one of their masts.

I guess that's about it. Thanks for your thoughts.
Paul