billyboy start by cutting what u have to from the top of the mast .

You can.....but I don't know what effect it will have on the mast? maybe take a little off the top and a little from the bottom?
Is that the sail and boom in the photo what your are using at the moment?
Start going to the recycle depo on the weekends, people throw out heps of that old windsurfing stuff and you can pick it up rather cheap.....It should be free but they try to make a quid from anything.
Like everyone has said, start saving some coin for a 400 and 430....it will be a must.

Cheers.

Of course you can.

Use a hacksaw with a good new blade, small teeth.

Wrap a bit of tape around it first to get a straight cut. Keep turning it around as you cut, don't try to go from one side to the other, go from every side to the middle if it makes sense. Bit of filing and sanding at the end and all an easy job.

Top, bottom or bit of both, whatever takes your fancy. (I would go top myself, but depends on the bung in the top).

Guarantee you won't notice the difference between that mast at 460 and that mast at 400, except for the length.

Tell ya a story :

I got some rims and tyres on my car. The beads leak air. All four would go flat in about 3 days. Were like that for years. HAds to pump them up all the time. Tried everything to fix 'em, cleaned them out 100 times, sand the rims back, lube them up, put bead locks on, pump up to 60 psi and then let them down to 30 psi. Sure those things helped, but never fixed it.

Then one day I thought - what if glued the tyres to the rims. Spoke to a few people, everyone said said don't be stoopid, won't work, can't work, dumb idea, 1000 reasons not to do it. Then I met a bloke who had actually done it.

Now I got tyres glued to my rims that don't leak air. They don't break, they don't wobble, you can remove them to fix punctures, they are great.

Moral is - no idea.

But, the answers to all your questions are yes, course you can, go try it, then go sailing.

Practice will make you a better sailor quicker than a new mast will.

And, if that is your boom in the picture you need a new boom before you need a new mast. Get a boom with a clamp on head. Gun Sails brand new $215 delivered, top quality - or find a cheap old one