A track outside the shrouds, on the toe rail, is often called the "genoa" track. It's there to accommodate larger headsails, especially those on masthead rigs, that would otherwise be interfered with by the shrouds. You could install an inside track to reduce the lead angle, I have one on my boat, but you'll still have to run the sheets outside the shrouds for your genoa. With a smaller headsail, say a 90-100 jib, you could probably run the sheets inside the shrouds without interference... but before you go to all that expense and trouble, try rigging a barber-hauler... That would be a line that pulls the sheet in farther, athwartship. A snatch block with a control line works well for this. The block opens and you can put it around the sheet while it's under load, then run the control line across the boat to a cabin top winch where you can get enough purcase to bring the sail's clew in closer. You can experiment this way before deciding on a more permanent solution, either an inside track or a fixed set of blocks for barber-hauling, but I am still using the "temporary" method, because it works well and I have an inside track! With an inside track you can run a second sheet to the new block and a secondary winch, then play the two together to position the clew anywhere between the inside and outside track.
That said.... I don't think you'll improve performance that much.... why... because even though the pointing angle may improve a degree or two, the reduction in speed will have a counter effect.... you need speed to get enough lift to point well. If the air is too light, a very tight lead angle will choke the slot between main and jib and the speed drops off dramatically.
So. here are two things you can do: First: Determine your lead angle. From the tack, measure the angle between the boat's centerline and a straight line to the lead block's average position. If it's over 12-14 degrees you could experiment with barber hauling to see if there is a performance improvement. If it's less than 12 you might need to look elsewhere for imporvement.... although a new set of racing sails will change this drastically... where you could go down to 8 or 9 degrees no problem.
The second, and most important, thing is to use the VMG (velocity made good) feature on your gps to determe whether pinching in the sails actually increases your progression towards an upwind mark..... 90 percent of the time this is the reason you are trying to sail higher..... the other 10 percent is when you are simply trying to clear an obstacle without tacking and you could care less about VMG.... here is where the experiment with barber hauling will pay off in knowing how far you can reduce the lead angle without stalling. Have fun.
