Wouter,
Have you forgotten about the compression strut above the pole that goes to the bridle wires?

The way I see it this set up will allow the spi pole to be carried lower or make the setup stiffer for the height the pole is carried.

As the pole is lowered the spi pole bridle is less affective at taking the vertical loading while quite adequate at handling the horizontal loading. So the striker below the pole will help transfer the vertical loading on the tip of the pole to the standard fore stay bridle wires via the compression strut above the pole between the spi pole and the normal bridle.

Just the way I see it.

Regards,
Phill

I know that the voices in my head aint real,
but they have some pretty good ideas.
There is no such thing as a quick fix and I've never had free lunch!