Toss wrote a very good book based on real experience with intelligent updating to some of the older technologies. We have a copy in the company library and one in the shop.
He is a touch simplistic about design but it’s not intended to be a textbook on
rig design instead it’s a book to show you the current practice as far as maintenance and upgrades goes. The mast design information isn’t wrong or misleading it just covers one very simple method that is most suitable for low tech
rigs and doesn’t work well for a modern high-tech racer or fast cruiser. It’s also intended for the owner/builder instead of the
rigging shop so he doesn’t cover much in the way of swaging technique and holding power of different arrangements of fastenings. I think that’s a shame because he has a lot to contribute to some of the debates about the details but he is very easy to talk to if you want to follow up on what you read.
All the best,
Robert Gainer