Rider: 75kg's of awesomeness
Style: hell yerr!!!
Weather: 12-22 knots
Build Quality: 9.5/10
Satisfaction: yep/10
Disclosure: importer/retailer

My Comments: Got to test the Cabrinha 2014 gear in Mauritius recently. We have some pretty unusual conditions for the conference, basically very little wind until the last day, so up until the last day we had only ridden large kites above 14M (new contra 15 and 17 and 14 M Switchy), and on the one day we did get wind it was 25-30+ and all I rode that day was an 8M Switchy.
Then after everyone had gone home, except Keahi and Moona, we got 2 good days, first day was 20-25, but I was still too crook to get on the water, so I just took photos. Second last day of my stay, Hudson and Su Kay had arranged for 4 kites and 2 boards to be left behind for me, and so glad they did!!
I had a 10M Switchy, 11 Drifter, 11 Chaos and 12 Vector to test. The boards I had were the 1.40 Tronic with H1 straps/pads and the 1.36 Custom with H2 straps/pads.
I spent 4+ hrs testing this combination of gear, in medium choppy flat water and waves at Manawa up to 2.5M, in winds that started at 12/13 knots and then built to a smooth 20-22knots.

Switchy - its back, the Switchblade everyone has loved with punchy bottom end, great lift for boosting and upwind, with big wind range is back. Between riding the 14M and a 12 briefly to the 8M and then the 10M this is the kite that will continue to be the No1 selling kite in the Cabrinha range. Of the 4 kites I tested that day, the 10M was at least as powerful as the 12M Vector and had a bit more than the Drifter and about the same as the Chaos. All the Cabrinha kites this year have benefited from a move to a single front line flag out system, with a reworked bridle, and a very cool new bar design. The Switchy has 1 pulley per side in the front bridle, the Drifter has none, Vector 1 each side for a total of 2 also and the Chaos has a double pulley arrangement in one leg, per side like some other brands like Best and Slingy, for a total of 4 pulleys. Surprisingly, the Chaos has a very direct feel though, and all the kites have improved bar feel this year, you can fly them much easier because you just know where the kite is.
The Vector is a 3 strut all rounder, very nice kite, the 12M felt punchy and this was the kite I got out on first in the 12-13 knots as the wind was building. I also took it out to Manawa and it drifted well in the side shore winds for this left hander. Back inshore it jumped well and did everything I could throw at it very nicely.
Drifter what can I say, watch Keahi ride it, its a very good wave kite, that also has some free ride ability in the flat water.
The Chaos, great kite, very powerful in the turns and when unhooked it sits back nicely. I tried the adjustable bar on this kite and the Switchy 10, wakestyle riders will love this feature, as you can really slow down the turning by switching the bar to the shorter 48cm size, but if you want a more free-ride and faster turning kite its just a matter of operating the adjuster mechanism on the fly and you have a 55cm bar again, very cool disign that now features a Y point much closer to the rider which is better for GoPro video.

The Tronic - very lively fun board, lots of outline in the tips but wide enough between the feet to give good wind range and upwind ability. The bottom shape is quad concave which forms 3 spines between the feet giving good stiffness and smooth riding and these channels taper out to the tips, which are flat. Great in waves, one of the best TT's I've used in waves, and still nearly as smooth as the Custom in chop. New pads and straps are super comfy, the straps have a silky material inside - very comfortable. The H1 straps are a single strapo design and allow for a more loose feel on the foot, and the H2 are a much deeper strap that covers all most all of your foot and has 2 straps. I was really surprised with how comfortable the 2 strap H2 straps were, and they definitely gave the most secure feel and support. Both use the same pad which has a large range or angle adjustment. I rode the larger low wind stylus boards on the light wind days and they were also very comfy in the chop. Rhys and Peace rode the Skillet 5'10" and the new directional flat water semi race Alias, the new Sub Woofer got a lot of favourable reviews from other riders too, and was the board to use on the 9-12 knots days. Lots of other technical improvements in the board range too, including bassalt lay ups in the Xcaliber and Custom models. The Siren board got a big tick from our female riders as did the new Siren (switchy) color kites and control bars.

Ride any ozone kites over there?

Thanks for the first insights! :-)

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Kitepower Australia said..
All the Cabrinha kites this year have benefited from a move to a single front line flag out system, with a reworked bridle, and a very cool new bar design.

Hmmm, does the new flag out system make it incompatible to the old kites? I was thinking of picking up a 2014 SB with the new bar and was kind of hoping it'd be compatible to my 10 and 7 (2013) as well. Would save some space when travelling.

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swekiter said..

Thanks for the first insights! :-)

Kitepower Australia said..
All the Cabrinha kites this year have benefited from a move to a single front line flag out system, with a reworked bridle, and a very cool new bar design.

Hmmm, does the new flag out system make it incompatible to the old kites? I was thinking of picking up a 2014 SB with the new bar and was kind of hoping it'd be compatible to my 10 and 7 (2013) as well. Would save some space when travelling.

Not sure, I'd need to test that, I think it will work.

Here is a teaser clip of the new gear http://www.cabrinhakites.com/coming-soon.html

very nice ... too bad there's only 1 second of footage on that new adjustable bar :)

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Kitepower Australia said..

swekiter said..

Thanks for the first insights! :-)

Kitepower Australia said..
All the Cabrinha kites this year have benefited from a move to a single front line flag out system, with a reworked bridle, and a very cool new bar design.

Hmmm, does the new flag out system make it incompatible to the old kites? I was thinking of picking up a 2014 SB with the new bar and was kind of hoping it'd be compatible to my 10 and 7 (2013) as well. Would save some space when travelling.

Not sure, I'd need to test that, I think it will work.

I sent the question to Cabrinha support to get a definite answer and here it is:"The new Overdrive 1X bar will be backwards compatible with all Cabrinha IDS equipped kites. You just won't be able to use older IDS (2009-2013) control bars on any 2014 Cabrinha kites. Keep in mind that when using an Overdrive 1X bar on IDS equipped kites, they will flag from 1 front line and not both. Also, the center line split is much lower on the new bars. This can affect the feel and arc of the kite while in flight. The new bars have been developed together with the new kites and their bridle system. The lower v-split of the front lines tends to open up the arc a bit more on IDS kites than intended. So while it is possible to use the new 2014 Overdrive bar on your 2013 SB's, you may or may not like the feel of this combination. Pretty much up to your personal preference"

So yes it will work, but I guess I'd need to give it a spin before going on vacation with just one bar

Thanks for posting that, I actually had the info too but got distracted with other things, including the arrival today of a swag of cabrinha 2014 demo gear, we have 10 and 11M Switchies, and most of the TT board range, bring on Wednesdays wind!!!

Really glad to see big brands are moving forwards in terms of safety and adopting single front line safety systems. Airush also did the same in 2013 after many years of dual front line safety.

As I was saying on this forum not so long ago, dual front line safety systems don't offer instant flagging out when the quick release is activated and in some situations, some kites eventually don't end up flagging out at all!

Many of you kept saying how great and how safe the Cabrinha IDS was and how wrong I was to think otherwise...well they must've made that change to a single front line for a good reason, that's because it's SAFER

Single front line should be a basic safety standard at least for beginners and kite schools. It should encourage instructors to have their students activate the safety system more often and the student to feel safer in doing so as they see the kite instantly depower and can retrieve the kite quickly and safely anytime in any situation.

Great stuff!

Christian

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cbulota said..

Really glad to see big brands are moving forwards in terms of safety and adopting single front line safety systems. Airush also did the same in 2013 after many years of dual front line safety.

As I was saying on this forum not so long ago, dual front line safety systems don't offer instant flagging out when the quick release is activated and in some situations, some kites eventually don't end up flagging out at all!

Many of you kept saying how great and how safe the Cabrinha IDS was and how wrong I was to think otherwise...well they must've made that change to a single front line for a good reason, that's because it's SAFER

Single front line should be a basic safety standard at least for beginners and kite schools. It should encourage instructors to have their students activate the safety system more often and the student to feel safer in doing so as they see the kite instantly depower and can retrieve the kite quickly and safely anytime in any situation.

Great stuff!

Christian

I'm not going to argue about what's safer or not :-) I'm sure both systems have their pros and cons.

What I'd like to clarify is that the desicion wasn't made to have a better safety in this particular case. It had more to do with the possibilites of designing a new more reactive kite. The bridle setup on a two line flag out is very limiting because of how the kite has to tip backwards when the qr is activated. The designer basically told Cabrinha that if they wanted something a bit more reactive and direct, he'd have to change the bridles so that a two line flag out would no longer be possible.
If your German is up to speed - check out the video from PRKA in St. Peter Ording with the German Cabrinha distributor. Around 3 minutes into the video - this decision and the consequenses are discussed:gleiten.tv/index.php/video/action/view/v/1253/page/291/

And yes - I'm happy they switched to ;-)Cheers,Swekiter

I was just about to reply to confirm exactly what you are suggesting, but my dinner got served and I lost where I was at. Anyway you are correct, Cabrinha felt they had reached a point where they were being limited by their bridle design, so they made the move this year to change, and I'm really glad they did.
In my humble opinion these are the best Cabrinha, bridled kites the brand has ever produced. The SB, Vector and the Chaos have had huge improvements in performance.

Its all online now www.kitepower.com.au/collections/kitesurfing/Cabrinha+Kites
Boards
www.kitepower.com.au/kitesurfing/kiteboards/cabrinha-boards.html

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swekiter said..

very nice ... too bad there's only 1 second of footage on that new adjustable bar :)

Article and video about the new "Overdrive 1x" bar here:

www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Kitesurfing/Cabrinhas-new-versatile-Overdrive-kite-control-bar_7476801.aspx

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Gorgo said..


The new bars look wonderful. I could get really excited about a new bar and safety system.

Unfortunately the colour scheme looks like nanna's old wool blankets.

lol. are you serious. Those colours are cool as!

i was umming and ahhing about where ever to buy a 2013 chaos or a 2014. after watching the 2014 bar video and seeing that cross section of how it all works im REALLY swaying towards getting a 2013. i just know from diving the more moveing parts the more points of failure and i just dont like all of that **** in my bar ends. the amount of forces and pressures that will be exerted on it i just can see bars no lasting more then a few seasons.

unless someone who has had a 2013 chaos has something seriously negative to say about it i think my mind is made up.
it just took 5 months for cabrinha to replace my board aswell. such a long wait but im bloody stoked i got a new (2013) board finally.....i was secretly hopeing they were waiting to give me a 2014 hahaha but wishful thinking.

so stores, what are you floging your never used 2013 9m chaos's for?

Those cab bars man are incredibly well engineered hey. I'd trust it over most others. Will say the bar ends (see one close up) are just too big and could be a freestylers nightmare for a leash wrap...but hey they know a ton load more than I do about kite and bar design.

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Gorgo said...

The new bars look wonderful. I could get really excited about a new bar and safety system.

Unfortunately the colour scheme looks like nanna's old wool blankets.

Apparently they are selling really well in Scotland, especially to members of the mc tavish clan

The English are too many!!! Freedoooomm.

@kitepower Australia,

Hi I used to ride the 2013 SB, great kite, loved it moved to Core for obscure reasons. Looking to replace my 2012, 7m SB by the same but in 2014. Might be interested to accompany it with a 10m. 9m 2013 would get me upwind in the 15knot range and was easily contrallable in 33 knots. I am looking more int the 12-13 to 30ish knots. The F-One B6 10m does it for me at 92kg, I was wondering iff the SB 2014 could match it. Sort of a one kite quiver for traveling that would get me going around 12 and safely over 25 (27-28knots). I feel 10 is the size after trying that B6. Not sure what else you sell but feel free to recomand other stuff that would perform like an SB and cover that type of Wind range. I know you are far from the sweetspot at both ends but we have very sketchy winds so gusts are often more than 50% of the average: 15-25 is a reality or 12-18 for 30 min then 15-25 for 10 min, then 23-30 for an hour and back to 14-23 for 15minutes. I just want to mow the lawn and stay upwind in the low stuff and safely ride the gusts. Once the Wind is established above 18 knots and never drops below it, then I take the 7m out. I find 12m unconfortable above 25knots.

Gheez I made this complicate. I want to cover 15-25 with room at the bottom for lulls and at the top for gusts...gheez I could have made this so simple.

Thanks a lot.

Flipper they are all very different kites. If your after a kite for all those conditions and the wind ranges you described. .let me know us know when you find it cause then all we will all need is one kite for everyone....

And you probably should look for a women's harness cause if your 90 odd kgs and riding a 7m in 18 knots you wouldnt want to hurt your vagina

Lol... Don't get mysoginistic....I know girls who rip and could probably chew you up...I just want to know if the improved lowend for 2014 wAs reached at the expense of the great top end we saw in 2013. If not then I am confident hat the 2014 SB 10m should keep me afloat in 12knots and smiling in 30ish and really having fun in the 15-25 range. But what can I say, 15 is never 15 and 25 well, never 25.

As for the 7m, i like it in 25-35 but 25 days will see sub 20 holes and 35 knot days will see gusts around 40.

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flipper231BA said..

@kitepower Australia,

Hi I used to ride the 2013 SB, great kite, loved it moved to Core for obscure reasons. Looking to replace my 2012, 7m SB by the same but in 2014. Might be interested to accompany it with a 10m. 9m 2013 would get me upwind in the 15knot range and was easily contrallable in 33 knots. I am looking more int the 12-13 to 30ish knots. The F-One B6 10m does it for me at 92kg, I was wondering iff the SB 2014 could match it. Sort of a one kite quiver for traveling that would get me going around 12 and safely over 25 (27-28knots). I feel 10 is the size after trying that B6. Not sure what else you sell but feel free to recomand other stuff that would perform like an SB and cover that type of Wind range. I know you are far from the sweetspot at both ends but we have very sketchy winds so gusts are often more than 50% of the average: 15-25 is a reality or 12-18 for 30 min then 15-25 for 10 min, then 23-30 for an hour and back to 14-23 for 15minutes. I just want to mow the lawn and stay upwind in the low stuff and safely ride the gusts. Once the Wind is established above 18 knots and never drops below it, then I take the 7m out. I find 12m unconfortable above 25knots.

Gheez I made this complicate. I want to cover 15-25 with room at the bottom for lulls and at the top for gusts...gheez I could have made this so simple.

Thanks a lot.

Well I'll keep my answer simple, this years SB's are at least 1M more powerful than last years, so I reckon the 10M will be the kite you want and need! You would need a large board to be cruising in 12 knots with a 10M of any brand/model though. 15-25+ is doable
(Ignore the tough crowd!)

I know plenty that do too mate. Seriouly though you want a kite that you will be " comfortable " on in 12 to 35 knots ... these forums are about opinions and getting advice from fellow kiters but thats one stupid farkin question

@mattij, I appreciate your opinion and the sweet spot cannot be 12-35 throwing man?uvres all around the lake, but it is so much nicer for me to just Cruise the holes out than to change kite. I don'g think a 10 is at it's place in 30knots but When it hits you, you need to tough it and even worse, you need to come back (cuz you never know if it's only a puff). I whish I could do like the guys in dee Why last time I was down under and only Own a 9m an 2 boards, a TT and a surf but my reality is 3 kites, 15-10 or 11 and 7 or 6. Here it seems the 10 will do most of the fun days.

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Kitepower Australia said..


Rider: 75kg's of awesomeness
Style: hell yerr!!!
Weather: 12-22 knots
Build Quality: 9.5/10
Satisfaction: yep/10
Disclosure: importer/retailer

My Comments: Got to test the Cabrinha 2014 gear in Mauritius recently. We have some pretty unusual conditions for the conference, basically very little wind until the last day, so up until the last day we had only ridden large kites above 14M (new contra 15 and 17 and 14 M Switchy), and on the one day we did get wind it was 25-30+ and all I rode that day was an 8M Switchy.

Can you compare the New contra to the Xbow or Velocity and how it rides in light wind?

Hi Shawn13

I did get to ride the Contra in Mauritius, but not the Velocity. The Contra has excellent bottom end, very grunty. I found that at my weight it required a bit more effort than the kites I'm used to to push it upwind at similar angles. The SB 14M for me had similar bottom end as the 15 Contra because it moved a bit quicker.
We have a Velocity demo now, (but no Contra yet), so thats still not going to help me answer your question.

hi kitepower.

i got a 2013 13m lw xbow ive been rideing it for a year now. just wondering exactly if you are saying by the contra having excellent bottom end.
do you think a 13m contra would be more powerfull then a 13m xbow both flown at say.... 10 knots? i say 10 as i cant seem to get much really going at the supposed 8knot range. being 75kg rider. was this due to the xbow having bad bottom end power? or are we just calling the ability to kite only downwind in such weak wind doable ? anyways cant wait to finally get my hands on a chaos cheers matey. 3 days to go

Drifter 11m but the 9m is 'the one'

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Kozzie said..

hi kitepower.

i got a 2013 13m lw xbow ive been rideing it for a year now. just wondering exactly if you are saying by the contra having excellent bottom end.
do you think a 13m contra would be more powerfull then a 13m xbow both flown at say.... 10 knots? i say 10 as i cant seem to get much really going at the supposed 8knot range. being 75kg rider. was this due to the xbow having bad bottom end power? or are we just calling the ability to kite only downwind in such weak wind doable ? anyways cant wait to finally get my hands on a chaos cheers matey. 3 days to go

Mate I think they would both have very similar bottom end, and that the thing that will make the biggest difference to bottom end is the size of your board. Cab have a new ultimate LW board (weapon), the 1.65 Stylus, or you can get one of the semi race boards like the the excellent Airush Sectors.
The next thing that will get you going upwind and cruising is longer lines, try adding 5M extensions, or getting some Ozone race lines in 30M if they will fit your bar (will not fit Cab bars).

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Kitepower Australia said..

Its all online now www.kitepower.com.au/collections/kitesurfing/Cabrinha+Kites
Boards
www.kitepower.com.au/kitesurfing/kiteboards/cabrinha-boards.html

cabrinhakites.com
There, fixed it for you.
Pity you had to give back cabrinha.com.au and cabrinhakites.com.au spose the trademark owners did not like your spin on things.

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westozwind said..

Kitepower Australia said..

Its all online now www.kitepower.com.au/collections/kitesurfing/Cabrinha+Kites
Boards
www.kitepower.com.au/kitesurfing/kiteboards/cabrinha-boards.html

cabrinhakites.com
There, fixed it for you.
Pity you had to give back cabrinha.com.au and cabrinhakites.com.au spose the trademark owners did not like your spin on things.

Thanks follower, but I fixed it back for you to fix again.

Its all online now www.kitepower.com.au/collections/kitesurfing/Cabrinha+Kites Boards www.kitepower.com.au/kitesurfing/kiteboards/cabrinha-boards.html

Your info is incorrect, the domain was sold to Cabrinha. We did not have to do anything, but it was obvious that they wanted the domain and it was clearly good business sense to sell it and maintain a good win/win relationship. We do not need it anyway, the google algorithym has moved the goal posts since then.