I'm not sure if this is a rigging question or just sailing technique.

When my wife and I sail in moderate to heavy wind (10-15 w/ gusts to 20) we frequently bury our lee bow when beating to windward. Full disclosure when the two of us are on the boat we are 500 lbs of crew.
So. My question is; do I have the boat set up to aggressively? I have the mast raked pretty far back and the jib right down at the bottom of the head stay.
Or, am it not pointing high enough and ending up on a close reach with the sails hauled in? I am trimming to the tell tales like I used to do on my Newport twenty but it feels like I'm not pointing all that high. This is happening with me sitting on the rear casting and her right up next to me.
Any thoughts guys.
Thanks.

Random thoughts...

500 lbs is up there on a Hobie 16, but going to weather, you should not be stuffing a bow if sitting aft.

Try traveling out a bit. You want to be sheeted tight.

Gusts can cause issues still if you sheet out... the sail gets full and can drive the bows down.

Main should sheet right to the deck, so if there is line between the blocks... you can rake further aft.

Thanks mmiller. That makes sense. Also I was thinking that we had the jib cars all the way inboard and maybe that was overloading forward. I'm fairly new to cats so I'm still figuring out things like jib cars that work inboard/outboard instead of for/aft.

To be 100% honest with you, its too much weight on the H16. When me and my buddy sail and do regattas we're right at about 440lbs and we BURY the lee hull deep in wind over 15mph.
We sailed one regatta the year before last in sustained winds at 20+, gusts at 30, foot tall white caps and barely flew a hull while the crews on the other Hobie 16's were double trapped and hanging on for dear life. In my experience, the H16 really shines at < 300lbs, over 400 its just a pretty fast cruiser. ( amazing solo boat however ~200-250lb)
To make things REALLY fun, kept the 16 and bought a '96 Hobie 20 Miracle!! Can fly a hull in 15mph with 500lb on board with one person trapped out - very steady, smooth and controllable. Lots of leg room and was able to install Hobie 18 magnum wings on it...... talk about a fast Cadillac!