use the redneck insurance policy:

many of us in my area use these tree augers shown above with good results (up to about 45-50mph) on our beach. above that wind they pull out and old tiedown lines snap.

In this picture from 2 years ago i have 3 tie downs in play. 1 on each side with rope going across the hulls, and one out of shot aft of the boat that has a line wrapped around my beams.

these days i would move my tie-downs in a bit and also work my trap handles into my tie down rigging

A good outdoorsman would put those anchors in at an angle and get enough hold down power to hold that boat down in a Hurricane. I anchored a 6.0 in my yard with 2 of those ran in at an angle and it held through Hurricane Ike.

A good sailor would take the mast down in a Hurricane

Wasnt my boat but it was in my yard. The anchors were already in, so I just tied it to them. Had bigger fish to fry getting my boats to safety. Allways fun to experiment with someone elses stuff

as i said "these days i would move my tie-downs in a bit and also work my trap handles into my tie down rigging"

however, there is no way in the world i would leave my cat on the beach/or with the mast up in any hurricane. That would be grossly irresponsible, negligent and liable if/when your gear hurt someone/something

Like I said, it wasn't my boat. However, by looking at those photos, it's clear to see why those anchors pull out when you have them straight in the ground. Not rocket science.

yep, and using your traplines puts all of the resistant leverage at the top of your mast where it can do the most good against the wind blowing on your .... wait for it, MAST.
Not that I'm one to be giving advice on tying your boat down this year. I know how to do it, sometimes I just neglect to do it.

Ok, so the mast I have has no base. I plan to cut a new one from several layers of stainless. Right now I am considering changing the mast step system to one similar to the AHPC version, and no longer using the ball. Is there any other systems I should look at and take note from?

They replenish our beach (causeway) with very soft and fine sand (think kids sandbox). I wouldn't trust anything to hold (besides buried boards) in +50mph wind when it gets water logged (regardless of angle). Even if i had a great, trusting system ... the cat parked down the beach often doesn't...

I even carry spare augers to tie down other peoples boats in summer if i am concerned they can flip on me

It is simple, winds predicted above 25-30, mast comes down. boat goes home.

The Riba section is shorter and heavier than Marstrom's M20 mast, which is longer and lighter than the N20c mast. That mast holds ~380 lbs of crew weight with a 24sqm main and 24sqm spinnaker double trapped reaching.... granted, I've burned holes in it with my eyes where I think its going to let go, but they never have. Every one of those masts that have come to the US have broken, some to design/construction failure, others to flips or mismanagement on the water or beach. That mast has to be handled carefully!

There is one crazy project boat that uses the Riba section with a LOT of sail area and huge beam dimensions. The mast was easily the best part of the Jav HT.

That's not much of an endorsement....

I'm interested to hear how this works out. He got the HT mast from me, I was a little surprised he chose to go this route, I expected him to get the i20 mast instead.

I have a repaired carbon i20 mast if anyone wants it.

Jake,
The Riba HT mast is a quality mast. I only know of one that broke and that was from getting tossed a couple hundred yards in a tornado (it was mine, so I know the laminate, fixed it and sold it.) Its got a better profile thant the i20 mast.

Riba makes chassis parts for Ferrari...

Someone asked about the Tornado section that Forte makes. Its way heavy, I bought one and returned it. Its an older style profile. Lars Guck ground the mast track off a aluminum T mast and gave it to Forte, so you are getting an oversized section based on an outdated shape. I wasnt impressed.

So on a rain day I got to doing a little more work on this project.

It seems that the easiest, simplest mast base could be made to use a tapered cone and seat for the mast step. Pretty much the same that I have observed on some A cats. Is there any considerations I should make before adopting this system?

I measured the mast section at ~2.3125 and ~5.625, that was not using calipers but tape measure. I believe this means the HT mast is very similar to an A mast section? Obviously its much heavier.

I need to decide whether to make new rigging, or move the hound on the HT mast. New rigging will be made in either case, but it makes sense to me to try to use something off the shelf. Any thoughts on using a "T" hound?

The tapered cone and seat should be fine, that's quite similar to the orginal design. How will you attach the new/moved hounds? Just rivets into the tube makes me nervous, although that may be how the factory issue is attached. I sure wouldn't lower the hounds and have more unsupported mast above. And if you were to raise them, wouldn't you want to reconfigure the diamonds too? And then you've probably changed the mast bend characteristics, not a problem if you can have a main built to fit.