Hi Mossies,

Over the last few months I have been slowly working on building a new mast. I have never built a mast before so this has been very much a learning experience. Matt has given me a lot of help and advice for which I am grateful (thanks Matt).

Now I have come to the curly question of how far to put the diamond T-bolts below the hound. Obviously I want the diamonds as high as possible without hitting the shrouds when the mast rotates.

The first thing I did was look at the three old masts we have; their dimensions vary from 230mm to 350mm.

Then I got to thinking about what factors would affect the shrouds hitting the diamonds, and this is what I have come up with...

If the hound is such that the shackle has free clearance from the mast, and if the shackle pin is smaller than the hole in the hound so it is free to move, then when the mast rotates the leeward shroud will won't be affected much.

However if the shrouds are closely fixed to the hound then when the mast rotates the leeward shroud will get wound around the mast (like a rope around a windlass). And that will effectively lower the position of the top end of the leeward shroud, and cause it to come closer to the diamond.

I am sure there are a few old crusty mast builders out there, so if anyone has followed me this far, could you please tell me if you think I am on the right track?

Thanks,
Greg.