Hi Bill, You bring up a very interesting point about the shroud bolt. It makes engineering sense to me............... But, when you buy a bolt it is straight. Do you think Jerry bent the bolt before installing it as a bit of engineering whipped cream on the ice cream sundae? After my mast bending episode last fall, I found the bolt to be straight, when I disassembled all the rigging. When the accident occurred, the mast was up; all shrouds were attached as my driver moved car with trailer forward until a large oak tree branch said STOP. At that point, the forestay contacted the oak tree branch, and sufficient force was applied to the forestay to finally cause the mast to buckle in compression, and fold over. So, with all this force applied to the forestay, the bolt still was straight. e.g. I can only surmise that maybe Jerry did bend the bolt a tad for the improved esthetics of the installation. But, .........after I installed a new bolt, after buying the boat, it's been sailing with the straight bolt for several years and I notice no detrimental effects using the straight bolt. Connie