Bend in aluminum mast

[tomfrenock]

I am looking at a Sam L Morse Falmouth Cutter in Sidney, and it appears to have an aftward bend in its mast just above the middle shroud attachment. There are no visible kinks, but there are several flaws in the paint on the main-track area at the point of the bend. My best guess is that something fell onto it while the boat was de-masted for storage or trailering. The amount of bend is hard to estimate, but it us probably about an inch or so of aft deflection at the mast head, which is about ... maybe 8 ft above the bend. I checked the tension on the fore and aft stays, but neither seemed to be overly taught.

My guess is that the main will not be affected much when raising or lowering the sail, but I don't like the fact that such a stout mast was bent. Is this kind of thing repairable, and if so, what should I expect to pay for it? The rest of the rigging looked pretty good visually, but I know that the current owner hit something bringing it from port McNeil to Sidney. This damage required replacing one of the shrouds, and I have no idea if the mast bend could have happened at the same time. The broker will not tell me what happened, such as hitting a bridge or what.

Does anyone have a suggestion? I would appreciate any of your inputs.