Gorge Tested Cabrinha Crossbow

[Experienced1]

I had the 9M Cabrinha CrossBow in the Gorge last week. The general consensus is that the kite has the widest windrange of any kite available to date. It is also the safest; real by those that let the bar go, and perceived by those that found the kite so easy to fly in very gusty winds...they felt in total control. For those who tried the relaunch feature the comments were how easy and simple. Also received VERY positive comments about the speed of the kite and how easy it was to kiteloop. And from those that "surfed" the swell...can't wait to get this thing in the waves! The general comment by newbies to very experienced kiters was WOW...VERY NICE!!!!!..and when will it be available?

A rider who sells and rides Naish kites said...very impressive, couldn't find anything wrong with the kite. A WW rider using a skim board sd the Crossbow had a MUCH smoother depower/power system than his WW...made riding his skim board much easier. A SS rider called the kite a gust buster as it was so easy to control.

However, (as mentined by Dax in his review) no one commented that the jumping was higher or the hangtime longer than their traditional inflatables. This kite reguires a slight modification to the way you jump and the way you do unhooked maneuvers, and will take a few sessions to get it dialed.

So, if there is a lingering doubt about jumping and hangtime claims, I've included a link to a short video of my friend John starting to get it dialed. John is not sponsored by Cabrinha nor is involved in the kite industry....he has a real job in the Silicon Valley. He has previously had hang times of 6 sec on his 12M...but never on a small kite...think his 3rd jump is 6.5 sec....remember he is on a 9M. I will post some additional footage of the kite flying, relaunching, looping (I hope) and a few more jumps as soon as I get it together....

http://www.teamcoyote.net/2005Coyote/pa ... ssbow.html

steve

[OliverG]

Steve,

Thanks for the post and link. I think everyone should be excited about new developments in non-traditional kite designs. Before long, the 06 Rapture will be out, even though the 05 ones rock and have made quite a stir (WW came out with them 1st!) and I don't know much about the Takoon Nova, but perhaps it will make an appearance. Word is Naish is working on something also. A non-traditional new-school kite shootout would be something to put our eyes to in the future.

Cheers,
Ollie

[elli]

When you compare this kite to others think about the projected size. Its projected size is probably closer to a 12 U kite. How does it work unhooked? If the kite powers up two or three sizes up, unhooked can create enormous amount of power.

[andyandmarlys]

I got a chance to ride the 9m crossbow today at 3rd Ave. Walking out, I saw the average kite was about a 13m. Had I rigged my own gear, I would have taken the R5 14m which I am sure would have been about right. Steve Gunn the local Cabrinha rep had the kite already rigged and ready to go. On the beach, it doesn't really stand out from other kites unless you really look close. In the air, it is a different story. It doesn't look like a normal kite with its wingtips cut off, and it doesn't really look like a foil. To be fair, I do not think that the Rapture and this kite look anything like each other in the air... One would never be mistaken for the other.....

anyhow, Steve told me I should bring my biggest board, the SS Glide, since the kite was only a 9m and I am a big guy at 220lbs. I brought it, but also brought along my 128 Jaime Med...just in case..

With the kite in the air at 12, I didn't really notice anthing unusual. It didn't pull very much at all, while up there which I associated to its small size. The kite from a riders perspective doesn't look all that different from a traditional kite.... yes different, but not as different as it looks from a non-rider's view.

Anyhow, I dove the kite and was impressed by its turning speed and the power it produced. It turned faster than my R5 10m, but slower than my Vegas 7m. The kite would turn on a dime..that is not with alot of forward movement.... It did not turn like a large foil I used to fly in which it seemed like the whole kite rotated.... It was a pivoty turn like I'd expect from a Fuel or RRD... In thinking back, one of my favorite things is in how resposive and controlled the turns were.

While turning quicker than my 10m R5, it produced far more power. I initially went out on the Glide expecting to be under powered, but quickly came in to my small 128cm board, which I then rode for about an hour. Moving the kite to get up to speed was easy, and then I could just park and ride. I didn't ride with the bar all the way pulled in, but with about 2" off full power. When needed I would pull in the last 2" and there would be more power there... when I felt a puff, I would gently push away the bar. When pushing the bar far away, the kite's power was minimal...but to be fair, not ZERO power... I had expected the kite to just fall out of the air with the bar pushed out, but that did not happen.. It would remain flying and then slowly pick a side and then trace the wind window until it hit the water. There was always some front tension on the lines, and I had PLENTY of time to spin the bar or adjust my harness or whatever before it would fall... I initially thought the kite would just fall right out of the sky... which it doesn't... it just floats with about as much pull as you would have when walking and inflated kite upside down.

On the 128cm board I was easily going upwind, even against a slight flood. I did not boost any really huge jumps today, but I had some good medium jumps. As everyone was saying, jumping is slightly different with this kite... I would agree... The jumps I did do had good hang time. Remember...everyone else is smaller than me, and were riding 13-14 m kites. My highest jump today was probably 10-15 ft. I can see myself going much higher with more wind.

Kiteloops were fine.... a little adjusting to do on the turning since it completed the loop before I had expected..

Unhooked was not a problem... did some raileys without any issue...

While trying to ride blind, I found it difficult to keep the kite powered... This is due to me being used to using a stopper knot on my Rhino's... This proto-kite had no stipper ball or over-ride ball... This proto also didn't have powerlock... which should be available on the retail version....

Bar pressure was not noticably different than my the Rhino's I am used to...In fact, it may have less bar pressure that the Vegas kites I have tried... I have read that some people make an issue of the bar pressure, but trust me, it is not anything unusual.... That being said, I'd like to have the option of a powerlock or microloop...


Relaunching was easy... basically steer it off the water.... One time I had the leading edge facing into the wind and had to pull one of the lines to get it to roll around to relaunch. While doing this the leading edge caught the wind and hot launched the kite. With this kite, not really a big deal as sheeting out takes most of the power out... even durring a hot launch... I can see someone getting launched if they decided to keep sheeting in...

After I brought the kite in, I threw up my R5 10m that my wife had been riding for a direct comparison. I had been spoiled by the Crossbow. The 10m felt sluggish and not able to generate much power... I took it out and barely made it back to the starting point. I could build speed by going downwind, and so did a downwinder to the lower launch... I could not jump more than 3-5 feet high... found it difficult to stay to weather, and realized I missed the quick turning of the Crossbow.. As I was coming in, I noticed that my R5 10m was getting close to hindenburging.... something the crossbow never threatened to do... Surely I was underpowered on the 10m Rhino....while the 9m Crossbow had given me adequate power.....

I would like to try the crossbow in higher winds to extract the better jumps... If Steve had a 12m available today, I would have taken that instead...

The very fact that I was able to ride today on a 9m is insane...on a 128cm board at that... When I came in, there was a guy coming in on a Rhino 16m.. Did I mention I weigh 220 lbs?

The bottom line is that the Crossbow is my new favorite kite... displacing the R12....

In case you are wondering, I am not sponsored by Cabrinha and currently own North, Slingshot, and Cabrinha kite gear. I love my North Boards and my new Slingshot Glide.. but there is a new kite in town that has me very excited for 2006.

[sflinux]

I saw Andy out on the crossbow, even got to see him do a water relaunch. In the air, the kite kind of looks like a wing, sort of like a flysurfer, but definately unique. The tips are chopped off and angled with a high angle of attack which makes for the fast turning (much different than the ww rapture).
I was out on my 15M peter lynn G2 and was pretty powered up, though not overpowered (I agree 13M was the average size kite out). The 9M crossbow looks like a small kite, I was surprised he was able to do all of the things he did on such a small kite.
When I first saw photos of this kite online, I was skeptical. But after seeing this kite in the air, I am eager to check this kite out. I believe the large wind range has to do with the bridle system which transfers the load to the leading edge (similiar concept to ww S.A.F.E. system). The wing shape looks optimized, no tips there to induce drag. Looks like the Legaignoux brothers came up with another patent just when their lei wipika patent was about to expire, my hats off to them.
Looking forward to 06 and 07 kites,
Bric

[Sonny]

Steve, it looks like John is jumping 20' to 30' high in winds averaging 20mph with gust 27mph but on Monday wind at 3rd was averaging 24mph with gust 30mph and biggest jump I saw on the the crossbow was about 5' maybe 8' tops. Was this video taken when John said he could not hold down 7.5 Nitro so it took out the crossbow?

[Guest]

Sonny:
No...John never attempted to go out on his 7.5 the entire wk. He was out on his 10 and not having alot of fun so he came in to try the 9m Cabrinha CrossBow and had a blast...including a 6.5 sec hangtime on a small kite. Thought the previous post by Andy was interesting...he weighs 220 and was out on the 9 Crossbow yesterday while you and others were out on 12s,13s,14s.
steve

[Sonny]

Steve, I have no doubt that you can mow the lawn with that kite but I'm trying to find out about the jumping ability which is the type of riding that we do in the bay. On Monday Tan was out on the Naish XIII 10 meter kite and he was jumping 15' to 20' and you, Kent, and Bill could only get 5' jump on that Crossbow 9. I would be very interested in jumping ability of the 12 and 14 crossbow.

[andyandmarlys]

Sonny, for what its worth, I am no skyking, but I jumped much higher yesterday on the 9m Crossbow than I did with the 10m Rhino5.... On traditional kites you can pop, and send to get air... or both at once.. With this kite, you can pop, send, and sheet... each individually, or all at the same time.. At my weight, yesterday's wind was not adequate for me to try huge jumps, but I definately jumped higher than I thought I would with a 9m. I certainly jumped more than 5ft and more than I could get with the Rhino 10 immediatly after riding the Crossbow...

[Sonny]

Andy, thanks for the info. I'm just trying to find out why the 9 meter Crossbow performance on Monday's windy condition .vs. Steve's video and video's from Cabrinha's website are so drastically different. One of my buddy is ordering the Crossbow 16 so I'm anxious to try the bigger Crossbows.