Hi Jon,
I overlooked one of your questions, the one on "pitchpole tendency". The relative tendency of boats of the same size to pitchpole can be evaluated by simply measuring the height of the bows of the boats in question. For a boat to pitchpole, it must first push the bow underwater and make the deck become the bow, the hull part that is splitting the water. The boat with the tallest bow , the most hull volume forward, is the "less likely to pitchpole" hull shape. Also flat foredecks pitchpole more violently, more quickly, than rounded foredecks.
Good Sailing,
Bill