drilling holes in the mast

[Osprey]

I am about to mount a second halyard winch on the mast of Triton #624. Will six new holes in the mast opposite the holes already drilled for the jib halyard compromise the strength of the mast? Any suggestion on how to proceed with this project.

[Chris Campbell]

I've not done this, but have always thought that if I were mounting winches on opposite sides of a mast that I would run bolts right through the mast, through spacers cut to length inside the mast. That way the pull of the winches on the mast would be supported by both sides of the extrusion. But given that you often see winches mounted on one side of a mast only - or on both sides but not opposite - the extrusion must be strong enough to handle the loads without the extra effort of through-bolting...

[Osprey]

We won't be unstepping the mast for a long while because the boat is in the water so our options are limited to whatever we can do from outside the mast.

[ddsailor25]

I don't think you'll have any problems with mounting a winch in that location. If it's a concern drop or raise the location six inches or so. You could through bolt it, but then you have to put six more holes on the opposit side and if over tighted you could damage the mast.

Dave