I ended up having the crack welded, and then a piece of 1/8 inch aluminum welded over the area on both sides (it seems the other side had a small hairline crack starting as well). This way, the mast is now twice as thick in this area. From what I heard from Cory and Hall Spars, and from what my welder said, I'm not worried about the mast in that area. The welder basically said its better then it ever was (at least there, the rest of the mast is still 26 years old [Linked Image from j30.us].

Had our first race with it last weekend out in 25 knots. Everything held up great and no more worries. Will probably still look into a new mast tube over the winter. That way I won't have to think about any of it anymore. [Linked Image from j30.us]