When I first got my boat, there was a pretty big dent/bend in the base of the mast. I soon realized the cause was from the mast raising system gin pole. If it was not positioned just right, when the mast was fully upright, it would put pressure on the gin pole, bending the base of the mast inward. I found a nice rounded mast cap at Minnies Yacht Surplus, which has a couple more places to put blocks or to run lines, so I replaced the flat cap with that and moved the flat cap to the base, which gave it more strength, preventing it from getting damaged again. The top of the mast looks better now too!

I also drilled three more holes in the chickehead, and moved the main halyard to a new sheeve there, which provides a better straight pull up the slot. I also added a topping lift. The third hole is for a nylon bushing used as a spacer.