Maybe you can clarify a bit on your gooseneck fitting. I agree with Larry that it sounds like you are trying to mate a threaded fitting to a threaded hole in the mast. That is a very poor way of making the connection and if that is the way it was originally it is likely why you had a failure. Bolted joints are good in tension but in order to take a shear load they need to have a pre-load between the mated parts. You can't get any pre-load if you thread both pieces. Without pre-load the bolts will work in the threaded hole and damage the threads.