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AThanks for all the great info. Both my boats are 50 years old, and this is the first broken spar. Would Marine Tex be an appropriate glue?Still lurking, so I'll offer some advice: do NOT weld aluminum, as it will anneal the metal and make it weaker, just use 2-part epoxy glue to secure the insert inside the spar, and use thin rectangular sheets of aluminum to fill any gap between insert & spar, applying glue to every surface for maximum adhesion. I did this with the broken lower mast section of Laser #2069, adding an outer sleeve to boot, and it worked like gangbusters for many years after the repair... I originally took it to a master marine welder to see about repairing it that way, but the hand was so honest he did himself out of a job, told me the aluminum would be annealed and the spar would just break again, aye? I figured he was the expert... he was also the one who suggested an insert, the additional outer sleeve was my idea for maximum strength on island voyages, totally worth the slight bit of additional weight. I don't see any problem with adding an inch or two to the spar, that won't add much weight and I reckon the gooseneck can be shifted if necessary, though a mere inch or two shouldn't make any difference. You might also need to add an end cap or smoothen the surface "gap" in the extended spar, just my $.02, FWIW. CHEERS!!!