Comments Off on Sunova Flow V Speed – What is the difference?
Design / looks wise the Flow and the Speed are in another orbit that collide together in the performance department. When I was in Portugal I met Bert and had some pretty classic conversations of which the Flow and Speed was one of them.
Design / looks wise the Flow and the Speed are in another orbit that collide together in the performance department. When I was in Portugal I met Bert and had some pretty classic conversations of which the Flow and Speed was one of them.
The Flow
The Sunova Flow has a more traditional outline with a fuller nose blended with a nice amount of nose rocker to aid quicker plaining and less pearling.
The rail shape makes the Flow grip the wave face and react quickly but in Bert`s magic hands is quite forgiving to poor foot positioning / weight distribution.
There is a shallow single concave to flat maintaining a healthy speed and with a smooth rocker line which as per my previous article Acid V Flow makes the Flow very stable for such a high performance board.
The squash tail has the thinnest rail I have seen, combined with a quad or 3 fin set up the Flow really does rip. Having tried both options I find that the Flow prefers a quad set up especially with the 94 up front and a smaller more upright fin back-end for an even snappier turn.
Summary
The Flow is for riders that want proper performance with some forgiveness, a board that rides from the middle and snaps a killer turn from the back foot and a fast board that flows all over the wave face with lovely snappy turns and puts that fired up look in your eyes.
Even though this board is very much at the performance in the larger sizes ( 8`10 to 9`6) it also a perfect consideration for beginner plus riders that may have some surf experience that will shine through once you’re up and going.
“For me I ride the Flow on bigger days when I want to go shredding without stressin” ~ Julius
FLOW VIDEOS AND ORDERING – http://www.standuppaddleboarder.co.uk/sup-shop/sunova-flow/
The Speed
I am lucky to have ridden all of the Sunova range extensively and every time I go back to the Speed I can honestly say the Speed truly is the best all round, all wave board I have ever ridden and gives a fast ride with lovely curvy turns that with a fin change can sharpen up.
Up front the Speed has the radical and very slim, snubbed nose with curled edges and a healthy nose rocker that makes this board almost impossible to pearl and makes the board sit up and plane quickly hence why it catches waves so very easily.
The outline is fairly straight and underneath there is a nice single concave that runs throughout the board to sharp edges that has a 4-5mm bevel to a performance rail shape that again doesn’t over react to poor foot work but is totally inspiring to really lean into a turn.
The Speed has lots of nose and tail rocker but is fairly flat in the middle which despite its narrow size makes the Speed still very stable. With a narrow board the volume has to go somewhere – UP, hence the slightly domed deck which feels odd to start with but once you get your stance tuned in becomes unnoticeable.
At the rear end you will see the crazy flutes and a 3 fin set up, this is all about super techy stuff but basically sends bubbles back up the board creating lamina flow which plays a major part in the acceleration this board has.
Summary
The Speed is a real wave catcher that is super light and performs so very well in all wave sizes and is that one board that does it all. The bigger sizes (8`10 to 9`5) are spot on for beginner SUP, for intermediates then the 8`8 to 8`2 is all about rider weight and wave force so choose the right size / volume and boom the Speed never fails, 7`11 to 7`3 is just plain radical.
ORDER AND VIDEOS HERE – http://www.standuppaddleboarder.co.uk/sup-shop/sunova-speed/
“For me I ride the Speed on days when I just want to take one board that I know when i get to the beach can handle anything” ~ Julius
FLOW SIZES
7′ 5″ x 26 1/8 x 3 3/4 @ 78L
7′ 7″ x 26 3/4 x 3 7/8 @ 83L
7′ 10″ x 27 5/8 x 4 @ 92L
8′ 1″ x 28 1/2 x 4 1/8 @ 101L sa
8′ 4″ x 29 3/8 x 4 1/4 @ 110L
8′ 7″ x 30 1/4 x 4 3/8 @ 121L
8′ 10″ x 31 1/8 x 4 1/2 @ 131L
9′ 2″ x 32 3/8 x 4 5/8 @ 147L
9′ 6″ x 33 x 4 3/4 @ 159L
SPEED SIZES
7′ 3″ x 24 x 3 7/8 @ 73L
7′ 6″ x 24 3/4 x 4 @ 80L
7′ 8″ x 25 1/2 x 4 @ 87L
7′ 11″ x 26 1/8 x 4 1/8 @ 94L
8′ 2″ x 27 x 4 1/4 @ 103L
8′ 5″ x 27 3/4 x 4 3/8 @ 112L
8′ 8″ x 28 1/2 x 4 1/2 @ 123L
8′ 10″ x 29 1/8 x 4 5/8 @ 130L
9′ 2″ x 30 3/4 x 4 3/4 @ 148L
9′ 5″ x 31 1/16 x 4 7/8 @ 160L