Although there are many things that do promote “lift” to windward (higher aspect dagger boards being just a small one of many), it has been my experience that by far the greatest gain to windward always comes from, firstly the sailers and secondly the sails, or I should say, assuming that they are cut well, the set of the sails. Most of the pointing ability of a boat is controlled by the leech of the main as it is the pressure on the leech that is trying to “push” the transom of the boat to lee ward, off the wind with the resulting effect that the bow wants to point up (particularly in the gusts as the CE of the sail tends to move backwards). One of the biggest failures that I have seen in making a boat point is when, after a tack the crew pulls on and cleats the headsail before the main has been set. This will pull a “bow” in the forestay and luff of the headsail and unless the crew doesn’t “crack” the headsail sheet and reset it after the main is set, it is impossible for that boat to point to its full potential. The criteria usually applies that if a similar boat outpoints you consistently, try a swap with the crew of that boat and see if they have the same problem with pointing on your boat as you have, before deciding that “it is the boat and not the sailers”.