Jim, I cut a radius on the base of the mast. The part that I cut out isn't more than the curve of a half dollar. It didn't take that much out. The mast goes right up without a hitch and I've had no issues. I also ground out a gap of about 3/4" of the mast slot up from the base about 2" to clear the wiring that I run down the mast through the center of the mast plate and down through the compression post and into the V berth cavity. All that cutting away hasn't created any problems. Bob Eeg assured me that this wouldn't be a problem when I started this project a couple of years ago. I only raise and lower the mast once a year when I take it out of the slip (unless we have hurricane issues) Joe----- Original Message ----- From: James Poulakis To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 1:10 PM Subject: M_Boats: Bumpety-bump Fellow Jack Tars, Spirit is a 2007 M17. When I try to raise the mast with the shrouds set two things happen: 1) The section that runs crosswise inside the Dwyer mast hangs up on a bolt that sticks up from the mast step. I have almost eliminated this by making a semi-circular clearance cutout in this section but I still get a snag now and then. 2) Even if the mast clears the bolt I still hit a "bump" right before the mast goes full upright. One of Jerry's recent posts says that this is because the base of the mast isn't properly radiused. Cutting a radius using the distance from the center of the pivot bolt to the base of the mast as a guide makes geometric sense, but it cuts away a LOT of the aft edge of the mast base. I'm wondering if this is going to compromise the mast in some way. Has anyone done this? Jim M-17 "Spirit"