Saturday, March 4th, Cabrinha and Watersports West hosted a demo at Fort Desoto East Beach. The wind started off at 20-25 kts in the morning and dropped to 10-15 kts in the afternoon – a perfect day for a demo. The range of wind offered kiteboarders near and far an opportunity to test the new 2017 Cabrinha gear in various wind conditions.
What’s new for 2017?
Cabrinha Kites
Cabrinha has incorporated pure profile panels into the canopy of their kites, giving the kites a truer shape to the leading edge resulting in an increase in wind range and performance.
- Switchblade
- The Switchblade is in its 12th year of production and is the go-to all inclusive kite. The 2017 Switchblades have an improved ability to tune the bar pressure of the kite, a greater wind range, tighter turns and more responsiveness to better feel where the kite is in the sky at all times. All-in-all the Switchblade will be an easier to fly kite than the Apollo.
- Apollo
- The Apollo is Cabrinha’s new high aspect performance kite. It has a very narrow and rectangular shape, similar to a RAM air kite, and is perfect for big floaty jumps. To get the most performance out of the Apollo, edge hard and sheet out. This will help the kite push forward in the wind window and will allow you to boost big floaty jumps.
- FX
- The FX is perfect for those riders looking to blend freestyle and freeride. It’s a hybrid C kite with a huge wind range, quick turning and a big vertical pop. The FX has a little less bar pressure than the Switchblade and a little less power. It’s ideal for those riders who like to ride overpowered or are into freestyle.
- Drifter
- The Drifter is Cabrinha’s wave kite and requires a little more skill than the other kites in the Cabrinha lineup. To get power out of this kite, it needs to be worked and pushed forward. When you are able to ride this kite, it’s perfect for foilboarding or surfing because of it’s ability to drift back in the wind window.
- Contra
- The Contra is a medium to high aspect lightwind kite that still is performance driven so you can have fun on those lightwind days. It’s super easy to ride like the Switchblade and is effortless to relaunch off the water, even in marginal wind. The Contra is still a great boosting kite and will hold you in the air for a long time.
Cabrinha Control Bar
The Fireball control bar is Cabrinha’s new connection point system giving the rider more freedom of movement while being hooked in. The Fireball is an evolution in kiteboarding of a design that is specific towards kiteboarding. While riding, the kite will pull at the harness from different points, Fireball reduces the tension and allows the kite greater freedom of movement than the traditional loop.
Cabrinha Boards
- XCaliber – Competition Freestyle
- Ace – Freestyle / Freeride
- Tronic – Freestyle / Big Air
- Spectrum – Freeride
- Stylus – Lightwind
- Foilboard
What did people think?
The two most popular kites throughout the demo were the Switchblade and the Apollo. Even when the wind became light, the Switchblade and Apollo still performed great. Riders noticed quicker turning and lighter bar pressure with the 2017 Cabrinha Switchblade. The overall consensus of the Fireball was super positive. Riders felt like the kite wasn’t even attached to them when hooked to the Fireball control system. Looking back it was a great day of fun and kiteboarding, check out the video and see for yourself!
I missed the demo, how can I test Cabrinha’s 2017 gear?
It’s easy, send us a message in the section below or call Watersports West to set up an appointment. Watersports West carries a full selection of Cabrinha gear and has just about every model available to demo. Offering kiters a great opportunity to test ride a Cabrinha kite and see the difference in performance. Watersports West also offers trade ins, so if you’re looking to make an upgrade contact Watersports West and get a deal towards your old equipment to put forth to your new gear!
