I'd start with no modifying at all and hoist the sail with a "loose
bottom". In other words you don't shove the foot in the boom but you
only attach the bottom with the front eye to the reef-hook using a
4"of strong line and the the rear opening of the bottom end in the
normal way (sorry, English is not my native language).
That way you can hoist the sail a bit higher (assuming you have
sufficient room at the top of the mast. As a consequence the boom will
raise 4"at the spot you want it to for your bimini.

I do this for practically the same reason as you described and I'm
very happy with the shape of the sail.


On 9 Aug 2005 11:48:19 -0700, wrote:

Now I need to raise the boom about six inches to get
a couple of inches of clearance.
----------------snip
Could you please give me your opinion on this? How would shortening the
head and raising the sail effect how the boat sails and its stability?
This method would of course mean losing much less sail area.