Bowsprit design

[LP]

I have a queston for the voice of experience here. I have the opportunity to redo the bowsprit on my 16' sailboat. Read---I've broken something and now I'm repairing it.

During the build I opted to go with a round bowsprit. Well, on about the FIRST sail I realized you can't stand on a round, varnished bowsprit. Oops. Long story short, I'm replacing the round bowsprit with the design plank bowsprit and would like to incorporate an anchor roller in the new design. I'm contemplating lengthening the bowsprit 8-10" past the forstay/bobstay attach points. It looks like I need a "little" additional length to keep the anchor flukes from fouling the bobstay. Is it foolishness to add length to the sprit with no other reason than to make the wee ones "walk the plank"?

What would be the unforeseen detrimental effects of an extented bowsprit? I occasionally take green water of the bow. Would an extended plank sprit cause a tendency to plunge into a wave?

[cookiesa]

Would not have thought it would make much difference other than the fact it would need to be stronger without the stays supporting it (unless of course the anchor line runs straight off the bow

[alan white]

Why not run the anchor from the bow chock and use a pelican hook to unclip the bobstay when mooring/anchoring? Also, using a roller on a 16 ft boat might be overkill, but if you like them, angle a roller at the stemhead to one side. A problem with bowsprit-end rollers is that they can put a lot of wear and tear on the rig when waves pass under the bow, jerking the shrouds/backstay attachments and everything in between.
Also, imagining your bowsprit/anchor attachment point at 3 ft out, your anchor circle has just been increased by 6 ft., which may be a factor in a crowded anchorage. Add another 7 ft if the bowsprit end is 6" higher than the deck, making a total of 13 ft extra room required.

Alan