With a few major product releases kicking off the 2021 season, the Cabrinha team is already hard at work preparing the next batch of products. We check in with the men behind the scenes to find out what else they have in store for us in Tech Focus!

With a few major product releases kicking off the 2021 season, the Cabrinha team is already hard at work preparing the next batch of products. We check in with the men behind the scenes to find out what else they have in store for us!

There seems to be quite a focus on R&D at this time of year. Can you tell us anything about what products are in development?

Brodie: The entire year is always busy with R&D. As a collection is being launched, we are already starting to put the finishing touches on next years product collection. On this most recent trip, we spent a lot of time testing. I brought over a whole bunch of new kite samples, wings, and foils. As always, we have a lot in the works here at Cabrinha, so it's good to get as much gear tested at the same time while a lot of our riders, reps, brand staff and commercial team are at the beach together.

What is the testing process is like for Cabrinha? How long is a product in development before it reaches the market?

Brodie: We try and develop most of our gear on a year-long cycle. Some products we spend more time on, and others are changing so fast we try and get them out faster to keep up with the quickly evolving market. When testing, we try and test a variety of gear and compare it to other products in the market. From the start of a new product, we try and design very wide and explore the boundaries of what is possible. From there, we can decide where we want to end up and refine the product further. For kites, this means countless hours tuning bridles on the beach. For wings and foils, it is harder to make any changes once we actually make a prototype, so these products are more about learning from previous prototypes, simulations, and other products in the market to make an educated decision on what we want to make. Once we have this, we can make a prototype and see if we ended up with the results we were expecting.

Which members of the team need to get their hands on the products, and what are they looking for when testing products?

Brodie: The core of the design team consists of myself, Lars Moltrup (Product Development Manager), Phil Sobolev (Test Manager), and a team of local riders on Maui. Widening out from there, we try and get as many members of the team involved in testing as possible. At Cabrinha, we are very lucky to have an extremely talented group both on and off the water. Everyone brings their own background and opinions on the product. Lars and I's job as designers is to take all this information and filter out what we are looking for in the specific product. At the end of the day, we are chasing a certain feeling in a product that is very hard to quantify, so the more feedback we can get, the better.

Cabrinha brand manager Dave Hastilow has his roots with the brand running the test and R&D program. Dave, you joined Rou on the Intriguing Beings podcast nearly 2 ½ years ago. Have there been any major shifts in Cabrinha since we last spoke? What is the focus for the next few years?

Dave: There have definitely been some big changes going on in Cabrinha since the last time we chatted. The big one which has been talked about quite a lot before was the change in ownership of the brand. This has been a really exciting time for us. To have all members of the team at every level, even up to the Board of Directors, all be passionate kiters and water people, has opened up some amazing opportunities for us. The doors are now open to explore all avenues and to start to diversify the range into other segments. It's also allowed us to ramp up the R&D to all-new levels.

One of our main focuses at Cabrinha has always been innovation. The sport of kitesurfing is still a relatively new sport, and there is still a lot of room for new ideas to help enhance peoples time on the water. With wingsurfing established as its own legitimate sport, it's a really exciting time to see where the designers and team can push the boundaries.   

Talk us through the Cabrinha brand values. How do these values come into play when you have a group of team members on the ground working on product development?

Dave: Without getting too cliché on the Hawaiian naming, we have always had something we have called the 'Cabrinha Ohana'. Ohana is Hawaiian for family, and we count that as one of our main brand values. Whether we are talking about the people behind the brand or even through to the end customer, we are all part of the same family, and we all share the same passion and love for the sports and products that we make.

Product development is not an easy task. We sell products all over the world to many different customers that all have specific needs and desires, so deciding what to design and how it's to perform is not as easy as people may think. But having the right people who can all work closely together, who can provide great feedback as well as importantly give and take constructive criticism, is key to how we can develop. Most of the key development team have worked together for many years and know how to develop products efficiently, knowing where each person's strengths are in the development process. A key thing to our brand is that there is not just one person in product development. A designer is not the only person who creates a product; there is a complete team of people who all design the product in some form or another.

Brodie, as the kite and foil designer for Cabrinha, it looks like you've been loaded with projects if the latest Cabrinha releases are anything to go by! What's the most exciting project that you've completed in the past year?

Brodie: Yes, we have been very busy. We recently released the new Mantis wing, and I am very happy with the final product. I spent a lot of time refining the canopy on this wing, and I really like how it turned out. We were also able to get a very rigid frame on this wing, so it has very little flex when pumping. This means more power so that you can ride a smaller wing. I am a big fan of products that are as simple as possible and don't have anything you don't need on them. This wing really represents that. You can choose if you would like windows or not. The wing is light, well balanced, with simple graphics, and clean. It's everything I personally want in a wing, and from the feedback in the market, I think we really killed it on this one.

One of the most recent announcements from Cabrinha is the updated Contra. A lot has changed for 2021, with the major news being more sizes and fewer struts! We asked James Boulding, Marketing Manager at Cabrinha, to tell us more about the 01 Cabrinha Contra.

James: The Contra is a light wind weapon that remains in sizes 13/15/17, but this year we've added smaller sizes 11,9,7,5,4,3 that take on the legendary efficient Contra design but changed to a lightweight one strut design. This is a real performance foiling kite. 

When foiling, there is often much less pressure on the kite structure, and you can get away with a more slimline platform. This helps with the weight and agility, and it's enabled the Contra 1-strut to perform in lighter winds where foiling often takes part. With so many advancements in foil technology, we've also seen guys riding much smaller kites in light winds, so we wanted a foil specific kite in the smaller sizes. In sizes 13-17, they tend to be more used for light wind with twin tips, surfboards and in very marginal conditions for foiling. When used with a twin tip, it's here where the 3-strut platform benefits riders and keeps the stability. This means that in light wind, you have the 3-strut bigger sizes of the Contra to ride with twin tips, surfboards, where the 3-strut platform really adds some benefit, with the smaller sized Contra's to take over when you need a smaller size.

What are you currently working on that you're excited (and allowed!) to share with us?

Brodie: This is a hard one. I wish I could share all the exciting projects we have in the works. It's always funny to see people on the beach excited about the new products that are a year or two old in my eyes. I can tell you we have some changes to a few kites in our range that I'm very excited about and some new materials we have been developing with our suppliers that have the potential to change the game. I have also been working on some new foils that can let you push the limits. As always, there are lots of exciting products coming up.

By Crystal Veness
Editor at IKSURFMAG, Crystal Veness hails from Canada but is based in South Africa. When she isn't busy kitesurfing or reporting on the latest industry news for the mag, she is kicking back somewhere at a windy kite beach or working on creative media projects.

Comments