Cabrinha Crossbow vs Slingshot Rev II

Cabrinha Crossbow 2007 vs Slingshot Rev II 2009.

I just bought some new kites, Slingshot Rev II, thought it would be interesting to see if Slingshot’s kites were better than my Cabrinhas. I have friends that kite with Slingshot kites and Ruben Lenten is also kiting with Slingshot, so you would think that the Slingshot kites are at least as good as Cabrinhas. My buddy rides with Slingshot Fuel kites, old c-kites from 2007. He is a good rider, but when it comes to jumping he never makes such huge jumps as make with my Cabrinhas. I have always thought that it simply has to do with the fact that he isn’t jumping with enough power, until today when I has my first session with a Slingshot Rev II…

The wind was pretty good, about 8-10 m/s and I took a ride with my old 9m Cabrinha Crossbow from 2007. Was far from overpowered, but I could at least do some pretty high jumps and transition down loops. Anyway, the wind went down a bit, so I thought that I should try my “new” 11m Slingshot Rev II from 2009. I had 30 minutes session before I went back on land, regreting that I ever bought this Slingshot Rev II, what a shitty kite! Here is my experiences from this kite.

• Steering. One of the good things with the Rev II is that it turns very quickly, almost like a c-kite, but that is also in my opinion a drawback when you’re jumping, since the kite easily turns away from 12 o’clock and you end up crashing of landing hard when you don’t have control over the kite in the sky.
• Jumping. The Rev II sucks when it comes to jumping even if you manage to keep it steady at 12. The lift is poor and once you reach the peak in your jump you drop like a stone from the sky, resulting in hard impacts. With the Cabrinha you can always get a second lift from the kite if you feel that the landing might not be so smooth, you simply sheet out the bar a bit and then pull it against you to get a second lift. With the Rev II this is something that seems almost impossible to perform. Even though the jumps and managed to make were quite small the landing were so hard that I don’t think I would be able to jump high without breaking my legs when I land.
• Power – depower. The depower system sucks on the Rev II. The bar feels like a big mess of lines and the rope that slides through the bar apperantly is a part that gets worn out, at least according to what the condition looked like on the bar I used, which hasn’t been used that much. To depower you must lock the rope in a steal-thing that obviously wears out the rope. Anyway, I was riding with full power during my short session so this was nothing that bothered me to much, but I also noticed that the difference from having the bar fully sheeted out to all the way sheeted in barely had any effect on the power, something which I think makes jumping harder. Not only are you forced to steer the kite far beyond 12 to get enough lift, but the fact that power difference you can achieve by sheeting the bar out or in is far from enough to give you a good lift as well as catch the fall on your way down.
• Design. What can I say… The design is nothing that affects the kites performance, but the design of the Rev II really is as boring as it could get, dull colors and cool textures. My old Crossbow from 2007 looks way cooler!
• Construction. Maybe the only thing that is OK with the Rev II is the construction. The kite feels solid, like it’s impossible to puncture it, but that’s pretty much the only positive thing I can say about the Rev II. The Rev II has a one-pump system with a stopper ball, which works fine, but not as good as Cabrinhas one-pump system with their valve that only allows air to get in one way.

Conclusion. The Rev II is the worst kite I ever tried so far and I truly recommend everyone to think twice before they buy this kite, you better of buying an old Cabrinha Crossbow from 2007, cheaper and much much better!

Cabrinha Crossbow IDS leaking air

Two of my Cabrinha Crossbows, the 11m and 13m are leaking air and it’s very annoying to be forced to ride back to land after less than an hour of kiting, just to blow up the soft spongy kite again. I have emailed the support to Cabrinha and I´m currently waiting for their answer. This is what I just wrote to them:

Hello!

I have three Cabrinha Crossbow kites (9, 11 and 13), all from 2009 with the IDS system. They are all used, but not in excess and they are still in very good condition. However, I recently noticed that two of them, the 11 and 13 have punctures. I can only ride with them for max one hour before I have to go back to land to pump them up again. I have located the puncture to the leading edge, since all the struts keep the air when the vents are closed.
I havn’t smashed the kites in the water or something like that, the punctures just appeared from nowhere. Do you have any idea of what the possible problem can be and how it can be fixed. Is it the bladder or the main vent that is broken? Perhaps did other people report airleakages from their 09 Crossbows?

Any help is appreciated! =)

Best regards,

Cabrinha Crossbow IDS – 13m Review

So I ended up buying the three kites I were talking about in the previous post. I got a good price for them, payed only $1500 for all three including 3 bars, pumps, bags, everything.

So far I had two sessions with my 13m. My first reaction with this kite was the fact that the stopper was missing on the bar, where the hell is the fucking stopper was my first thought and I was a bit annoyed that it was gone. And it annoyed me in the water as well. I’m used to keeping the bar close to my body and I use the stopper to place the bar halfway up in the depower throw, which allows you to rest a bit since it won’t be necessary to keep your arms tightened all the time.

This was apperantly not possible with the new bar. The mechanical stopper is exchanged to a stopper which uses friction to stay in place, but the friction is not enough to allow you to rest halfway up. It’s just a question of time before you push the bar more than halfway up which pushes the stopper further away from you. Occasionally you’ll have to depower by pulling the red strap which then be located at the very top of the throw, hardly within reach! Luckiliy I have monkeyarms, so I can manage to grasp the depower/power straps, but I still found it very annoying. Later I found a great article, Override vs Overslide, which explains why Cabrinha removed the stopper and also how to modify the bar if you’re not happy with it.

Other than that the kite was great. Pretty quick turnings for being such a large kite and the pull upwards when you jump are great! Also, the IDS works flawlessly. I failed once and didn’t know what was up or down. The IDS was released and the kite was fully depowered.

The day came when I had my second session and this time I didn’t bother so much about the absence of a stopper. I think I had a little less power in the kite this time, so I didn’t had to extend my arms so much to depower the kite. I actually started to appreciate the kite much more after the second session.

My conclusion is that the new 2009 IDS bar is quite good after all. The bar pressure is lighter, so you don’t have to push so hard all the time. However, if there is lots of wind and you suspect that you’ll be overpowered and if you have two bars, one old override bar and one 2009 IDS bar, then I think that the new bar might not be the best option. If you ride with the bar close to halfway on the throw, then a stopper is great, since you can rest some of the time, this is not possible with the IDS bar.

Cabrinha Kite Crossbow IDS 2009

An article has already been written about Cabrinha Crossbow 2011 edition, but I think the majority of all kiters buy second hand kites, so I think a review about the older Cabrinha Crossbow is in place, the 2009 version to be more precise. In fact I´m just looking to buy some new second hand kites, since my old 2007 Cabrinha Crossbow 9m and my 2008 Cabrinha Switchblade 12m is getting a bit to torn… or actually the kites are in great condition, but the bars are almost falling apart! A guy is selling three 2009 Cabrinha Crossbow IDS, sizes 9, 11 and 13. The price is reasonable, $1600 for all three including bars, bags, pumps etc. But I though that I better do some research about the 2009 Crossbow edition before I strike, don’t wanna buy a pig in a poke…
So here is a summary about this kite, i.e. info collected from various sources on the net.

The Crossbow IDS (Intelligent Depower System) was released 2009 and is of course a fancy and cool name and people might buy Cabrinhas products just because of that. The IDS is however not just another depower system. It’s true that it doesn’t differ to much compared to the old depower system, but the quality and design of the bar and the depower system is nicer and better compared to the predecessors.
Further, Cabrinha claimes that the new IDS deliver power in a wider wind range which is due to the dynamic arc construction. It works like a sort of flexible arc, the more power you get in the kite the more curved does the kite become. The largest kites have a more flattened arc which allows them to grab more wind and thus provide you with a better low end. The smallest kites have a more tradionally shaped arc which make them better to handle strong winds.

The unique design of the Cabrinha canopy makes it to a chameleon when the wind is changing. Lightning fast and quick turning in strong winds and still with a great wind range. This combined makes the new Cabrinha an absolute high performance winner for many riders no matter what kind of conditions you’re riding in.

The new features that Cabrinha list for the 2009 Crossbow IDS kite is:

• Absolute depower – pull the bar over the stopper and the kite will actaully fall down
• Sprint – I guess they mean the sprint to the quick release
• Improved LE Closing Seam – My previous Cabrinhas have been super strong in the seams, so the new seam must be undestructible!
• Ultra Bomb canopy reinforcement – don’t exactly what it means, but it sounds good =)
• Flat seams
• New bridle pulleys
• New Pulley bridle line
• Industry Leading QR – Cabrinha here states that their quick release is the best in the world.

Cabrinha has something they call Powerdrive IDS. Which is another cool word for the depower stuff. It means that you have full control over the kite whether you´re flying fully powered of if you are fully depowered with the kite in the air, on land or in the water. I guess that the “full control” probably also comes down how skilled you are as a kiter. The bar has new “streamlined” design and some other new features are:

• IDS activation below the bar
• Soft EVA bar ends – don’t ask me what EVA is…
• Lower pivot point
• No pulleys
• Left/Right designation – like this would be something new… the colors are blue and red.
• 22 meter lines

A more detailed description of the bar features might be appropriate.

Soft EVA Bar Ends – This is accordingly to Cabrinha some kind of multifunction ends. If I understand it correctly, the ends and the bar is one big seamless molded piece. The ends are both ergonomical designed and protective in the way that are no hard steel pieces or something like that on which you can hurt yourself. Further, since the ends are a sort of extension of the bar, you can use them for aggressive turnings or if you just prefer to keep your grip extra wide. The design also facilitates when you tie the lines around the bar.

Lower Pivot Point – I guess that they mean the point where the lines are attached to the bar ends. This point is closer to the bar, which apperantly reduces the turning impulse that is required for steering the kite.

Floatation – The bar has enough buoyancy to float in the water even when the lines are tied to the bar. This is handy if you need to put your bar away for few seconds, no need to search for iy beneath the surface anymore.

No Pulleys – The Powerdrive IDS control system is free from pulleys which results in no bar pressure whatsoever at the same time as you get rid of annoying extra lines and pulleys.

Quick Release – Cabrinha has one of the markets best and safest quick release system. The new powerdrive QR is based on the old construction which means few moving parts, unsensitive to salt and sand. The technique is tested for many years and proven to be outstanding, so there is no reason for Cabrinha to change its QR system at this state.

QR2 – In case you need to completely separate yourself from the kite, simply pull the secondary QR which is attached to the harness loop. You’ll now how total depower and the kite will fall down from the sky.

That’s it. I think I´ll buy those kites after all. The price is good and the kites seem to be great even though they are 2 years old. I´ll of course get back with a full review of the kites if I buy them =)

Stay tuned!

Freeride Kite #1

Freeride kite nr.1. No other kite has made a bigger impression in the kite history. When Cabrinha introduced Crossbow did they actually drastically change the conditions for kiting. Year 2011 is the 6th version of the classic freeride kite of Crossbow that Cabrinha releases.

With crossbow are you getting a huge wind span and ability to kite in gusty winds like no other kites. I´ve been kiting myself with a 9 meter Cabrinha Crossbow in 23 m/s, with full depower, but still… Crossbows open arc design gives tons of lift and power. the crossbow is the kite for you that likes to ride fast, go upwind and jump high with long hang time. Crossbow is a true freeridee kite that is easy to water start, comes in top quality and with a great safety system combined with IDS – Intelligent Depower System.

2011 Cabrinha Crossbow IDS

Cabrinha has released its new type of the popular crossbow kite, the Cabrinha Crossbow IDS!

So what is new and what is this IDS all about?

The crossbow kite has always been Cabrinhas best free riding kite with a very good power / size ratio which can be explained by the kites profile which has a wide open arc which makes the kite excellent for those who are looking to be airborn as long as possible.

The crossbow has always been known for being extremely easy to waterstart and the 2011 version does not make us disappointed on this point either.  The handling is also even better in the new version.

IDS stands for Intelligent Depower System and it’s basically an improved bridle and control system, like it wasn’t easy enough to steer the previous crossbows =) The IDS provides the kite with two stages of depower. One that can be used interactive while riding your kite and one that be used during landing. Cabrinha states that the second stage correspond to a fifth line, but without the mess that always comes with the fifth line. Morover Cabrinha claimes that the 2011 version is still as easy to relaunch as its predecessors.

The first Cabrinha Crossbow was released 2006 and it took the kite surfing to a whole new level with all the benefits and simplicity that came with the bow-kite. The newest version is in other words the 6th edition of the Crossbow and it seems like Cabrinha will keep their competitors a few steps behind on the kite front even this year!