My creation and its weather helm problems

A friend and I decided a while back to build a tiny boat to put the laser 2 rig on. We have finally completed this crackpot idea. It is just over 7ft(same as an oppy), has a 3.5ft bowsprit, and the boom overhangs the stern by about 3 ft. While it does sail, we are experiencing problems with huge amounts of weather helm due to the sharp bow digging in, and having the rudder much further forward than the laser2. We have raked the mast as far forwards as is reasonable but are still having trouble, are there any other ways to move the centre of effort forwards a bit without moving the whole rig?

Could you move the rig forward, and increase the bowsprit length and/or move the centre/dagger board aft.  Or make the boat bigger (or even the jib) 

thats brilliant, best use of a Laser 2 rig I've ever seen - this kind of thing might catch on a bit

Its definitely very good for honing your balance and trim skills, also it makes you realise the forces the rig actually exerts, that all other boats are stable enough for you not to feel. And if you want to improve your swimming then this is definitely the boat for you

The thing about weather helm and all that is that most of the older books at least are completely wrong about it, because they take the view that the boat should just use the centreboard as CLR, and the rudder should be neutral. Not so. A decent setup on a dinghy balances the sideload between the two foils.

Your daggerboard looks a good way forward to me, but its not outside the range I've seen work, but the big thing of course is that the rudder is also a long way forward. I concur with Rupert that a rudder gantry will be a good thing and absolutely the first thing to try, but not only for balance, but also because you'll be able to have much more room in the boat and it will have much better ergonomics, which in itself will help.

But also I think a big thing is that you have a very wedge shaped short little boat there, and I reckon she will hull steer like crazy when not absolutely bolt upright... I find it hard to believe in the bow digging in very much per se and affecting weather helm, but I do believe the hull is going to steer the boat a lot and there's nothing you can do about that...

So yeah, get as long a rudder gantry as you can on there. If you can get the two foils in the same position relative to the rig they are in the Laser 2 that will be a pretty good place to start. Also with the foils farther apart everything will be a lot less critical, most notably the steering.