Can someone review the Cabrinha Crossbow 18m for me please?

[bustingbladder]

At your weight with the Sector 60 and the Xbow 18m you will be able to ride in that wind range. But take care not to drop the kite as I said, it is not the easiest of the LW kite out there to relaunch. Since theses kites have a great depower, I would go with the 18m anytime. You will go upwind easely and with very good speed on the Sector so your apparent wind should always be good even in the lull. Great combo for below 10 knots! I can't wait to get mine and do my test with my race ski.

Yes, what Seb said... But at your weight you could almost go with the 16m. Yes there is a difference between the two and it is definitely noticable. Make no mistake! For a while it was just the 16m needed as the biggest kite from the Bow family. These things are very efficient machines! I am a solid 200lb'er and even though I was on a box rule raceboard, the 16m would even keep cruising with nice speed through huge glass patches. Giant glass patches dude! I was laughing going "No way, no way"! The 18 will do exactly what Seb said and will be great for those 10kt days. With the new turning speed and light weight efficiency tweeks, these things have me stoked about the upcoming race year! We need every advantage we can get! Hope to see Cabrinha follow this up with a dedicated race bar as well for an option box to check.
Might be hard right now to pull a demo off where you are, I dont know...? But good luck and hopefully that helped you out.

[Rando1994]

I own a 2012 cb 18m. I have owned a 17m ozone zephyr and a 21 m fly surfer.
The 18 is my favorite of the bunch. Easy relaunch always. Pulls like a truck. I can keep it held down in up to 20mph wind. Boost awesome and hang time is amazing. bar pressure is medium I'd say. Never noticeable unless its blowing over 18. Then I should be on my smaller kite anyway. The kite is HUGE! Turns quick enough for its size. It will relaunch easily off the backlines in the lightest winds. In fact, that's the best way to get it in the air in light winds if it does drop out in a lull.
The 21m would fly in lighter winds but the ground handling turned me off immediately. If you don't have huge, open, clean, launches then the fly surfer is a handful.
Loved the zephyr but it would Hindenburg in lulls. The 18 m cab has never done that on me. I will say the cab lines need tuned on a regular basis, but otherwise, no complaints and love the 18m.

[Kamikuza]

Say... has anyone played with line extensions to get more out of the Xbows in light winds? OEM lines are only 21m, aren't they?

[shawn13]

I will say the cab lines need tuned on a regular basis, but otherwise, no complaints and love the 18m.

Glad you mentioned that. I have had to tune my 13 about 3 times so far and it was bought new this year, i thought i had a faulty kite. I guess all the xbows are the same, im guessing because they all pull like tanks!

Also thanks for the comparison!

[patrickrynne]

Hopefully I can help

I would say that the 2013 18m crossbow is arguably the best crossbow I've flown in terms of overall performance. It has tremendous range, great upwind (disclaimer, I'm a racer), and has gotten me out on the water in the dog days of the florida summer. I use this kite primarily with a raceboard, hydrofoil, or an Alaia.

The 16/18 comparison is pretty easy. I flew the 16m as my big kite last season (i'm 6'2", 180lbs) and made the jump to the 18 this year. I felt like in the conditions I was using the 16 (super light sketchy days), that the 18 just gave me more juice which is exactly what you need in those conditions. As the breeze came up, I realized I could jump from the 18 crossbow LW to the 13 easily.

For smaller guys the 18 might be too much kite. Its BIG. One our locals who also races is only about 150lbs, and for him the 16 is as much as he will ever need. For guys like Bryan Lake who is probably 190-200lbs, he can hold onto the 18 in more wind.

So I'd say its really dependent on your size. If you're a big guy over 165lbs, I'd say go for the 18. If you're smaller, then the 16.

cheers

-patrick

[shawn13]

Hopefully I can help

I would say that the 2013 18m crossbow is arguably the best crossbow I've flown in terms of overall performance. It has tremendous range, great upwind (disclaimer, I'm a racer), and has gotten me out on the water in the dog days of the florida summer. I use this kite primarily with a raceboard, hydrofoil, or an Alaia.

The 16/18 comparison is pretty easy. I flew the 16m as my big kite last season (i'm 6'2", 180lbs) and made the jump to the 18 this year. I felt like in the conditions I was using the 16 (super light sketchy days), that the 18 just gave me more juice which is exactly what you need in those conditions. As the breeze came up, I realized I could jump from the 18 crossbow LW to the 13 easily.

For smaller guys the 18 might be too much kite. Its BIG. One our locals who also races is only about 150lbs, and for him the 16 is as much as he will ever need. For guys like Bryan Lake who is probably 190-200lbs, he can hold onto the 18 in more wind.

So I'd say its really dependent on your size. If you're a big guy over 165lbs, I'd say go for the 18. If you're smaller, then the 16.

cheers

-patrick

Wow thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for from this thread.

You wouldn't happen to have flown a '12 CB 18m and be able to tell me if any there are significant differences between the two years? Other than different construction materials and a new bar...?

[patrickrynne]

Yes I've flown the 2012 and the 2013. Performance wise, I don't think there is a big difference. The lines/bar for the new kite are much nicer on the 2013 (IMO).

It really comes down to the price vs. age. If you plan on turning your kites over every season, shelling out a little extra to have the latest version might make sense (i.e its easier to sell next year, get more $ for it since its a 2013 vs. a 2012).

If you hang onto kites for multiple seasons, and you just want to get the best deal...I'd say the 2012 is going to offer you everything you need, and you might get to save some dinero since its last years kite.

cheers

-patrick

[WjM]

WjM, Seriously dude? I own the 2013 18m xbow and have 3 sessions on it already! Just about everything you blasted about the Xbow is total BS! First off, the new 5 strut design along with all the other refinements have increased the turning speed imensely! The kite is much lighter now and has many small changes that are hard to see from a picture. The kite will fly in just a puff of wind. I think this is the same science Dimitri and Momi are using with the Infinity V2. It is first off, very light weight and then you go from there with the tweeks in design. I have 2 sessions on the 16m as well. They both turn so much faster than they used to! And the only way the 18m will flap while turning is if you have the bar sheeted out too far. Many kites do this if you dont pull a little tension against kite with the bar. And yes, when you are riding kites in less than 10kts, any big kite will have a hard time relaunching. You have to go back to the old school way of relaunching big kites in super light wind. And that is to swim at the kite and get it on it's back, pull the back line and your money. Your Edge however, will still be sitting in the water while I zoom away! I guess you forgot to tell everyone that the Edge does not water relaunch in light wind at all! I run races here in Seattle and can tell you I have witnessed it first hand with the Edges! No doubt a great kite but no reason to bash the new Xbow when operator error seems to be the problem with your examples. The 16m and 18m Xbows both come with a 65cm bar. There is no reason anyone should have to use a pulley bar. And hello, a pulley bar sucks! Period! IMHO, not an improvement move to throw one on a new Xbow! The new 18m is a power house made to get you going in the lightest of conditions to rocket up wind. Not made for waves, freestyle or any of that crap! It's a racing machine that boosts to the moon and is a perfect kite for the beginner to advanced rider.
If I have left anything out, please ask questions. I have the answers if you want to know anything about the new 2013 9m-18m. I have time on all of them now except the 9m.

Remember, demo before you buy and stop the trolling guys! It's really obvious when your plugging the other brand in a Cab thread...

Wally Gator

Busting bladder, did I piss on your parade? Free speech my friend. I tried the kite and there is no trolling or brand bashing, I was trying to be kind. If your an obvious cab lover good for you. Here the local dealer has gone with gentrix because he was fed up with sh one t kites. The proof of any kite is in the air, like I said fly the kite and decide. Brand bashing my ass!

BTW its a "Cab" thread as you call it when he buys the kite!

Have a nice day.....

WjM............