In the normal run of things, a few cutouts with plates won't do the boom any harm. I guess if you had them tightly packed side to side at a point of bending stress on a boom that's already pushing the lightness envelope you could cause a problem but up towards the gooseneck the boom really experiences only mild compression strain. If you put a lot of holes in the attachment area of a mid-boom sheeting, then you'd have some trouble.
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