Anyone have any pearls of wisdom on mast type/section for an NSM4 with a hog step alloy and 26 stones on board cos ours leans a bit to far to starboard from the foredeck up and has a nice fold as an optional extra.

Try a Californian Redwood, long lasting and very stiff

Try nicking a scaffold pole from a building site.

Proctor D or Superspars M7 will be your best bet.

A few people have hog stepped carbons, but without lowers / puller the gate puts too much strain on them and they break.

Carbon can be used I reinforced mine 75mm each side of possible stress point, 4 layers 200gm carbon tapered out. Basically doubling the wall thickness to prevent the wall crushing hence failure.
Or take the oppertunity to deck step your boat really no big deal, take a look at the 'lawrie 
Smart' folder in the 'Biulding and repairs' section of 'Photos'. It's a long winter what else is there to do! Regards Barry.

Thanks for the input. Looks like i`m sticking with another M7 or I could use a telegraph pole, but i`m not sure about the gust response or is that just someone belching down the phone?

Superspars carbon mate, works a treat on an NSM4

to above, deck or hog stepped ?

I'm pretty sure SS will do you a carbon mast for anything.

Haven't lots of the Thames boys got hog-stepped carbon?

You do NOT want to hogstep a standard SS carbon without adding lowers and a puller.

It will break at the gate in the first big breeze you sail in.

There is too much of a gap between the point of sideways load (gooseneck) and the point of support (gate), and the mast is too flexible to cope without a puller with the kite up.

Deckstepping was adopted for a very good reason.

There are boats around with hog stepped carbons, Deep Thought for one but that was also fitted with lowers and a puller.

I dont know if its what you are after but I have spare Proctor you could try, I favour the SS M7 on Sweet Charity if you plan to sail throgh the winter you could have it until the replacement arrives.

Thanks for the offer Scott but the boat has already been winched up into the roof of Johns garage using the merlin`o`matic and I have a large mountain of other stuff to finish before the start of Feb so no more sailing for a while. Might be interested in trying the Proctor to compare. I had a Proctor on my last Merlin but hard to compare with a couple of years in between.

What happend? were you taking core samples of the Tay estuary seabed?

Nope we must have just loaded the rig up in a gust cos no nosedives no drama and no noise or tell tale signs of it happening. We spotted it when we took the cover off the next time. 4 degree list to starboard and a nice crease at the foredeck mast gate in both mast and collar. Lucky it didn`t fold and customise the foredeck. It wasn`t even very windy.