Bit of background info, I’m currently riding for the Cabrinha UK Kiteboarding team and have been since October 2008. I also work in Surface2Air Kitesurf Shop in Poole, Dorset ,Mixing up freestyle with waves. On the rare occasion when the south coast gets a cheeky bit of swell you will find me out on the 5’9” S-Quad from Cabrinha. Last weekend I was lucky enough to get my hands on the new 2010 Cabrinha Nomad kite a freestyle and wave machine.Here are my thoughts on the kite
The first thing that caught my eye was how Cabrinha have made the bag slightly bigger this year, as in previous years if you don’t iron your kite it can prove a bit of a mission to get it back in the bag after a long kite. The bag has the usual Cabrinha quality about it with some nice new simple features like the pump holder on the side and a couple of extra pockets for your spares. This year the bar goes inside the bag so no problems with losing that if you have a hike to the beach! The pump this year is the usual deal with all the features you will ever need to inflate a kite.
The Bar
So to the bar; I’m currently using the IDS bar, but I feel there are a couple of things that needed changing for future bars. All these have been thought about and resolved for 2010.
To start the override on the bar this year always seemed to move or slip if you were to let go after a pass or being silly overpowered, which is great for all people wanting the Cabrinha renowned instant depower. However for my riding and a lot of you people out there, this is quite frustrating. Nothing worse than missing the bar and dropping through the sky like a bullet or landing a trick and sinking due to the bar being half a mile away.
For the Cabrinha Nomad and all 2010 kites they have built the bar to perfection to cover all a riders needs! The stopper now grips much tighter and has very little movement. There is also a second stopper, which is sat behind the override, which gives you the ability to set a length of depower which you require and not move under any circumstances.
The chicken loop for 2010 has some nice new features like the new swivelling donkey dick; super handy for unhooking. The loop also has a set suicide leash connection as you can see in the pictures. Release is very similar to last years IDS bar.
Another great feature for this year with the bar is that the IDS line is now all sleeved and integrated with the depower line. This makes the bar very smooth, simple and no more worn IDS lines!
The swivel this year works very well, so no twisted lines. There is a nice new colour scheme for the bar and a stronger, more durable centre insert. The same integrated bar end/floats from last year. Overall the bar has some fantastic new features working in conjunction with all the features which were impressive for last year.
The Kite
First impact would be the new colour scheme! WOW there is some seriously pimp looking vibrant neon colours combined in this kite! Nothing quite like it on the market! Some sick new graphics also work in combination to produce the best looking kitesurfing kite at the beach!
On to pumping up - The same pump non-return system which Cabrinha kites are known for, very similar one pump system, difficult to change when it works so well.
One big change I noticed for the Cabrinha Nomad 2010 that there is no centre strut! A lot of brands for 2010 are steering towards this idea of no centre strut. It’s believed to generate more power through the canopy and for the main focus for power on the canopy not to be disturbed by a strut. Overall the kite has six struts, which makes it very rigid and keeps the canopy reasonably tight at all times. As for the bridle, it is slightly more simple than other kites the market. You get no tangles or time wasted trying to work out which point to connect your lines too. There are the usual slow and fast turning settings with another setting for more or less bar pressure to accommodate different styles of riding.
This kite had the usual bomb proof build quality looking at the stitching and canopy materials; no money spared in this department.
This is pretty much everything I can cover without getting it in the sky and taking it for a ride. Oh all lines are colour coded as always so adds to prevention with setting the kite up incorrectly.
Riding characteristics
I was looking at a nice NW breeze in sunny Poole harbour over the weekend maxing out around 22 knots. Some perfect conditions to give the Cabrinha Nomad a good test. Up in the sky it pretty much flies straight out the bag, no adjustments needed.
Being NW this isn’t the cleanest direction in the harbour and the kite seemed to handle the gusts without any hang-ups at all. I couldn’t believe how stable the canopy was without the centre strut. It just didn’t budge! I had the 9m out on this occasion and compared to the 10m Cabrinha switchblade the 9m was vey fast through the sky and turning was very tight and reactive depending on how aggressive you are with the bar.
Freestyle Capabilities
Starting with kite loops, this kite has a nice tug to it with a tonne of pop for unhooked loops. Very smooth power delivery throughout the loop, nothing worse than a kite which tends to unexpectedly yank you trough the air backwards!!
As for the handle passes, the bar seemed to have very little pressure and really slackened off in the pass which was a great change to what I was used to. No unexpected movements with the kite.
The kite is very direct, so when landing to blind, the kite didn’t take any unexpected dives. In all fairness the Nomad is a real competitor with all those C kite lovers out there. No stalling or flying backwards, boosts without needing to over sheets the ass off of it.
Wave performance
I will be updating this ASAP. Awaiting some swell!
Depower
I’m under the impression that with my weight at 70kg I will be looking to get going on the Nomad 9m in around 16knots up to 25. This is a nice size wind range for one kite. Obviously this will vary a lot depending on weight/ riding style but it gives a rough estimate. Depower on this kite is incredible as with the whole Cabrinha range. Letting go of the bar with the over ride off or set very light will instantly kill the kite! Trimming the kite makes a huge difference with unhooked riding as you are still able to unhook at the top of the kites wind range.
Re-launch
The re-launch on the Cabrinha Nomad Kite is very slick. You have a couple of options available with this kite. If you let go of the bar, the kite will generally fall to the side of the window and sit waiting to be re-launched. If you happen to dump the kite straight down the middle you can either pull one of the outside lines and it will rollover or you can grab both lines and pull which makes the kite fly up backwards and turn over! A real handy option if you need the kite up quick!
Any question or more info on any of the Cabrinha range just email or call us on 01202 738448.
Mike Marsh
S2AS kitesurf shop
Poole