I recently purchased a 1990 Hunter 18.5 sailboat. Unfortunately, I've broken the mast foot and need a replacement. The mast is a pre-2000 Z 145 and the foot and step for this mast are part no. 3236 (mast foot) and part no. 1112 (mast step base) from US Spars pre-2000 catalog (p. 6). US Spars has a replacement mast foot and mast step base deck plate kit (which I've ordered but haven't received yet). Evidently, installing the kit involves replacing both the mast foot and the mast step deck plate and cutting a hole in the mast to route the halyard. Does anyone know of a less complicated way to accomplish this fix? Perhaps someone can point me to a source for an OEM mast foot that will fit my mast without the need for alteration of the mast. Photo of the broken
mast step is attached. Thanks for any help you may be able to provide.