I recently read an article that suggested that extending the hard rail on a shortboard doesn’t really have any drawbacks and that it will give a board increased bite. I’ve always thought that the reason that this is not done is because of the possibility of digging your rail more (and to allow easy water flow into the front of the board), but the way I’ve been imagining it, if the rail is kept rounded (a normal shortboard rail) with the edge at the bottom it seems like it wouldn’t really dig. I would imagine the benefits to be increased leverage when pumping a board, increased bite in heavy turns, and the ability to turn from a more forward stance. I don’t have the opportunity to make that many boards and don’t really want to waste the time, money, etc. on something that wont be of any benefit. I would probably choose to slap them on something like a modern fish template (very short, swallow tail). What do you guys think of the idea?