Im 212 lbs and i have a good quiver from 8-17. i love my mako king and the sector has been amazing at freeride but I want something for directional carving and making fun out of real world slop and small waves. I love to carve and jump and I will explore the strapless thing but I want a board with the option to ride with straps. I may replace the sector and for the sake of this thread assume I will, ie a nice lower end would be great. A lot the board characteristics that I am seeing are flatter rocker, shorter but wider etc.

I feel quite lucky to have bought two boards that are so awesome at what they do. I know we all have our favorites, but I just can't say enough about the mako as a directional and I'd never sell it. The sector has been fantastic at putting me on the water working on my gybes when all else are beached aside from the racers... Maybe I won't sell it.

Little phatty?
I have been reading a lot and any real world reviews would be great. I haven't seen anything from the real world on the little phatty but im intrigued but the board ( I did see the the liquid force website and a brief clip on the board on the real kiteboarding site). Total bonus that it is less than 150 cms.

Nugget
Seems very interesting but I've heard a few guys complain about north construction this year??? Could be a random guy with no valid opinion, so hence the ask here.

Naish fish, cabrinha sub woofer, Airush cypher
Some great posts here, I like what I see so far any further feedback would be appreciated.

Although I don't really go in for super short, super phat, boards - I can chime in with a quick word on North Construction this year... I have been riding my X-Surf 2013 for 3 months, basically beating the crap out of it, and it hasn't so much as blinked.

Big strapless airs, poor technique heavy landings onto the heel. I don't even ride pads on the front at all, just the wax.They are a touch heavier than the 2012's but if my board is anything to go by, the construction is bombproof. Good luck in your search.

Had the 2012 and 2013 nugget,2013 stronger build slightly heavier,great light wind board,good for small and mushy waves,but will cope with big waves,drives up wind,good for on shore beach break wave riding,can use a smaller kite,great for strapless,saved many sessions,hope this helps,TONY

By the way, I guess I would also say check out the X-Surf 6'0" for your needs - perfectly paddle surfable, nice volume, have ridden up to well overhead conditions without any problems at all. Nice to have a board you can surf, or kite as the mood takes you. Obviously good for trips too.

However if you want something just to kite, the whip or nugget might be a better option.

Thank you all - great insight re North Construction; makes sense that they re tweaked the balance of light vs strength.

Re XSURF. I was looking at the xsurf after I posted here. The quick references provided on the North side made me think it was definitely something to demo BUT I am not looking for surf capabilities just kitesurf, so from that perspective do you see any advantage of Whip over the XSurf?

Cool, the whip is just less across the board, shorter, thinner, less width and therefore more geared for pure kiting... I think it comes down to whether you want a kite surf board - or one of the new bullet hybrid style fun boards... If you primarily want to hack waves, you want the former, but if you want a lightwind toy, you probably want a nugget style board. Good luck.

My buddy has/had a 2012 North Nugget and loves it for mush and small waves. It's his go to and most used board. His 012 delaminated and was under warranty. He now has a 2013.

I have an 013 Airush 5'6 Cypher and it's a blast in the same conditions. I also enjoy it in everything else - light to high winds. It's fairly smooth in chop. I weigh 158 lbs so you may want to bump up a size.

Another board that may not be the norm, but is in a niche of it's own is the 2012-13 North Skimfish. It's a unique board. With straps, I learned how to kite on it. The short twintip fins on both ends allow it to be ridden like a twintip, with or without straps. It's perfect for those shallow water conditions (low tide surf-white water mush) that you may not ride your Sector or surfboard in. Having a flat bottom it's not ideal in chop or medium to big waves. The shorter length carves just fine though. It's also has a lot of get up and go in light winds, rivaling my old Spleene Door.

It's a bit of a hybrid-combo; a skimboard with volume and a twin tip. Riding it tail first isn't a problem. Because the nose has a bit of kick to it, when you ride it tail first the nose is now your new tail. This creates some tail rocker making it smoother through chop and waves. The 012's are on closeout at $440, not bad. The downside, it isn't something you'd use in higher winds (over 20 knots) unless it's flat water. Perhaps at your weight this wouldn't be a problem.