Remove Lower Shrouds?

[happypagan]

I have a 1977 Helms 30. The boat has a rather beefy 7x4" 40' mast with 1 upper shroud per side and 2 lower shrouds per side.

When flying spinnaker with pole, the forward lower shrouds severely limit the swing of the pole. This is no big deal on most days, but when wind is strong, setting the spinnaker at this near 30 degree angle can really be overpowering and can bring us close to broach.

I am trying to make an educated calculated decision on removing these two shrouds and attaching them to the same chainplate as the uppers to allow full sweep of the pole.
This main chainplate already has an extra mounting hole in it; the new location would make the two forward lowers be on the mast centerline as viewed abeam.

I would lose the ability to place any bend in the mast, but it is so thick that this has never really been possible anyway. My main concern is safety and damage to equipment.

So is this going to cause a dismasting or are these two shrouds located forward merely to control mast bend?