My I give also my 2 cents to this discussion?!?
I think it is pure question of technic
black is the ships hull and the deck
brown the mast
green are the shrouds
red the channel
In principle the shrouds are taking over the forces from the mast and transfer these forces via the channels into the ships hull (frames and beams)
On the left a "normal ships hull form - the shrouds have to be away from the rails because they are under tension
In the earlier time the channels were mounted under the gunports, so the channels were even wider to bring the shrouds away from the railing
When the ships ull has a form like in the center sketch, no channels are necessary, because the shrouds are still streight and can be under tension without producing any forces towards the railing
The right sketch is showing a situation, which was not possible, because the shrouds would get a kink at the top of the rail - and the shrouds would produce a force against the rail - and would damage them (this new force is the purple arrow)
So all of you are somehow correct - it depends on the hullform, the height of the mast and the location where the shrouds are fixed towards the hull.
BTW: the mast is bending when the wind is blowing against the sails - so the mast top is moving - I do not know exactly, but I could imagine that the mast top could move up to 50cm towards port or starboard - this means, that also the shrouds are slightly outboard and inboard. So the shrouds have to have a slight distance towards the railing
Sorry
@Ondras71 for my 2 cents in your highly interesting building log.......