what kinda design stuff you interested in?
www.facebook.com/Ellway-Aero-Hydrodynamic-Designs-671685749655101/ this facebook page has some interesting discussion
generally looking at the production gear out there from the big brands, you can see that some has been very well thought out, while others are worse then the knockoff ali-express crap you can buy for a few hundred $$$. There are a few off the shelf foil profiles you can use, which are documented in some DIY stuff you can find online, the Eppler series is probably the best starting point.
Pretty much like you say, longer fuselage is better stability. And if you have some adjust-ability in the angle of the rear stabiliser you will probably have something that works.
My main disappointment with the production stuff is poorly thought out or no thought put into corrosion protection. I don't have a single piece of kit that really needs to be disassembled or washed, but now I have this new fangled foil thing which the manufacturer recommends I completely disassemble and wash with fresh water... what a pita. Would cost them a few bucks more to use better materials.
That and you can see that some of the gear out there really doesn't justify the price tag on it, despite their claims of extensive R&D, it has obviously been rushed out. For the slow speed, light wind stuff, to get 80% of the way there is probably fine, the last 20% of performance probably makes little difference to the end user, but it would be nice that they got "simple" stuff like corrosion etc sorted.