Hi Brenner,
I think replacing the flare with more area amounts to the same thing both in terms of the effectiveness and the resulting drag.
Relative placement of side area needs to be considered in this.
eg; if one likes a 27% CG it should also be at 27% of the side area or as close as is possible. The fuz,, is the flying surface in knife=edge and during rolls etc.
Also I think the blunt fin LE in the pic,, may be playing a negative role.
I'm not saying it should be razor sharp - just a nice section in proportion to it's size.
Look forward to the web-site.

Brian