New Cab IDS and Crossbow

[The Kite House]

Go to www.thekitehouse.com
and look at the news section. I have video and photo seq of self land and more. I can answer any questions anyone has, have been riding 9, 11, 13 and 16 for awhile, with lots of hours on them.

[linhster]

WOW, you made it look too easy. I am sure that with the newer development of bow kites, it is not only looks easy but it is easy to deploy. I guess after many successful repeated experiences of this method, it is worth sharing with the community.

All though I am concern that this video will make newcomers think it is easy and bypass the hands-on training in safer environments with qualified instructors.

My self landing experience is by no means on any expert level. I have never seen such ease in self landing.

It is worth demo-ing the new CAB-IDS

Thanks for the video.....

[robertovillate]

All though I am concern that this video will make newcomers think it is easy and bypass the hands-on training in safer environments with qualified instructors.
..

I was watching the very experienced local team rider "demo" this system today in 15-20 kts with an 11m kite and everything was going according to plan until he was having trouble flipping the kite into the right position and then all of a sudden he got ass-dragged ala "old foil kite launch method"...which was OK for him maybe with his experinece level, but this could have been ugly with a newbie in a confined launch area who overtrusts all the hype being sold to him about how easy and reliable the latest and greatest system is...PS I dont think they are showing the video of this.

caveat emptor

[The Kite House]

Well, i dont belive this makes people by pass instruction, it is another feature on a kite. Robertto , i have no idea what you mean in that post, who was it and what happened?

[cabdriver]

Paul - Roberto Villate has an axe to grind with Cabrinha. The guy is total lier and he is being discredited right now by me. I just got off the phone with Brad Knoth, my team rider and tech rep in MI. Brad was the only one riding the Crossbow IDS and said everything worked fine, including the exclusive 4 line IDS self landing feature. The system has been thoroughly tested by our design team and now by team riders, reps, and dealers.

For the record, Roberto Villate has a history of these nasty lies, scams, and general poor sportsmanship such as logging in as "kitechic" (posing as a female) on the midwest forum so that he could write unethical postings, buzzing instructors and students at Muskeegan, and having a general poor attitude toward anyone, including customers, associated with Mac Kite and Cabrinha. What a LOSER.

All I can say to him is stay off of our forum if you are only going to try write fabricated and damaging information about any brand or person.

Todd Greaux (N.A. and S.A. sales and mkt mgr for Cabrinha)

[Tony]

Paul and/or Todd -

Can you point me in the direction of reviews on how it flies/performance? Paul - I am assuming you will be posting that info soon?

Thanks-

Tony

[robertovillate]

Well, i dont belive this makes people by pass instruction, it is another feature on a kite. Robertto , i have no idea what you mean in that post, who was it and what happened?

Paul,

My observation was the kite being flagged out on the fifth line, floating upside down in the air for a little while. Then it was on the sand and it appeared the pilot was attempting to roll it over and either trying to demonstrate relaunching it or posiibly trying to set it down on the beach, I cannot say for sure what his plan was. But there was a lot of aggresive tugging being performed on one of the lines and then all of a sudden the kite hot launched and the pilot was being dragged downwind thru the sand. He happened to be upwind of a small building at the time and I cannot imagine that this is what he intended to happen. This is no lie or hoax. People may not agree with my opinion, but I am only saying what I observed, and I am not making any of this up no matter what anyone says.

The point of my original post to this thread is to reinforce the idea (suggested by Lihnster) that newbies especially need to be aware of the potential danger of using systems that are not necessarily 100% reliable, even for experts. An expert may know what to do when things get "sideways". It's the inexperienced that I am most concerned about when it comes to these situations.


Todd,
Axe to grind? Not really but I admit I am not a big fan of Cabrinha for a variety of reasons. ...unproven systems in the past, constant changes from one year to the next (OK some improvements but some problems too) always some newfangled feature that has problems, problems with warranty issues, customer service, some construction issues, and overinflated prices. I has used Cabrinha exclusively for 5+ years so I had considerable experience with the company and their products. I have not personally flown the 2008 kites so I cannot comment on the feel of them, but I cannot say I liked the feel of 2006 or 2007 kites. Just being honest - and if other people like them that doesnt bother me. I think that it is good that Cabrinha invests so much time into product development. I just wish they would simplify and refine things a little more carefully, maybe even bring the cost of their kites down. Again, people may not agree with my opinion. That's OK by me.

If I saw this happen with any other kite system I would say the same thing. My main concern is ride safety, especially for beginners. To blur the lines by saying I have an axe to grind is your prerogative. My comments are made in the interest of safety and to make sure that anyone using any kite system knows the possible repurcussions when things don't work as intended for whatever reason. My concern is that many people buy things for the features they believe will improve their safety. I teach people with virtually every kite design out there and always have to address the idiosyncracies of any kite. Cabrinha is not immune to this and I hope that people do not rely on something that may backfire on them. I personally like kites that utilize simple and fairly generic systems. Too many pullies, lines, and gizmos only seem to lead to more problems.

[BGK]

Here is one of our premium spots where the non-event took place:
http://www.surfmuskegon.com/uploads/js/enlargedcam.php

It is a beautiful wide open beach...almost perfect. I hate drama...I kite to get away from it, but I am not going to let a complete fabrication go without calling it out.

the man who shall remain nameless says,
"I cannot say for sure what his plan was. But there was a lot of aggresive tugging being performed on one of the lines and then all of a sudden the kite hot launched and the pilot was being dragged downwind thru the sand. He happened to be upwind of a small building at the time and I cannot imagine that this is what he intended to happen."

I am not going to waste a bunch of time on this, but here are a few facts:

1. The wind was pure sideshore from the South. Anyone who knows that beach knows you cannot get upwind of the small brick building...only about 10-20 yards between it and the road. Apparently this made up detail was added to create even more danger and excitement to the story.

2. When the system is reset (which is easy to do) and you go for a relaunch, it is like any other bow kite self launch...so what does that have to do with the IDS?

3. If you have nobody or nothing down wind of you, and you relaunch a kite, and stroke it around to make power, you will get a drag. If it is on purpose and under control, I don't think "dragged downwind through the sand" is accurate" nor is "got his ass dragged"

4. If the man is so concerned about kite safety, maybe he should walk over and check out what is going to be one of the best selling and best functioning safety systems on the market so he can understand it rather than guessing from inside his van a block away.

5. Oh yeah, that "small building"? It is on lease to Mackite for lessons for the season...the man had a bid in on it and lost. No axe to grind...right....

Sincerely,
Brad Knoth