read here ......

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Sailing/General/Deck-Leaks-Mast-Deck-Collar/?SearchTerms=mast,cutting

Paying attention to what forum member "patrigo28" says, you will find that it is indeed common in WA so that they can get under the bridges to play in the big puddle.

If done correctly why would it lose any strength? All you are really doing is converting a keel stepped mast to a deck stepped mast. There are some very serious sailors in WA and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't go and chop up their masts unless they thought they weren't losing as much as they were gaining by doing it.

If you have doubts, my advice would be to not buy the boat as you will possibly always have doubts about it.

I guess my thinking was that when a mast is deck stepped it is generally constructed differently as to when they are keel stepped and so if the load is transferred to the deck it could potentially cause an issue. On the other hand I would say that if if the tabernacle was constructed properly the load I presume wouldnt increase on the deck. The yacht was originally an offshore yacht bus hasnt sailed more than 100 mile offshore since the conversion so your probably correct in saying I shouldnt proceed if it is going to be on my mind if I want to utilise the yacht offshore again. Cheers!

I agree with Jode5, get a rigger to inspect the alteration. Does the boat have a compression post to transfer the load to the keel in keeping with the original design, or has the main ring frame or bulkhead been modified to take the load?
If the latter, speak to a surveyor, or the company that did the mods, if still worried, walk away.

Most S&S34s have a hinged keel stepped mast to get under the Swan River bridges. They seem to have survived as one of the great ocean passaging yachts of all time.
MB has a deck stepped mast without a folding hinge. I personally do find not having a hinge in the mast reassuring when being battered in a blow. On the other hand, it would be great to be able to lower the mast and go cruising up the Hawkesbury.

I was on board with this topic last year and thought it was finished, but it ain't, so here goes.
What they do in Fremantle would be done Worldwide, if it was known about. What you end up with is not "a deck stepped" mast , but a keel stepped mast, with all its advantages, and none of its disadvantages at the same time as all the advantages of a deck stepped mast, with none of it's disadvantages. My below deck mast is a permanent part of the boat's down below furniture. On deck I can undo four bolts and hinge the mast down, as if it were in a tabernacle. No leaks, no movement. In Fremantle many vessels have mods to their shrouds so they can lower the mast easily. I am not interested in that side of it, just a totally non leaking keel stepped mast, that is easy to remove for painting/mods/whatever. I have only removed the mast twice in 20yrs, once for transport and once for painting. A few months ago there were various owners describing the efforts they go to, to stop their keel stepped masts shipping water. It was unbelievable! How can they live with it!
So, Seacam83, if the above is what you are looking at, and it has been done properly, it IS the only way to rig a keel stepped mast. 20yrs living with its advantages says I know. I cannot think of one disadvantage.