by Carlo
Read these 10 tips to take your kiteboarding to the next level with the Cabrinha Crossbow. The Crossbows come tuned more in favour of safety than performance. Out of the box the kites are set up very depowered. There's also a lot of really simple features that you may not be aware of.
1. Improve turning speed and low end
The first thing you should do is to add a few knots on your back lines, located on the kite. Don't be afraid to put 2 or even 3 extra knots on. You can take the knots all the way to almost the end of the back lines. Connecting your lines further back will improve low end and responsiveness. Experiment and find out which knots works best in what conditions for you.
2. Freestyle
While it is possible to fly the Crossbow with the standard override stopper ball, some might prefer the spare override stopper ball which does not activate as easily and makes freestyle tricks like board grabs and one handed tricks easier.
3. Self Landing a Crossbow
Clip your handlepass leash to the front line ball. You can now safely let go of your kite wihout loosing it.
4. Wave riding
Wave riding is something that the Crossbow is particularly good at. When Wave riding activate the override stopper ball so that you have the extra range to play with. On your bottom turn push the bar all the way out so that you can spill some power. As you set up for your top turn pull the bar right in for instant power and - boom - smack the lip.
5. Unhooked
There's two attachment points where you can hook your leash onto. The first one is located underneath your chicken loop. Hooking in here will not depower your kite, and this is recommended for advanced riders.
The second place where you can attach your leash is on the stopper ball located on your front line. If you let go of your bar the kite will instantly depower, allowing you to reel your kite in and set up for a relaunch.
6. Relaunch
Relaunching abilities on the crossbow are second to none, but make sure you know how to relaunch your kite properly. To relaunch your kite when the leading edge is down, simply pull on one of the side lines. keep tension on the line, and wait for the kite to lift into a relaunch position. Keeping tension on the line will allow the kite to drift to the side of the window where it can launch with minimum power. Increasing line tension will relaunch the kite instantly, but with more power.
If for some reason the side line method does not work you can pull the front lines and tip the kite over like a 5 line would.
7. Maintenance
Keep your pulleys sand free, and your bridles knot free. This is crucial to the proper working of your kite.
8. Pump it up hard
Crossbow kites require extra pressure in the leading edge and struts to get maximum performance, and to keep the kite from flipping inside out. Take the extra time and effort to make sure your kite is pumped up hard as it is well worth it.
9. Jump High
The crossbows require a more refined technique to jump high. Start redirecting your kite from a high position in the window. 11.15 is fine. Many people complain of low and far jumps and this is due to the fact that they start pulling their kite from a low position in the window.
If you go really high keep flying your kite back and forth, and at the last second redirect your kite aggressively to land smoothly.
10. No hands
The Powerlock feature will soon be available as an added accessory to your Crossbow. This will enable you to do those deadmans again without worrying about the override ball activating.