cutting mast

[rawsoner]

i recently bought a 1972 rawson 30 with a freind .the masthead is in a bit of a state , frozen sheaves , old halyards,stbd spreader a little wobbly fore and aft , electrical could use an update and it was at one time painted tourquoise then years later black so now its black and tourquoise camo.

my freind also owns a 36' loa w/ bowsprit cutom (coldmold) sailboat that is in our yard.other than the hull (it needs 2 johnson (only) 9.9 longshafts to power it to give you an idea) it was very well rigged ,it has a 39.5' stepped mast which was a cutter rig.
the mast on the rawson is in the neighborhood of 35'.

????'s

could the longer mast be cut down to fit the rawson.

if so what is the best way to fill old holes. if we cut from the bottom up the biggest hole(s) would be from where the halyards exited the mast.

looking for the best yet cheapest meathod to bring the rigging up to date on the rawson.
and i promise i will not put on double backstays

thanks
mike

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
There is a chance that the taller mast, when cut down, will be the perfect stick for the Rawson. It is not a large chance. See, what makes a mast right for a boat is how well it can resist buckling, for a given load, over specific distances. Masts achieve stiffness by radius, by wall thickness, by unsupported length, by how they are attached at the bottom end, by how many wires are attached, and where, and by what they are made of. Did I leave anything out? Anyway, a shorter mast will be stiffer than a tall one, under the same load, but will yours be stiffer enough?
The only way to get a reliable answer is to run the proverbial numbers, calculating the expected maximum compression load on the shrouds, relative to mast length and configuration. The result will be expressed as the moments of inertia of the desired mast, usually as inches to the fourth power. If the moments you need are the same, or close, as the moments of the stick you have, yippee!
As for filling holes, they matter less the closer you are to deck, but you could put nicely shaped plates over them. Is the tall mast tapered? That could be significant.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss