Hi Brian,
There is certainly no shortage of twenty-foot lengths out there, but I want a forty-foot length. I'm leery of a butt weld or a sleeve joint, or anything that involves welding on tempered aluminum (yes, yes, the base is welded on, but since the specs call for T6 temper, it's re-tempered after welding). Anyway, the base plate casting is ASTM A356 aluminum alloy; no reason why it shouldn't take far more compression than would make the pole buckle. I'm concerned more with tweaking the deck at the partners if the windward shrouds should ever be slack for any reason, though I can't think of a scenario where they would be.....
Ben
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