Tim

My mast is vertical.. no rake for or aft... tell a lie it is 1/2 degree forward as there is a 1/2 degree bend in the mast at the spreaders.. so the top of the mast is directly above the base with the spreaders being 20mm forward of this point, effectively being in a neutral position. When I bought the boat it was raked aft but I could not get the helm balanced until I took out the rake. So if I am reading you correctly... you are saying that due to the position of my centre cases requires a vertical mast to balance the boat therefore side stays may (in this case - do) catch. On newer boats the mast is able to be raked further aft again due to centre case positioning (max aft) and will not catch..??

A couple of questions...
1. How much free rotation should a mast have... 180 degrees? I now have approximately 120 until the side stays grab where as before I changed the upper diamond attachment point I reckon I had maybe 60 degrees.
2. If I do rake the mast to clear the side stays how then do I balance the helm?
3. How do you guys insert a pic directly into the post like you have done..?? I can attach but have never worked out how to attach direct in a post.

I will chuck the mast up today in a raked position and see how it looks...

Cheers