Forward jumpers

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Thanks for that picture. Actually, those forward struts don't so much keep the mast from folding back as they keep it from buckling forward. The aft-swept lateral struts impose compression on the mast, and the forward struts oppose that. True, there are boats that have aft-swept struts without the forward ones, but (a) some of them have other wires doing the same job, like aft-led intermediates and/or lowers, and (b) your mast, despite what seems like beefiness, might have been designed to be light enough that it needs those forward struts where others don't. Removing them doesn't seem like a good idea. But you might try installing rollers or other devices to help get that jib across....
Fair leads,
Brion Toss