: Really doesn't have to be all that tight, on the dinghys the mast steps were
: perhaps 1/16" or so oversize and work fine. Nice thing is they
: support the mast over the entire length, lots less likely to fail than
: just having a step on the sole and a deck support.

: Bill H.
Bill I was looking for a tool to start my mast step and picked up a 1 5/8" saw hole cutter and it dawned on me I was looking at my mast step. The mast set in it with 1/16" clearance and the radius at the bottom snugged and centered the mast. I ground the teeth off and will mount it on a wood platform and then mount the whole thing and coat it with epoxy for rust proofing. Actually I could just epoxy it directly on the bottom of the hull and it would probably be strong enough. Maybe run a fiberglass radius around the bottom for extra strength.

John