Steve,
Not sure I would splice at the spreaders.
I would like to take the opportunity and liberty to add a few other concerns.
•it is not as easy as I thought it would be
•with the mast tearing at the spreaders I am sure you will need to remove a portion of the original mast, most likely a foot or more.
•because the boom is so close to the deck you can’t afford to be short of a 28.0’ over all length.
•right now the supply of old rigs is in short supply due to the hurricanes recently.
Yes, I found a Cat 22 rig to modify my original rig.
I am making all mods are at the bottom of the spar.
The way it is looking now is I am needing to do both internal sleeve and external doublers.
The wall thickness is so thin I just don’t trust it. Feel free to call me I’ll send you a PM.