Cabrinha

It's Cabrinha's mission is to deliver the highest quality kitesurfing gear on the market and provide premium service to customers world wide.

About Cabrinha

Cabrinha’s mission is to deliver the highest quality kiteboarding gear on the market and provide premium service to our valued customers worldwide. Cabrinha pursues innovation as the driving force behind their development philosophy and holds fast to their position as the design and manufacturing leader in the kitesurf industry. It’s Cabrinha’s mission to continually evolve the Cabrinha brand as a technical, yet culturally connected force in the action sports world.

The Cabrinha Story

A little over 20 years ago, in a small corner of the Haiku Cannery, in a small town on the island Maui, a small region of the vast Pacific Ocean, Dan Bolfing and Pete Cabrinha were churning out kiteboards under the Cabrinha design brand. The work they did was something they both had done separately for many years, but somehow, this moment felt very different. The infant sport of kitesurfing was a bottle rocket about to take off, and they were holding on to the fuse in one hand and a box of matches in the other.

At the time, sugar cane was Maui’s most significant export, but innovation in surfing and wind sports was the island’s most coveted asset. Innovation was literally oozing from Maui’s fertile grounds. There was so much happening in a short period. It seemed that by the time the resin was dry on their latest board prototypes, they had already designed a new board that would replace it. It was strange to deal with the concept of making something obsolete by also making something absolutely groundbreaking in the same week. The past 20 years have been an incredible time for Cabrinha Kites and the kitesurfing sport in general. They have innovated their way through the past two decades… taken risks, won awards, crowned champions, and celebrated the rise of our incredible sport. But most of all, they have stayed curious and kept things fresh by never sitting on success for too long.

Cabrinha Kiteboarding is founded, inspired, and driven by the Maui-based waterman, Pete Cabrinha. Cabrinha Kites produces kitesurfing equipment for water sports adventure seekers based on Pete Cabrinha’s approach to innovation, keeping the brand technically and culturally connected to our customers. After joining forces with Neil Pryde in 2000, The Cabrinha brand benefited greatly from the Pryde Group’s rich history of producing yacht and windsurfing sails.

With research and development center and brand headquarter located on Maui, the innovation ground zero of water sports, Cabrinha has played a groundbreaking role in the evolution of surf sports with its pioneering efforts in kitesurfing, tow-surfing, foil boarding, and wing surfing. Cabrinha Kites has, for the last 20 years, been part of leading the kite industry in innovation, performance, and safety. With a distribution network in over 70 countries worldwide, Cabrinha focuses the customer service and satisfaction. Producing products powered by a 100% renewable source (the wind), Cabrinha continues to be socially connected to like-minded people who enjoy the water, are protective of the planet, and are stewards of the ocean.

Innovation Ground Zero

In the collective surf world, Cabrinha’s place of origin Maui, Hawaii, has over the years risen to become the world’s leading region for surf sports innovation. Maui’s Tradewinds provides the islands with more than 300 days of excellent kitesurfing and wing surfing wind a year. Most of the surf sports have been developed right on the shores of the surf community in the middle of the Pacific, from windsurfing to tow-surfing, kitesurfing, and foil boarding. Cabrinha has played an inside role in the pioneering of each one of these sports. Cabrinha’s base in Maui does not provide consistency and accuracy from design to testing and production, it also allows Cabrinha to keep their fingers on the pulse of the surf sports innovation.

The Cabrinha Culture

Cabrinha’s success can rightfully be attributed to a dedicated team of the most qualified people in the industry, taking inspiration from a rich water sports heritage. While they clearly enjoy the Maui lifestyle, they are also serious about their products and role in international watersports. Everyone in the Cabrinha company today has risen to the top of their respective fields. From management and development staff to team riders, distribution partners, dealers, and ambassadors, Cabrinha is a family of passionate, visionary, and always evolving people driving the sport into its future. Cabrinha kites have been ridden to the top of podiums and World Tour Championships in Freestyle, Surf, Wakestyle and Speed competitions. The Cabrinha kites have been the choice of some of the most influential personalities in the sport.

Cabrinha Kitesurfing

Cabrinha Kites has always been open to changes in style and technology - pushing the limits of the sport of kiteboarding to wherever it may go. With Cabrinha's research and development facility in Maui/Hawaii and the Neil Pryde Group's quality manufacturing plant in Hong Kong - Cabrinha has thru time developed the best and safest kiteboarding gear on the market today. Cabrinha's success over the last seventeen years can be attributed to a dedicated team of passionate people taking inspiration from a rich water sports heritage.

As a pioneer of the sport Pete holds a masters status in surfing, windsurfing, and kitesurfing. After joining forces with Neil Pryde in 2000, Cabrinha benefited greatly from the Pryde Groups rich history of producing yacht and windsurfing sails in their state of the art facility. This paired with our research and development facility in Maui which is situated for testing in any and all wind and water conditions assures consistency and accuracy from design to production and ensures products we are proud to stand behind. Over the years the brand has been able to lead the industry into new eras of safety, comfort and performance with a world wide distribution network focused on customer service and satisfaction.

Cabrinha Kites, Quality and Safety

Cabrinha kitesurfing are in the kiteboarding community known for their durable construction, depower ability, user-friendly interface, and the Cabrinha IDS safety system. These features make Cabrinha kites ideal for novices to intermediate and advanced kiteboarders alike. Through years of tweaking and fine-tuning, the IDS system is lauded by many as the most advanced safety system in the industry, effectively functioning like a quasi-fifth line system that provides not only enormous de-power but that predictability that becomes crucial in high-wind conditions.

Cabrinha Kite & Kiteboard lineup

Switchblade

Performance Freeride / Big air

The Cabrinha Switchblade is designed for the discerning rider who values un-rivaled predictability and uncompromising high end performance, the Switchblade is made for those that want style, power, performance and craftsmanship. The Switchblade’s reputation for being the world’s highest performance freeride kite not only comes from the thousands of customers who hail its praise, but from its countless world titles. Fastest sailing craft in the world (2010). King of the air (2017). Worlds highest tow-up jump (2018). What's most amazing about the Switchblade is that all this performance comes in one of the easiest to use packages. Its balance and power delivery make this kite light to the touch and simple to fly. Whether you are working on your freestyle game or testing your limits in boosting incredible air, the Switchblade will deliver with a class of predictability and reliability that can not be found anywhere else.

Drifter

Surf & Freestyle surf

The Cabrinha Drifter is specifically designed for kitesurfing in waves and strapless surf freestyle, the Drifter has the ability to engage and disengage its power on command. While catching a wave you want all the power you need but while surfing, you often want the kite to completely disappear while you surf on your own power. It's in this moment of pure surfing where you want a kite that ‘drifts’ down the line with you in a stable and predictable way. We dubbed this phenomenon Drift Stability and it is the crucial ingredient in a performance surf kite. This is why the Drifter has no equal.

Moto

Freeride / Crossover

The Cabrinha Moto is designed for riders who appreciate versatile, predictable kite performance, the Moto kite is a triple threat for any type of riding in a wide range of conditions. It excels in three of the most exciting disciplines the sport has to offer: Freeride, Freesurf, and Foilboarding. The all-new Moto leads us into a new era of performance kitesurfing that smashes all conventional thinking. This versatile Freeride / Crossover kite is light to the touch and provides a precise and linear power delivery. The lighter weight and quick response is made possible with its 3-strut hybrid plan form. The Moto performs its best in challenging wind conditions. Generous depower tames the gustiest winds and widens its wind range considerably. The Moto’s fast turning speed not only puts this kite into a performance category of its own, it enhances the kite’s amazing versatility.

FX

Freestyle / Crossover

The Cabrinha FX kite is specifically designed for riders that mix hooked and unhooked freestyle tricks, love jumping big and kiteloops. The world of Freestyle / Crossover kiting has evolved into an exciting genre in our sport. Once a very narrow and technical discipline is now a mix of technical tricks and massive aerial maneuvers, both hooked-in and unhooked. For this you need a kite with the sensitivity and ‘slack’ when unhooked and the ability to boost a massive hooked-in kite loop. The FX delivers on these two fronts and more with the power and handling to take your riding seriously.

Contra

Performance Lightwind / Freeride

The Contra is perfect for any rider that wants to extend their game into the lightwind arena with a responsive, lightwind kite. Light wind used to be considered the archenemy of kiteboarding. That was until Cabrinha introduced the Contra light wind kite with its unmatched efficiency and performance combination. Every riding style and discipline now has a kite to bridge your riding into the light wind arena. The Contra’s light weight 3-strut hybrid design performs incredible things in what used to be known as the unrideable realm. A true light wind performer in any and all riding categories.