This seems to have morphed a bit into a nav-light discussion.
I can personally attest that attaching a bow light while underway can be detrimental to your health. At least I needed about a dozen stitches (from ramming the foredeck cleat into the space between my fingers...not recommended). And I have a lovely set of bloody fingerprints all over my sails
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If I remember to put them up before leaving the dock, that would not be an issue (and usually I would know in advance that they are needed).
As for permanently installed 12V systems, I would think the best solution would be to mount them directly under the rub rail (or deck joint). The units are waterproof after all, so some splash shouldn't be an issue. Below the rub rail you would avoid all issues with reflection from the boat's superstructure.
For lighting the jib, I have the following proposal: grind through a circular area of the gelcoat on the foredeck (and sand off the paint on the underside of the deck). That will leave you with a clear port, as laminate is transparent. (Use transparent gel coat from a gelcoat repair kit, to level the deck again). Now, mount a strong 12V flat LED light on the underside of the deck. With a flick of a switch, it will brightly illuminate your jib, identifying you as a sailboat. (It's like the working lights on bigger boats, except that instead of shining down the mast, you illuminate in the reverse direction.) If you place this just forward of the cuddy, you would not get any direct light from where you sit in the cockpit. It's still going to impact your night vision a bit, but especially if you put a switch were you can get to it quickly it's a great solution when somebody looks like they haven't seen you.
I don't have a 12V battery system for lighting, so I make do with carrying a strong flashlight on my person that will light up any sail if directed upward.
Another tiny tweak would be to mount a directed light on the cuddy side pointing to the mast tip. That's, if you have a Windex there. (Well focused, but not very strong light would be ideal). With a bit of reflective tape on the underside of the Windex, a short tap on a button would give you the current wind direction. Even very weak lights really show up when you use reflective tape.