So... picked up my new whip on the weekend. Arrived 7 weeks from ordering which was expected. No issues with the board other than a faulty gauze valve(which fortunately i replaced immediately before getting it wet with a spare one my good mate had..lifesaver).
and surfed it the next morning in 2 -4 ft glassy conditions.
I ordered the 8'5 Speeed after lots of advice from you guys on here. Im now sitting at 89kgs and came off my 7'8 Minion which i kept in my quiver.
So not really i review as ive only had one surf on it but more a "first impressions" kinda thing.

1) Quality of construction and look of the board is outstanding. Beautiful balsa finish , great deck pad and thin slick rails..kind of a high end look to it. From watching videos and looking at photos i didnt appreciate how thin the nose is especially and rails and tail area. And those deep channels on the bottom ..just a great looking product. I put in new C-Drive fins..large sides and medium centre but came with nice set of 94's. I aslo added ION rail tape to protect rails..although i dont tend to hit them alot..i like to know its there and matches pretty good IMO.

2) the handle is awesome..ive read that some people dont like it but after having tried it out and using it i think its a great idea. Easy to carry and doesnt detract from look or performance.

3) Weighed after unpacking and it was just under 8kg

4) After my two hour surf i was blown away ( like most people) at how this board feels and performs. Took a bit of time to adjust to dome deck after coming from the minion but immediately i noticed how lively is felt under foot when paddling . Also noticeable difference in glide..kinda stealth like..clean and easy to get into waves. although the surf was not pumping you could definitely feel the acceleration and drive . Made some really tight sections . When setting up for turns i was really conscious of getting back over the fins..when i did it turned with speeed and came out of the turns keeping that speed, making it easy to transition down the wave.
Can only imagine what its going to be like in more pumping big surf with a bit more wall to operate on and alot of juice to burn.

These are only my observations and maybe they may help someone else pull ( or not pull) the trigger. Personally im stoked with my choice and the Sunova speeed. I still love my minion but think this will push me to the next level and offer a completely different performance factor.

When making my decision the two things that i was worried about were
a) its going to be to similar to the Minion...ummm so wrong..its not! both great boards but the Speeed will be my board of choice now in most conditions
b) should i go with the 8'2 or 8'5 option. While i think i could've handled the smaller speeed i definitely think the conditions would need to be close to perfect each time for me to keep my wave count and enjoyabilty up..I pretty much felt comfortable right away on the 8'5 and the most exciting thing was thinking about how much more magic im going to have in te future once i get it dialed in.

So lastly a big thanks to those who have helped in making it happen and especially to my SA brother..
Chur