BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Ok all you lusting kiters looking for juice on the Crossbow, hereís a non biased review from a fresh purchase. I took my fresh 12m Cabrinha Crossbow out to Sherman Island Monday evening and started an evening session at 5pm. Monday, 8/8/2005, was NUKING at Sherman. So much so that everyone on the beach looked at me cross eyed as I rigged the 12m. People were going out on 8m classic kites and one guy was on a 6m. Well, needless to say I was a little apprehensive and quite cautious. New kite, NUKING winds, great scenario for a test, ha! So, rigged up and got ready to launch. Got one person to hold on to me just in case the claimed depower abilities were false, and got ready to dump the kite. Kite launched, brought it overhead, and asked the guy behind me, ìYou holding on tight?î. ìNot at all!î came the reply. Hmmm. 12m kite, 25+ gusting to 30+ winds, and Iím standing on the ground, not much pull. Ok.
I grabbed my 136 and headed out. With this much wind, I didnít need to dip the kite to power up. Just pull the bar in and POW! This was not a reckless yank, just a solid pull the more I pulled in the bar. Need more juice? Pull on the bar. I sailed for 3.5 hours until the sun went down. I kept it simple, learning:
AIR: not a problem. Regular moves, pull on the bar, and POW! Just make sure youíve got a lot of downwind space because I was flying for as long as I felt like keeping the bar sheeted in. Big air. Long air. Sick air. This is more air than I EVER got on my FUELs. I have shots from the shore crew (gf) of 25+ feet and that was tentative.
TURNS: The kite turned ok. Granted, in these insane conditions for a 12m, I didnít test out the turning ability on a new kite. But, it appeared to turn about as quick as my 11m Fuel.
RELAUNCH: several times I dumped the kite and it Tacoíd. First time I thought great, now what? Well, given about 30 seconds the kite jumped up and down a bit, flipped back over and hot launched. My normal reaction would have been immanent pain and nasal enemaís after getting yanked out of the water. This time, I just let go of the bar and the kite barely pulled as it slowly launched and started to settle back down towards the water. Remember, this is still a 12m kite in 25+ gusting into the 30ís winds.

The next morning the winds calmed down a bit and I went out for another couple sessions totaling 6 more hours. As the winds were now upper teens, low 20ís consistently, it was time to test the kite in itís prescribed habitat.
AIR: still big air. People have mentioned this kite takes time to get use to flying and jumping. Yeah, right. This kite jumps very similar to a classic kite, and will keep flying for much longer.
TURNS: now that the wind was down, I started hucking the kite into some turns the way I am used to with the Fuel 11m and 9m. This kite turns as fast or faster than my 11m Fuel. The method is similar, but a little tweaking was needed. In order to turn the kite fast youíve got to sheet the bar in for solid juice and then POINT the bar. Full point, push and pull. Once you get this down, this kite flips. Fast. 12m. The beautiful part is once itís flipped you can let out on the bar and depower the kite for a smooth transition of even power back through the power zone. With a classic kite, even with depowering, I would be over juiced through the window and fine once the kite reached the other side. Loops? No problem. Iím not doing loops while airborne yet, but the kite turns fast while Iím on the waterÖ
RELAUNCH: dumped it a bunch of times and never an issue. In fact, this kite does NOT like to stay on the water. Nor does it like to stay on the ground. I had to put at least one, sometimes two sand bags on the kite to keep it from moving around in the wind sheltered area where all the other kites were resting. This kite does not rest. ADD? Ritalin for a kite?
FLIGHT: This kite flies smoother than any other kite I have ridden. Iíve now ridden Slingshots, Naish, North, Cabrinha. Because of the pulley system and bar pressure/movement, this kite seems to fly extremely smooth.
BAR: I love the Cabrinha bars, and this is no different. I was using a Recon1 bar with my Fuel kites. The only request I have for the bar is the Power Lock. Itís supposedly coming, but without it, the forearms definitely get worked. The bar pressure is similar to my Fuels.
SAFETY: I am looking forward to trying airborne kite loops again. The safety built in by just letting go of the bar is fantastic. Bailouts made easy. Surface tension is not my friend when Iím yarding it.

All in all, the best kite purchase I have made to date. If youíre questioning purchasing one, in famous words of Nike, just do it. I canít wait for some wave riding with this kite. Positioning will be made even easier. All this on a 12m mind you. Yeah, I like a fast turning kite and love hucking it around, so I may be looking into the 7 or 9m soon. Just think about it, a 12m that turns as quickly or more so as a classic 12m kite, plus range to ride into 30+ winds. Stupid! Only reason to get a smaller one is for faster turning. Just like a classic kite, the smaller it is, the quicker it will turn.

Enjoy your meal.

Blackbird,
Thanks for the review. Just a few questions:
What is the pull on this kite when you let go of the bar?
Does it have the same pull as a traditional U-shaped kite when in the water? How did you end your sessions, did someone catch the kite for you?
Or did you do a self landing?
Are self rescues possible with this kite?
Would you feel comfortable doing self launches and self landings with this kite?
thanks,
bric

sflinux,
Some good questions. I haven't tried self launching or landing this kite. The self launch shouldn't be a problem, but the self landing might. As mentioned, this kite does NOT want to stay on the ground by itself. I'll have to try this out and find out if it's possible. Worst case, a ring is provided on one of the center lines. Hooking the leash into that and dumping the kite would be the alternative.

The pull on this kite is next to NONE when you let go of the bar. This is with the bar up against the stock setting of the stopper ball. There is basically NO pull when pushed throught the stopper ball.

Self rescues seem possible as kite handles are given.

Nice review. I would say nothing differently about it. I too was comparing it to my fuels and I would say exactly the same thing, it turns as fast as the 11 and has at least as much as my 15, keep in mind that the projected area is almost numericqally identical between the 12 crossbow and the fuel 15. This was my review a few weeks ago.

I flew the 12meter crossbow today for the first time. It is all it is cracked up to be! I flew the kite at 3rd ave in winds suitable for 13-16meter kites. I was a little suspiscous of the kites reputation since, usually, when something so great comes out that is truly great, people are all over it and want it asap. It seemed that people who flew it had nothing but good things to say so I wondered why the kiting community hasn't gone "nuts" over it. So basically I took off from the lower beach at 3rd which as most know whom have been there, it is severly shadowed and kites can drop like flies. The rep told me he didn't want to walk up wind and I had just gone DOWN wind in my 11 meter fuel. So he told me to launch at the lower beach, which I was very scepticle of doing as already a few kites were heading down wind. So I went on his faith and experience and went out only to find myself upwind in 2 tacks. It truly depowers and powers up like no other. I didnt fly it in nuclear winds so I can't say that handles the 30 mph gusts it claims but from the feel of it I would not be surprised if it handled more than that with comfort. But the kite did have way more power than a comparable 12 meter. Lets just say I am a diehard Slingshot fan and when I came in my first question was what colors do they come in? The bar is thicker than most bars which is REALLY nice and ergonomic. The pulleys don't get in your way. There is an incredibly easy to use safety for total depower and for total release of the kite. Jumping on the kite was a little different but after flying it myself I dont see why so many people are making such a fuss over how different it is. It is a kite with 4 line control like all the others. It just has more power/depower from the flat wing, faster turning due to the small size, and easy to relaunch.

The only thing other than learning to jump with it ,which I could see being issues, are flying unhooked, of course you could totally depower the kite as you would a little on a normal 4 liner. The kite is bad-ass! and as Veruka Salt would say " I want a crossbow and I want one now!"

Yuri

Steve was nice enough to let me feel the depower pressure on one of his crossbows yesterday.
I don't see any problems with flying unhooked, you can just clip your leash into the chicken loop. If you mess up and let go of the bar, the leash pulling on the chicken loop will be the same as pushing away on the bar. I saw guys trying insane tricks after tricks at third and when they spilled, the kite would either hover in 0 power, or fall to the water, again with 0 power. Water relaunches look so easy with this kite, easier than a 5 line setup.
Don't demo this kite, unless you have the means or cash to buy one. Cause it will be your new favorite kite. If you already have a kite quiver in the 2M increments, one of these kites will replace three of your existing U-shaped kites. I can see how two of these kites would cover most of your wind range.
I see this as an excellent kite for the super safety conscious. It seems like it would be a great kite for kite schools. What can be safer than just pushing away on the bar, no need to try to unhook from the chicken loop. No need to pull a quick release in oh shit situations. I can see this kite recruiting a lot of windsurfers who are scared of kites.
Self landing and self rescue looks like no problem. Because of the 0 pressure when you push the bar away, you can just walk the line to your kite. It does have handles for self rescues too so shouldn't be a problem. I was impressed with the leading edge fabric, looks like it will hold up well.
-bric

Blackbird(Eric) did you figure out what happend at crissy with your new crossbow's gear failure.

Blackbird,

How much do you weigh?
It almost sounds like you have yourself a 3 kite quiver right there with the 12M??!!!


Blair

bdawg,
Last I checked, 190lbs. I have used this kite now in 15mph-30+. Yes, it replaces my 9m, 11m, and just about my 15m Fuels. Of course, as mentioned, a smaller bow makes turning quicker just like any other kite. So, I'll be getting a smaller kite at some point in the near future just to cover the fun factor in higher winds. The 12m is 'useable' and friendly in 30+, but I think if you can be on a smaller kite, do it.

Cheers

Blackbird wrote:bdawg,
Last I checked, 190lbs. I have used this kite now in 15mph-30+. Yes, it replaces my 9m, 11m, and just about my 15m Fuels. Of course, as mentioned, a smaller bow makes turning quicker just like any other kite. So, I'll be getting a smaller kite at some point in the near future just to cover the fun factor in higher winds. The 12m is 'useable' and friendly in 30+, but I think if you can be on a smaller kite, do it.

Cheers

Blackbird,
I weigh almost 40 lbs. less than you. That is pretty cool that the kite has soo much range. Let me add "real world" range. it is not hype not some crap but a real testimonial. I like that. Do you think i could use the next smaller size?