[paulk]

Just a question: are you doing this move because the mast won't pivot down with the chainplates where they are? I would want to be absolutely sure of that before going to all the work of redoing the wiring and compression post. We had a somewhat similar situation with our deck-stepped Soling mast, with the shroud bases a touch forward of the step. There was sufficient give in the setup to enable us to drop the 30' mast despite this. This month's Woodenboat also has a nice article on a folding mast refit that might be useful to you.