Hi Mike,
We’ve a B39 and had similar problems to you. I had a short bowsprit made by Dave Goodwin (google Stainless Steel Fabrications),near Fareham.
It fits on the ‘spare’ bow roller. It’s fixed to the bow roller with long drop nose pins, so we had to drill the bow roller. We were in France at the time & did it ourselves, which wasn’t easy. Next time i’d get a fabricator to do it.
The bow sprit has made a huge difference to both the ease of deployment & set of our chute.
Let me know if you want photo’s of the bow sprit.
John
