2018 - Cabrinha Kitesurfing

[jkrug]

maybe you girls should stop worrying so much about how you look with your kites and concentrate on actually kiting.

[Starsky]

Hahahhahaha!

If kiters weren't so worried about their image, Cab would have folded up shop years ago!

[C Johnson]

I'm actually pretty happy with the new clean solid colors. I think they are doing a good job of making their product look different and stand out amongst the overwhelming amount of competitors out there. Maybe love it or hate it is the best way to describe their new colors? I think Cabrinha was one of the first to do busy looking canopy patterns, now tons of brands do that. I think 2017 was the first time I had seen reflective silver graphics on a kite. This year seems like a clean less is more approach. Its good to change things up and stay ahead of the imitators out there


One plus thing about solid colors is they are easy for repair shops. All these custom prints that you see on kites are impossible to match up if you get a hole punched in your canopy.

[Cab Driver]

I was hoping the fx would have had more hangtime this year, I guess not?

Why take someone else's word for it? You should be able to demo a new FX and decide for yourself. Be sure to try the bridle in all three settings (not the rear bridle, the FRONT bridle). Good winds.

[Cab Driver]

Just tried Switchblade 12 blah blah blah

You had some fun? Good for you. Now, please put it on the scale, and tell us how much it weights. Next, lay the kite on the ground above last year model and tell us if there is any difference in the overall shape.

Like I said I can compare only with 2015, very likely it's almost same as 2016 and 2017 from what I understand.

If I were to buy one I would probably go and try 2016 to save cash but that's me.

Anyway, I am sure KiteFinder.com will make the review you want when they get a chance, weight, laying kite over each other and measuring bridle and such.

The world's highest jumping kite, as recorded by Woo, and the Red Bull King of the Air champ is not something that we want to change. Small refinements in the design will take place when r&d and testing shows improvements. 2018 sees all new Cabrinha exclusive Dacron material that is both higher performance and more durable. The 2016, 2017, and 2018 Switchblades might look and weigh very similar, but there are subtle changes that make the Switchblade a gradual evolution rather than a revolution.

Innovations, like Pure Profile Panels, still make our 2016 kites more efficient than current designs from competitors. Cabrinha have invested in the top designers and partnered with the top software engineers to ensure that we can make the most efficient product possible. Certainly it has become more challenging to radically improve the performance year over year on our kites, but the quality, features, and durability can always improve and that is an area we focus on every season.

[dejavu]

As our sport grows and develops it is always good to see new technologies, materials, designs and safety applied each year with the top brands. Year after year we see these coming through and Cabrinha like the other major brands have been instrumental here. As for colours, kite companies keep releasing new kite colours each year to drive fashion and quicker repeat sales cycles. I am keen to see next week what new technologies and advancements will help keep us moving forward.

[experienced1]

Cabrinha's "early" release date is nothing new. It started back in 2005 with the first Bow kite. Pete stopped production of the 2006 kites and shifted production to the new Bow design. As the kites were ready to release to the public by July, it was done. That started the early release like autos. In the last few years, kites were still shipped to distributors in July with the official release date of August 1. It appears that other kites companies thought this was a good idea and have followed Cabrinha's lead.

[huge]

I was hoping the fx would have had more hangtime this year, I guess not?

Why take someone else's word for it? You should be able to demo a new FX and decide for yourself. Be sure to try the bridle in all three settings (not the rear bridle, the FRONT bridle). Good winds.

Demo ? I reached out to a dealer here in quebec Canada and no demos available.

Is the front briddle thing possible with the first generation fx 2016 ?

[peppedurso]

Looks like tips are slightly smaller - just an impression. New shape, new fabric, little battens added. At the moment there is a demo tour in Italy with Alberto Rondina and Kehai.

[huge]

anymore kite previews available ?