Boom height wrt boom gallows

[memelet]

My boat (Passport 42) has a boom gallows. Before I tore my rig apart for its rebuild, the gooseneck bracket was mounted at a height that resulted in steep downward angle fore to aft when the boom rested in the gallows. This prevents me from mounting solar panels on top of my hard dodger. Since I now have the gooseneck bracket that bolts on (vs being welded) I would like to lower the boom so that is horizontal when resting in the gallows.

When main in up there is significant clearance between the boom and the gallows:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

(not the best picture...)

So I plan on lowering the gooseneck brack down to just below the winches visible in the picture.

Are there any downsides to lowering the boom? Will there be times when I need a lot of clearance between the boom and gallows?

thanks!
-barry