It's rather obvious that the hull is supposed to go concave there.
I'd pull the strip loose, center it so there is a little excess at the stem, and refasten it from the middle out to the stem.
If it still doen't work there is something out of wack.

: The gaps are perhaps only an inch but feel like 2 or more inches. Not only
: don't the strips touch the forms but I think they have a slightly
: different curve to them. I'm hopeful that I can apply some heat and force
: the strips into the shape of the forms but don't quite know how to go
: about it. It might take some screws to pull them tight but i'm worried it
: will all spring back once I take the screws out. I'm afraid to wet the
: wood because I don't want to reglue everything. It's only 7 strips so I
: could start over but I really don't want to do that. How big of deal is it
: if I don't quite match the forms? Here's a photo that kind of shows what
: I'm talking about.