This photo shows my Powerbronze fender extender for reference.........
The longer huggers do make a difference, so they probably shouldn't be overlooked completely.
They are, like you say, a bit pointy, but I think that if they weren't like that, they might look very fat & clumsy.
I am currently scratching my head a bit over deciding which way to go on the same problem for my new Bottpower XR1 flat-tracker, where there currently isn't any protection from road spray.
I can get a carbon fibre hugger to fit the Buell swing-arm on that bike, but i'm holding off throwing the money into that solution, as i'm not convinced that it will solve the problem.
I was doing a bit of brain storming on the subject and I keep coming back to the thought of attaching a strip of clear PVC between the swing arm and the underside of the rear subframe, thus creating a flexible barrier to the crud heading towards the suspension assembly. Might look a bit Heath Robinson, but it might be worth trying it out.