I tend to think in terms of Lye Concentration and not Water as % of Oils, but I will attempt to address this in a way that I can understand and hope it works for you too.
I have a hard time translating Water as % of Oils to Lye Concentration, but a trusty calculator tells me you are altering your lye concentration somewhere around 4 or 5 points, which can be a big change for some soap formulas. For example, going from perhaps 30% Lye Concentration to something like 26% Lye Concentration (depending on your actual formula), and yes that is a big difference in the amount of water.
More water in a formula does encourage gel, because the presence of water facilitates heat build-up in the soap batter. (It is often recommended to decrease water when one wants to avoid gel.)
Regarding unmolding time, in my experience a higher water content extends the time before the soap is ready to unmold, but then again, this is also influenced by the actual recipe followed. In some cases, the difference is not great, while in others it can be additional days. Sodium Lactate added can speed up unmolding time, so that might help offset the additonal water, unless you already use it anyway.
As for cure time, I do not have proof that it will affect how long your soap takes to become it's best self (cure time), but it could of course alter the drying out time, but they are not necessarily synonymous. Although that too may be influenced by formula specifics.
