Hi Guys, Anyone have any ideas on how best to fit mast hound fitting to aluminium mast, 1.6mm wall thickness ? My current mast has a bolt through the end holes of the hounds side-plates which goes through the luff-groove track of the mast, and two rivets each side at the mast hound shackle-point, but I`ve found that the side-plates have bent away from the mast and the bottom of the shackle-point has actually rotated downward, denting the front of the mast at point of contact. I have another hound fitting which has been beefed up and want to use that instead - but it has shorter sides, similar to the one on Macca`s Taipan 5.7. (see attached pic). My question is : Are 3 rivets each side strong enough to cope with the loads imposed by the rig as well as two sailors out on the wire ? We`ve always used a bolt at the end hole, but I don`t want a bolt-hole through the mast section itself as it`s more difficult to seal than a rivet (my opinion). If it works on the T5.7 it should work on a 16ft "miniature Tornado", any opinions ?
