I thought my Hawk flew very well at 189mm and landings were a breeze. But it did feel a bit nose heavy overall. I was using a LOT of up elevator just before touchdown even though the landing attitude was fairly level. Also it needed a fair amount of down elevator inverted and mixed in for knife edge. Also if I did the test where you climb at 45 degrees, roll inverted, and center the elevator it was pulling level (inverted) pretty aggressively. But I do not know if the airfoil is symmetrical or a lifting airfoil... hmmm.
I do think the manual is right to recommend 190mm to start. It was rock steady and very predictable at that CG once trimmed.