GBA do have another long nosed tri on the way, not sure if this is the one or not and with regards to taking the long way home, well i think thats because they couldn't find anyone game enough to island hop across the pacific.
With regards to the long nosed being more balanced, with a full short nosed trilander, forward C of G never was a problem. At all up weight it would be miles out the front of the wee c of g envelope if we had a full load of pax, so the front nose locker wouldn't really make a difference. We always had to leave a seat or 2 empty in the front 2 rows to get it within C of G with gold bars down the back.