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Old 08-11-2016, 09:51 AM
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ricki ricki is offline
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Default Cabrinha Kiteboarding, The Early Days

I was trying to remember when Cabrinha first started to manufacture kites and decided to do some digging on the Egroups kitesurf list to see what I could find. Here is the press release:



here is a nice historical overview of some of the developments from Cabrinha Kiteboarding over the years:

"Cabrinha Story & History
Cabrinha first learned about bow kites from the original patent holder, Bruno Legaineaux, who was trying to sell his concept to all brands. Where many industry people felt that the odd shape and bar pressure were a death nail to the product, Pete saw the first kite design ever that had enough depower during normal use to be able actually surf while using a kite. Cabrinha took a license and designed the Crossbow, despite it's strong position in the market with classic "C" kites, and the rest is history.

The list of innovations is quite long, so here are a few of the notables:
RECON was the first kite technology that allowed total depower, relaunch assist, and easy recovery/reset all in a classic "C" kite.
Cabrinha was the first to design a kite within the Bow kite framework. The Crossbow was so successful that it led to the development of the Switchblade shortly after.
Along with the Bow kite, Cabrinha introduced Depower On Demand. This is often difficult to explain, but essentially it is providing enough depower in the normal travel of the bar that is serves as the 1st stage of security in our kites. Other brands have limited depower that will require the use of a quick release more often for security purposes. That means you have a total shut down event and the potential to have to reset a security system on the water when simply pushing the bar away on a Cabrinha will get the job done in many cases.
Cabrinha eliminated hanging the front flying lines off of pulleys with Bridle Guides. Cabrinha's Bridle Guides are made of stainless steel and eliminate the chances of a pulley failing in that critical position on the bridle
Cabrinha first launched the Airlock Valve. The Airlock Valve, introduced in 2002, uses an oversizes valve that connects to the end of the pump for high volume inflation. When fully unscrewed, air in the bladder deflates rapidly and completely in seconds making inflation and deflation much more convenient.
Cabrinha first launched a control bar with integrated foam floats, rather than goofy looking external floats that sit high off of the bar ends. Our soft EVA bar ends not only float the bar and eliminate the clutter, but they also don't give you a black eye when you bump up against the bar.
Cabrinha was the first and still the only brand to offer a control system that has all control lines plus leash line spinning independently of each other. That's the leash, rear control lines, front control lines, and landing line that all spin independently.
Cabrinha was the first company to use a tube through the control bar that houses all lines necessary for the control system. This eliminates the clutter of multiple lines going through the bar, and reduces line wear.
Cabrinha launched the Sync, the first adjustable binding that fit any 6" hole pattern twin tip. The Sync was a revolutionary product that has changed the way we all look at the connection between foot and board.
Recoil, part of our trimming system, is the first non-stopper system that keeps the bar close enough to your body to easily unspin your lines while, when letting go of the bar, progressively allows the bar to move further up the depower main line depending on the strength of the wind in the kite offering depower on demand. This unique system does not override the security system such as found on many other products in the market."
http://www.cabrinhastore.com/About_ep_45-1.html






Neil Pryde has additional information in his book, "Will to Win"
https://www.continentseven.com/will-...de-brand-book/


I recall Pete Cabrinha first started with the manufacture of directional kiteboards on Maui before joining with Neil Pryde. Things have come a very long way, congratulations and well done!


Some of Pete's early logo's

p.s. - things have been left out, if you have photos, constructive facts to add on the early history, mile marks, etc., please do.

.
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Last edited by ricki; 08-06-2018 at 12:44 PM.
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Old 08-12-2016, 10:45 AM
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Default Cabrinha Kites?

The second kite I owned was a 2001 Cabrinha Blacktip 21.5m C kite. They made the bladders with a material that was defective. After about three sessions on the kite, every bladder leaked. As I did not buy the kite from a local Cabrinha dealer, Cabrinha would not warranty the bladders. They did sell me a complete bladder replacement set at cost. I became adept at removing and placing bladders. I was not too happy with Cabrinha and decided to switch to Airush and later to Best when the bow or SLE kites came out around 2006.

In 2010 I decided to switch back to Cabrinha and purchased a 16m Xbow from Watersports West. After 3 months a strut bladder (second from the tip) blew out. WSW would not replace the bladder under warranty. When they contacted Cabrinha, all they would do it offer to sell me a complete replacement set. They would not even sell me the strut bladder that needed replacing, only a complete set which was ridiculous. So I found the Bladder Man and he sold me a new bladder for $23 delivered. The bladder is still holding air to this day as well as all the other bladders.

Needless to say I am not happy with Cabrinha or WSW. I am looking to replace my quiver of four kites (2010 16 Xbow, 2009 14 HP Nemesis, 2010 11m Xbow and 2009 9m Yarga hybrid) at this time but am not considering Cabrinha. For me they did nothing to support their product.

Perhaps I will switch back to Best or try the foils (Flysurfer).
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Blacktip.jpg (153.4 KB, 2 views)
File Type: jpg Airush.jpg (153.2 KB, 1 views)
File Type: jpg Waroo 16.jpg (156.0 KB, 1 views)
File Type: jpg Cabrina Xbow 16.jpg (154.6 KB, 2 views)
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Old 08-12-2016, 09:07 PM
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I vaguely remember some problem with the bladders in one year, it could have been 15 years ago in 2001. I could tell you stories about numerous perforated Wipika Classics and Arblasts going over several years, not just one production lot. Despite that I hung in with them for several years. I still have trouble blowing a kite up to full pressure due to the experience and changing out all those bladders and patching them. I have been riding Cabrinha for the last 8 years pretty much exclusively with no bladder problems or any other problems that come to mind. I have had some leaks but due to the normal causes, perforations, etc.. What do you think caused that one bladder to blow?
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Old 08-14-2016, 07:36 AM
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I think the bladder may have been twisted about 2" from the valve, or it could have been defective/thinner in that section. It blew out while the kite was sitting on the beach after a session. The kite had no crashes and had been hand launched and landed.

Back to kites, my first kite was a Wipika LTR 8.5/11.5m two line with an Airush reride bar, no depower, no safety QR. It was hang on and edge hard when the wind picked up. Learned on my own with help from www.kitesurfingschool.org.
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Old 08-06-2018, 12:54 PM
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A look back to 2000. Things have come a long way in that time.
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