Rou Chater looks at the incredible turn of events that have led to some major changes at kitesurfing’s top table. The launch of Duotone, what’s happening with Cabrinha and the rebirth of the new North is explained right here.

Rou Chater looks at the bizarre series of events that have led to some major moves at the top of the kiteboarding industry. Duotone launches and old North is no more, a couple of ex Cabrinha staff set up new North, what’s been happening at Cabrinha? If you want to know what is going on, then you need to read this…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you can’t have failed to notice some significant changes at the top of the kiteboarding assemblage. Boards and More, the company responsible for North Kiteboarding for the last 18 years, has dropped the license for the name in favour of launching a new brand; Duotone. This became official on the 23rd of July, although kiteboarding’s most guarded secret made the rounds in May on Kiteforum.

Long before all of this, however, in 2014, longstanding figurehead Mr Neil Pryde retired and sold up his business Pryde Group, of which the kiteboarding brand Cabrinha has been a part of since the very early days of our sport. This sale, and the changes within the company as a result, was the initial catalyst that led to the re-shuffling of some of the group's operations in Hong Kong over the past year, and moving HQ back to the office in Maui where it had all began. Hong Kong was the location for the head office of Pryde Group with large numbers of staff, and many of the company’s brands operating from there.

These actions left some people wondering what was going to happen to Cabrinha. Conversely, this move was more a well-timed way of ‘trimming the fat’ - so to speak - from the Pryde Group portfolio and allowing the individual brands chance to get back to their roots and focus on their key markets – all to positive effect.

For years Cabrinha has been operating between kitesurfing's mecca of Maui, and one of the most overpopulated, yet business orientated places on the planet that is Hong Kong. Moving forwards the majority of the Cabrinha team would now be based in the expanding Maui office. Whilst the rumour mill went into overdrive about what was going on behind the scenes, the reality was far removed from the content of the kite forums. Cabrinha has continued to expand its creative and technical hub on Maui, at the birthplace of our sport, whilst still keeping its logistical arm close to its manufacturing facilities.

The investment into the Maui operation has been a strategic plan that was initiated by Pete himself a number of years ago. As with any large company this has been a steady but deliberate process. Contrary to popular internet folklore, this had nothing to do with the current industry changes occuring.  Having the whole team based on Maui makes one of the biggest brands in the industry a very nimble player with a relaxed, yet focused and passionate management style permeating from above.  The brand has always placed innovation right at the top and with management, product engineers, marketing and R&D teams now in one place it means very exciting times ahead.

Meanwhile, over in Germany, Boards and More decided to no longer produce products under the North Kiteboarding name, effectively leaving North Kiteboarding in danger of disappearing into obscurity.  Though, North Technology Group, who own the name and licensed it to Boards and More, wasn’t about to let this happen, and in order for North Kiteboarding to live on it needed some staff to run the operation.  Conveniently there was a group of people out of a job in Hong Kong thanks to the recent shifts in Pryde Group.

It’s the sort of stuff that could set your mind spinning, and should you as a kiter really care about this boardroom brinksmanship? Arguably not, but you are undoubtedly going to be hit by a marketing storm over the next few months and maybe even years. We’re risking a lot by writing this article, putting noses out of joint is one thing, losing ad revenue for a small business like ours is even more critical.

Even so, because we think you should care where your kites are coming from, who is making them, and dispelling some of the Chinese Whispers that are circulating, we are pressing ahead. Therefore, read on for the definitive and final word on what’s going on at kiteboarding's top table.

First of all, the position of being the biggest producer of kites and boards has been an often-mythical goal for some brands. Selling more gear means you have more money to reinvest in technology and innovation so you can then sell more equipment. This never-ending cycle will continue as long as you can maintain customer interest in your products and keep on coming up with new ideas along the way.

Traditionally the biggest producers of kites and boards have been Cabrinha and Boards and More (North Kiteboarding under their stewardship). Selling between 25,000 and 35,000 kites a year each depending on product years and who was on top. In the past few years Boards and More have been dominating the market, with Cabrinha right up there with them.

Lower down the table the positions shift with the wind, brands like Naish, F-One, Core Kiteboarding, Slingshot, Liquid Force, Airush, Ozone, Flysurfer and the rest all jostle for position. When I say jostle, they probably don’t care too much individually who is ahead, but you get the picture. Depending on marketing, product and buyer confidence kite sales go up and down. Obviously everyone wants them to keep going up so they can continue innovating and ultimately sell more gear.

One aspect of this was the sales figures which the GKA accumulated. In 2017 the Global Kitesports Association recorded sales figures from the members of around 100,000 kites. Not every brand is a member, so if you account for that then the best estimate of total kite sales for 2017 was approximately 140,000 to 150,000. That is a relatively small number; kiting is a niche sport.

Most kite brands in the sport are rider owned and run. F-One, for instance, was founded by Raphael Salles back in 1998 and still remains under his care to this very day. Core Kiteboarding in Germany is under the stewardship of Bernie Hiss and has been since he started it. Other companies, such as Cabrinha and Boards and More (Duotone), however, are owned by larger companies and ultimately shareholders, though they maintain a key figurehead leading the brands themselves.

Is that a bad thing for you as a rider? Not at all. Primarily the guys and girls working for these brands are kiters just like you and I. They are devoted to the sport and care about it it’s progression, just the same as those of us who’ve been in the industry for many years. Pete Cabrinha is an intensely passionate waterman from Maui, and he still runs the show at Cabrinha. Till Eberle, the CEO of Boards and More, arguably fits the bill of being more like the average kitesurfer than most. He takes two kite holidays a year, gets out on the water at weekends when he can, and the rest of the time he is stuck in the office miles from the sea doing his job.

All that being said, shareholders will always want a return on their investment, and it is the need for that return that has sparked this latest round of changes. Accordingly, for the brands that are beholden to a higher power, they require that relationship to work, and they need to ensure they remain profitable. The smaller brands, of course, need to stay profitable too, but ultimately they are only answerable to themselves.

With that brief overview delivered, let's look in a little more detail at what’s been going on. If you read the forums, you’ll be seeing things like this: “Duotone, what kind of a name is that?”, “New North is the new Cabrinha”, “What are Cabrinha going to do now everyone has left?”. Of course the Internet is a rumour mill best taken with a pinch of salt, but once someone starts asking the question, things quickly spiral out of control. Ultimately, I guess we want to know if it is the end of kiteboarding as we know it?

Let’s start with Cabrinha, as it’s arguably the simplest one to talk about. I’ve been speaking to James Boulding (Marketing Manager) and Pete Cabrinha in Maui, and rest assured the future is looking bright. Cabrinha have just come off the back of an amazing spell of sales for the business and have been enjoying some of the best years in the history of the company. The 2019 product is literally about to drop as I type this and the team are looking forward to another incredible year with an exciting product line.

As Pete put it, “We have a great team here in Maui, and we are all fully behind the Cabrinha brand and our commitment to kiteboarding. We have one of the best teams in the business, they can be nimble and effective at what they do.”

Cabrinha were a fantastic brand before all of this, so now we can only expect evermore superior things from them. If you are ever fortunate enough to meet anyone from Cabrinha you’ll notice how dedicated they are to the sport, people like Dave Hastilow (Division Manager) simply loves kiteboarding and wants to make it better for everyone. There is a real mix in the team too; guys and girls from all over the world coming together to make great products. I like that vibe.

“Think globally, act locally” was how Pete put it, and that rings true. They still have their international distribution in place, which is one of the company’s biggest assets.  With Maui controlling the destiny of the brand one hundred percent the future is looking positive. Distribution is such a key aspect to any kiteboarding brand and has long been one of the strengths Cabrinha has enjoyed - and no doubt is a huge contributor to their success.  Customer satisfaction plays such a big role and having these teams on the ground all around the globe ensures excellent aftercare and efficient customer service.

Cabrinha are still very much at the coalface and dedicated to making equipment that is both innovative and functional. Pete is dedicated to putting the customer experience first and foremost. He wants the brand to reflect that with products that make your sessions more enjoyable.

One point I would mention is that I had to persuade Pete and James at Cabrinha to engage with this piece. Their strategy in all of this was to keep their heads down and carry on doing what they do best, making great equipment and letting that speak for itself. I felt it was important, given the rumours being spread, to tell their side of the story: Cabrinha is doing very well and embarking on a new, even more focused journey, that places you - the rider, very much at the forefront. 

This brings us nicely onto Duotone, or Duowhat as seems to be the favourite comment of the Internet melee at present. I was told about Duotone in January of this year, and I admit I was incredulous as to why a leading brand would decide to drop the most recognized, and maybe even respected moniker in the business. As time passed and they explained the situation it has become much clearer, and makes a lot of sense.

I chatted with Till Eberle at length in Tarifa at the Duotone launch, and he put it very succinctly. “When you rent a house you can’t do anything to it, you just rent it. When you buy the house you can redecorate, tear it down and build a new one, do whatever you want. We were always renting North, now we own Duotone the possibilities in the future are no longer limited by the owner of the name saying yes or no.”

What is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL in all of this is that Boards and More licensed the name North Kiteboarding. It was never anyone from North Technology Group (who just owned the name) creating the products, it was always the team from Boards and More. Therefore, all the intellectual property, designs, product names and even the N logo are owned by Boards and More. The entire product range you know and love will continue under Duotone.

The Neo, Dice, Vegas, Rebel and all the kites will remain, the Click Bar, Iron Heart, Trust Bar are the same, just “now by Duotone”. The same goes for the boards too, the Whip is still the Whip, it just has the Duotone logo on it. Yes, yes, I know, perhaps you hate the name, but honestly, after fifteen minutes in Tarifa, I’d forgotten North and Duotone seemed second nature.  Although, ask an Italian to say it if you want a laugh, “Duooo Tony”…

A long session testing the new Dice and the separation between North and Duotone got even further. The kite was incredible, I was grinning from ear-to-ear and kiteboarding was as it always was: #mindbendinglyawesome. As I came off the water, I remarked to Till, “The name may have changed, but the equipment is all just so much fun!”

For 18 years Till and his team have been developing market-leading kiteboarding products, and that continues, nothing has changed, they have kept Ken Winner, Sky Solbach and Ralf Grosel as designers, every single staff member has stayed with the brand and perhaps, even more telling, all the pro riders have renewed their contracts too.

Duotone really feels like a family affair at the moment, from the ground up there seems to be a buzz around the new brand. They are working with the media, wanting to get the message out there, I honestly think by this time next year we might be saying North Who?

And that succinctly brings me on to my final topic, the “new” North Kiteboarding recently released a press release two days before the official Duotone launch saying “North Kiteboarding is coming home” with a slogan on the website stating “There is only one true North.”.

At this point I heard people getting excited, saying they can’t wait for the new North products and that they can now get the new Rebel from North. However, that clearly isn’t the case, and as we look set to go into a marketing frenzy over this one let’s set the record straight.

Yes North Technology Group, owned by Oakley Capital, a private equity firm, is going to be launching a new range of equipment under the North Kiteboarding moniker which it has always held. A new Rebel? Not a chance - Boards and More own the intellectual property on all the products they made whilst under the North license.  While there is some talent under the hood in the guise of Mike Raper and Pat Goodman (ex Cabrinha kite designer), they and the rest of the team have a huge mountain to climb.

Launching in August 2019 leaves them with just twelve months to develop an entirely new range of gear. I say new, as Boards and More and Cabrinha will rightfully protect their intellectual property. They can’t make a kite like the Switchblade or the Neo, and they can’t copy the Click Bar or the Overdrive Bar. You won’t be seeing your favourite twin tip from ‘old North’ (Boards and More and now Duotone) or Cabrinha with a North logo on it either.

I’ve been hearing rumours that the plan for the new North will be to undercut on prices and go direct to market. This might work in the short term although does anyone remember Best? They attacked the market with 3-for-1 deals and sold loads of units, but then they sought out a traditional distribution model recognising the importance of actually turning a profit and providing customer service as opposed to candidly grabbing market share. Of course they ended up owing the riders, magazines, and just about everyone they had dealings with, huge sums of money and have arguably disappeared as a brand.

In a sport like this good distribution is key, while the company members at Cabrinha and Duotone may be relatively small in terms of numbers, when you cast the net to the wider international level the team numbers grow significantly. The distributors in each country have a team of people running demos and helping customers. A network of shops backs that up delivering products to the end consumer and national and local riders are all putting effort in too. The global make up of a kite brand is huge, and distribution is critical.

Kiteboarding isn’t an enormous sport, the numbers prove that, yet it is one that is ardent and flourishing. In this industry it’s all about the relationships and reputation that you have. Cabrinha and Duotone have established those key factors over the last twenty years, not just with the media, but with distribution networks, schools, shops and most importantly customers. All that’s been received from the “new North” thus far is a barrage of piquant press releases from a PR company, about product potentially becoming available in the Autumn next year, and nothing more concrete regarding the brand, company or specific product range itself.

On a personal level, having been in the industry for a number of years, and seen multiple brand launches, product releases and a fair amount of gossip, there is a sense of “going about it the wrong way” with this launch. To have an entire product line ready by August 2019 will be some feat. Boards and More spent five years developing the Click Bar. Kites like the Switchblade have had more than a decade of design put into them. There are considerable hurdles for a new brand to clear, and they will only be at a massive cost with an uncertain sales future.

They will need to build an entirely new pro team too, I recall Best Kiteboarding doing that a while back and it didn’t end well. For a year or two they had all the big names on promises of big bucks, but when the money didn’t come in it was the riders who got taken for a ride.

What is more important to you: the kite you fly and how it handles or the brand name that is written on it? If it’s the former then you’re probably all set with your favourite product, if it’s the latter, then you’ve got a long, uncertain wait until August to see what the new brand come up with. Unless, of course, you grab the latest Rebel or Neo from Duotone.

There is an old saying in this industry, “If you want to make a million dollars from watersports, you need to start with a billion”. Ours is a sport built on passion, where sacrifices are made because we love what we do, and people who want to see it advance and prosper.

Perhaps the real winners in all of this are the smaller brands, not caught up in the hype, just plugging away without shareholders to answer to. The next twelve months will be very telling. Expect substantial marketing campaigns: Duotone have one running in just about every magazine on the planet, ours included, right now. Additionally, expect the gear to get better as everyone tries once again to improve on what they have to attract your interest and wallet.

Finally, let's not get too caught up in all of this boardroom one-upmanship, as an old kiteboarding journalist used to write on the kite forums in the midst of a heated debate, “Chill out everyone and go kiteboarding”. Never a truer word was spoken. It’s just a shame the wind hasn’t been playing ball lately - perhaps that’s why there has been so much chat on the Internet about all of this. Hopefully some of this insight, background stories and honest responses from some of the key players can straighten out the Chinese Whispers before it turns into a child’s tea party.

Videos

Duotone Dice 2019 Product Clip
Welcome to 2019 (Cabrinha Kitesurfing)
By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!

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