I might be able to pretend that this also gives me infinite variability in setting the peak - just don't pull it all the way up.

I have an inkling, however, that if there is any slack in the halyard, that slack will eventually even out over the entire halyard and the luff won't be as tight as if you had yoinked the peak all the way as tight as it can go.

All will come out in testing, and we will see what we can see. GPS makes it pretty ease to see performance differences. On the other hand, having one less line, one less cleat, and one less pulley to worry about seems kind of nice as well.