I've created a mod to speed up the game and generally increase the action, a quick overview of changes is:
10 times turn rate for all ships
only 15% shield mitigation for all ships except
up to 35% shield mitigation for capital ships
Ships move ~3 times faster, and accelerate much faster
Research and resource collection ~50% faster
Build times are same as original
Pirates don't attack for 150 minutes (This is just because I hate pirates, could easily change it, although I think you should be able to choose to turn off pirates on all maps).
This mod is designed to be played on fast speed only, slow and normal speed are both the same as original fast speed, except for mitigation, pirates and turn speeds.
Full changelog and installation instructions included.
Hope you guys enjoy it

Download link:
http://files.filefront.com/Shawabawas+Action+Mod+10rar/;9666643;/fileinfo.html