I'm a little late to weigh in on this topic, but ...
I'm into my season #3 with C74, which has an A4 inboard engine. One of the things I did in season #2 was to take off lifelines and pushpit .... absolutely no regrets. Looks much better to my eye and I never really trusted the lifelines anyway. At 6'1", I can go from a hand on the companionway hatch railing to a hand on a shroud to a hand on the forward hatch, etc. I also took off the cabin top handrails, with no regrets. If I ever really felt I needed the lifelines, I'd be much more comfortable rigging jacklines and a harness.
In general, staying out of Maine waters is a desirable thing.
PJM