Have you had a look at the Naish mana 8'5.

Hi guys like dusty ive been through a similar process...gone from 9'5 mana to 9'3 lsd to 9' Simon Anderson and now i ride the 8'6 Allwave. Comfortable and good performance in pretty much slop to overhead charging surf. Im now at an advanced level and changed fins on the allwave to JC's..this gave it more speed and a bit looser again.
Im about to hopefully purchase my last sup..thinking of the Nasih hokua 8'3 x 32' LE..even though its wider than the Allwave, the volume is the same and guys feedback has said its in the high end for performance which is what im after..The JP 8'6 also looks the goods but in NZ these are EXPENSIVE..well more than the Naish a anyway.
thanks

That Hokua X32 LE looks good. I was thinking about it too, just put off by the price... There are a few demo's around for $2K'ish at the moment in Melbourne (not much help to you in NZ though) but otherwise $2300+.

I demo'd the 8'8" X32 recently. Good board, but doesn't have the performance of the "normal" Hokua or other narrower surf SUP's. I would expect the 8'3" would be a minor step up from the 8'6" Allwave, but would love to hear what you think of it once you've ridden one.