Dom:
Here is what I did: My C&L 44 came with a puny mast mounted on the upper deck, with stays that interfered with accessing the upper deck safely. The first time I used it for lifting, I lifted a Sabot hull, under 50 lb. and the cast aluminum base broke, causing all to come crashing down.
First I had a proper tabernacle base fabbed of Stainless. Then, when I changed up from the Sabot to a laser, 150 lb., I relocated the mast to the lower deck, so that I could do away with the stays and support the mast at the upper deck, raised the height of the masthead by a few feet, lengthened the boom so that it would extend far enough over the side to actually pick up the laser. The new mast is made of aluminum pipe, cheap stuff that is readily available, and has the spreaders from the original mast welded on up high, lights, anchor light, radar, steaming light, flag halyards, and most important, no stays to interfere with access to the upper deck. I have noted some minor bending when lifting the laser, so I sometimes put a safety line from the spreader bases to the rail opposite the load, but this comes off right away after the lift. I have to lower the mast to enter my shelter, so I had a two legged support fabbed of 1.25" square aluminum, and I lower it using only a line to the radar support. That method works well for me, but is too heavy for my wife to attempt. Simple, effective, not overly expensive, and looks good too.