Sunova ACID 9'1"

Eastie.... call me.
being the Sunova Mascot and unabashed pimp, I have a 9'1 and a 9'4 Acid
Lets meet up for a session... I'd love to see you again!

The 9'4 has been my goto board all summer... now that wetsuit time is here, I need to lose some weight to be comfortable on it.
The Acid does all the things you expect from a super high performance board... it surfs better than I ever will.
Great nose kick for steep take-offs.
I find it just as much fun in small surf, as bigger surf.

People always ask me what the biggest difference between the Acid and the Speeed.
They are actually quite different... besides the pointy nose, the most obvious is the outline shape.... the curved rails of the Acid make it much easier to "pump" down the line and snap up into the lip....
And.... for what it's worth, I place the stability of the 8'10 Speeed and the 9'4 Acid as the same.
I traded my 8'10 Speeed for a 9'2 because I use the 9'4 Acid anytime I would have used the 8'10 Speeed.
The 9'2 Speeed is ok for me in winter, the Acid is not.

Stability is not a prime concern for most people good enough to ride the Acid... it has enough width per length, for the average ripster.
I, on the other hand, am challenged by the super thin nose and tail because the old guy in me, gets surprised by chop from behind.... once the thin tail goes under, I don't have the agility to recover, and I go down.

Younger rippers will be horrified by my thoughts on this top notch performance board... but some older SUPsters may find them useful.

I have tried like crazy to get video of the Acid in good waves, but the beach cam set-up misses most sessions because the playing field is too big, and I aim it in the wrong place. He's a pic that a friend took, that my cam missed.







Plus video in waist high softies, taken with the "headband cam"... it pretty much gets every wave
All I got so far....

i own and love my starby carbon airborn 8'8', my allwave ltd 8'11", and have now ordered an acid 9'1", based on research and discussion i have had.

happy to tell you about my other boards, but i posted to hear about the acid 9'1"-if you want to hear about other boards, set up a thread for those boards--i will respond if i have any knowledge of them

and if you dont want to know about the acid, my post title makes it clear to not click here

i have been pretty fine in OH+ conditions on my starby (my current goto board), but want a board for OH+ that will hold better on big steep walls--the starby squirrels out a bit when it's big and steep--thus the order of the acid--and it's already ordered--but id love to hear about others' actua; experience of the board

thx stc--i think with my 92kg and pretty good balance these days, i should be ok with the 9'1---and keep in mind this board targets days like last labor day at long beach, where I saw prone guys getting DOH waves at the same peak at which I had just been taking set waves, so had to be be least as big

havent been in RI much of recent--i will heads you up next time i get there--wedensday is the first hope we've had in a week--i am starved for a sesh--sposed to be chest/head light wind at first light

hope is the acid will drop and hold tight when it's bigger and steeper

head high and less, i cant see a better board for me than the airborn--love the quad bite, which when pushed goes loose--and the swing weight for lip smacks is sooo light--but i will certainly take the acid out chest high to feel it out---could end up a new goto--

still like the aw, caught hermine sessions on it while i was repairing ding on the starby

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boundeast said..
id love to hear about others' actua; experience of the board

I reviewed my 8'10 Acid earlier this year after a few sessions and love it. I was trying to describe the Acid to someone and I said: It is faster, stable, catches waves easier and earlier and turns better than any other 7 surf sup boards I have had....with the exception of the Minion in certain conditions.
I have been playing around with the fins and got some FCS Nexus H-3 fins (large) and wow are they the perfect fit for the board!
Review thread:
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/Sunova-Acid-811-x-30-120L-Review/?page=1

Hey boundeast - I own an 8'7 & more recently an 8'4 Acid. My stats are 82kg / early 40's & I paddle most days. My feedback is similar to steve0 & Creek's however I personally find that:

- I prefer my Speeed in the mushy stuff (yes, the Acid does OK in these conditions however, the Speeed excels in these conditions) but this is a non-event given that you intend to use your Acid in more critical surf
- anything over 1.5' & semi-clean, I grab my Acid (this is when the board comes to life)
- I mainly surf a beach break & the Acid is great for when it's hollow & there are steep drops (the Acid is a shape that feels considerably smaller than it really is)
- it pumps down the line exceptionally well / it's easy to wash off speed & it just want to burn & turn (it's a great shape for progressing your surfing....I haven't even come close to unleashing it's full potential)

Bottom line, the 9'1 will be a great step-up board vs your Allwave & Airborn so let us know once you take delivery & get a few sessions under your belt

finally had a sesh on the 9'1' ACID.
chest high, fairly clean conditions.
definitely tippier than my go-to airborn 8'8", but no big deal.
seems to hold longer radius turns much better than the airborn--the acid invites you to set the rail and hold it for long sweeping turns--and it pumps really well--board can be sped up or slowed down easily.
didnt really get a chance to feel the hold on the face of steeper big waves--from what i could tell, it holds great--but iget good hold with the airborn too
one distinct adjustment i had to make was to calm down and stay precise with my last couple of strokes paddling in. with the airborn, i can flail away into the drop and not risk losing balance--on the acid, after a couple of embarrassing falls dropping in, had to tell myself to keep the paddle going hard, but stay cool and balanced--problem solved.
going back to the airborne it was obvious that the acid is more about rail setting---the airborn lets you set the rail, but not nearly as much--turns much flatter--more about pivot than about setting rail and carving.

both turning styles are satisfying, and both boards are very versatile--but, i can see my preference will be bigger cleaner waver on the acid! carving+accel+decel=fun

i felt pretty good on the tippy acid, certainly for a first sesh---but the day after my body felt the pain--clearly i had been working harder than usual dealing with the acid

more, later, after more sessions--

also build etc? the board seems solid, and looks beautiful--my first sunova-it weighs less than my AllWave 8'11" innegra carbon-about the same as my blue carbon airborn-which cost a lot more--go figure-carbon rails look tough but i rsp'ed anyway--love the liftsup handle--and i was wearing size XL (>Trump's stubhands!) 3mm gloves--no issue popping up the handle, putting all 4 fingers in and a pleasure to carry---even great for carrying board vertically behind the back like throwing a sack over the shoulder, for a long walk--nice also that, when surfing, the handle is flat in the board deck--no hole to worry about with the feet--fin is thruster only--prolly would've prefered a 5 box setup, but the stock fins felt great, so far--construction seems pretty optimal frankly

The question I have is whether the 9'1 Acid would be better than, say, the 8'7 Flow. Everyone raves about the Acid's shape, but I can't help wondering whether having a longer board makes it harder to get your foot over the fins. Maybe the narrow tail of the Acid means you don't have to your foot as far back. (I have the 8'7 Flow and the 8'10 speed.)

My longer 9'4 Acid gives me more performance than my 8'10 Speeed did, which is why I went that route.
I can pump down the line, much easier on the Acid and it turns nicely from the middle as well.
I find it surfs everything well....my favorite performer,
It is a bit more challenging once I put on the full wetsuit.

So I swapped my 8'10 Speeed UP, to a 9'2 Speeed for bumpier winter conditions.
I have amazing faith in the Speeed to handle everything with grace.

Here's a shot of my 9'4 Acid in small waves.... it surfs much shorter than it's 9'4 length.

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SunovaUK said..
Here you go just written a few blogs about the Acid V Flow and the Flow V Speed. Hope that helps y`all from Cornwall and Sunova UK.

www.standuppaddleboarder.co.uk/2017/01/27/sunova-acid-v-flow/

www.standuppaddleboarder.co.uk/2017/01/29/sunova-flow-v-speed-what-is-the-difference/

Hi.
Been trying the thruster v quad on my 8'10 Flow and tend to agree that the quad is better.
When you say that having the 94s up front and something smaller and more upright at the rear - can you give an example?
Im running the 105s up front and 94s at back and would like it to be a tiny bit looser.
Thanks.