Gary - Some rigs locate shrouds fore and or aft of the primary or Upper shroud. (Most Catalina boats with masthead rigs are set up this way) - It actually makes for one of the stronger rigs available because the center section of the spar is held in column with the lowers located fore and aft at each side of the uppers. Movement is restricted at the spreaders due to lower shrouds limiting fore and aft movement and to a smaller degree the athwartships movement also being limited. No good for adjusting mast rake 'on the fly' but when properly adjusted, the spar will stay where it was set with the shrouds. There is the opportunity to induce some bend by overtensioning either fore or aft set of lowers. Sort of a bomb proof rig config., only exceeded by the ' twin stay' types for redundancy. I will be removing my aft and fore lowers and reinstall inline lowers as built.My initial reason for this setup was a concern for the spar to invert due to the additional length and all shrouds being in line - I hate it when the mast bends back in the spreader area! LOL. We think we got that handled. GO Take Care, Have Fun, Go Sailin' M-17 # 316a LB/GF! Team Geezer Racing.....Old and in the Way Arizona Sailing Squadron **************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with Tyler Florence" on AOL Food. (http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4&?NCID=aolfod00030000000002)