Bob, what you get with a Firemove is more shlog stability and planing power than a freestyle wave. And the ability to carry bigger fins with the wider tail with straps hiked out, but it sacrifices the turning ability of a freestyle wave. It does have a less technical jibe than required for an X-Fire, but sacrifices some speed to do that.
Bob, It's fun, user friendly, and planes up like crazy. You'll have to see if Uta will let you take it for a spin. I don't have any experience with 8.5 sailing. You could fire-up a topic in the Gear forum here and let folks weigh in on board recommendations.
Reid how do you like the RRD Firemove? I'm looking for a fun & fast freeride board that I can uphaul a 8.5 sail. Do you or anyone else have any board recommendation?