Critical Spreader Lengths

[Douglas]

Ahoy All, Why was I not prepared for Tsunami damage assessment of my rigging ? I thought I studied everything well before departure ! , but missed this topic.

"Calliste's" starboard upper and lower spreader tips were hit from aft and forced forward, this damaged the welded on spreader bases, and compression dented the mast.

It looks like I could reuse the spreaders on the new mast, if I can cut 1" off the spreader base ends.
Does anyone know how critical exact spreader length is ? Would a 1 inch shorter spreader be acceptable, especially if I balanced them by cutting all four, one inch shorter ?

Douglas, BCC Calliste