By your mast tang not having a seperate hole for the trapeze wires, it is an old set up. I do not know about the old mast tang, but the one on my mast has twelve 3/16 rivets around a curved surface. There is no way that one can pull straight out on all of the rivets at any given time. This is a very good design. Even when you drill the rivet heads, you have to take a chisel or a punch to pop the rivet loose from the tang. If your rivets are not loose, go sail, have fun, and do not worry. I have more problems with loose screws on my boat, which I have been putting Lock Tite on. The most important thing on any piece of equipment is to take care to inspect it and keep it in good working order.



If you are worried about this, why not find out what the sheer strenght of a 3/16 SS rivet, multiply it by twelve, and add the dynamics of pulling on the rivets from different angles at the same time.