2022 Cabrinha Contra Review
Today we're going to review the new 2022 Cabrinha Contra.
The Cabrinha Contra has always been one of my top two favorite light wind kites. I've been using it on and off for probably a good five years now, bouncing back and forth from the Turbine, and I had some sessions on the Eleveight RS 17 meter. I think there's some really good things about the Contra. With the the latest iteration, there are some things that I don't care for as much, and we'll break down everything you need to know in this review.
Starting with some of the good, one thing that I've always loved about the Contra is, provided you choose the right size--and you need to go by your weight because there's a 13, 15 and a 17 meter when it comes to the three strut light wind kite--you're not going to have a kite that's deceiving. For example, some light wind kites, particularly older ones, would have such heavy bar pressure that they created the illusion of power, but there wasn't any power there so you'd feel lit when you'd just be slogging along, trying to stay upwind, and that's really not the case with the Contra. My weight is right on the line where I could do the 17 or the 15 and, after having tried both for a while, I do find that I like the 15 a bit more than the 17. It's more fun; it is fast for a light wind kite, though in the grand scheme of things it's actually a really slow kite.
Let's hit a con. It's been a while since I've flown a dedicated light wind 15 meter kite. I have spent a ton of time on a 14m RPX and, man, when I got on that Contra my timing was so off I actually got dropped a ton because I wasn't pulling hard enough and early enough with my front hand to redirect the kite after doing a jump or trying a trick. So that's one thing to keep in mind with a light wind specific kite, is you're going to be out in threshold winds when no one else can ride, but you do need to think two steps ahead because they're really not the fastest kites. On that note, correct me if I'm wrong, I think the leading edge might be a little bit smaller on this version of the Contra, and it might have been that way for a little while now. I believe Cabrinha was thinking about hydrofoiling with the Contra, and that's another critique. I feel like they have so many kites in their range that are foil-specific now that I don't really see the point in taking your light wind specific kite and bridging it towards foil.
For the more active kite flyer, there were things that I did kind of like about that. To give you a little perspective, I tested it and I had some friends test it. Some of my friends who liked the older Contra really missed the slow stability and truck-like pull of the older Contra, and I get that. It made learning tricks easier with tons of power, tons of grunt, just a really reliable light wind kite. This new one is super pivoty. I think I got some shots of this, and you can see I'm doing kite loop transitions and the kite just pivots right around and shoots across the window, so there really was a lot of benefit to this and I did appreciate that aspect of the kite, albeit I did miss some of that slow, grunty stability that the previous generation had, so I'm kind of torn on this one. It's actually more of a pro and a con, and I think the average kiteboarder is going to appreciate this, but if you're somebody who's a little more old school, maybe you're looking to boot up or something like that, I kind of liked the older Contra a bit more where I would size up to a 17 if I was going to try some super light wind freestyle.
Moving on to kite loops, I feel pretty good doing kite loops on the Contra. Now, I'm not talking about kite loops where you have to catch yourself. I don't know if I would ever try a kite loop where I have to catch myself with a Contra. It is pretty fast; I feel like it was really getting around on some of those jumps, but typically with a kite like this you'd stick to back roll hand drags, hand drag base tricks, darkslides, small kite loop transitions where you're maybe jumping 10 feet off the water... that's where you want to be with the Contra, and it's going to perform really well for that.
It's probably one of the most versatile light wind kites out there, similar to the RS that I was talking about. You get so much performance in the threshold winds. This is a kite that I feel good taking out in super light wind wave conditions because it is fast for a big kite, particularly the 15, and especially now that it's a bit more pivotal. I'm going to give that a plus because I think that's going to benefit riders in the waves with that more light, pivotal feel. Take that with a grain of salt when I say "light" and "fast" though; this is a big, heavy kite and if you're used to flying a 12 meter or a 10 meter, it's going to feel like a tank to you. But once you get used to it, you'll be pretty pleased with the results and how much progression you can make getting out there and trying new tricks, trying different grabs, jumping.
On the note of that smaller leading edge and the fact that it is a bit more pivotal, I found this to be a benefit for jumping with a Contra. Typically the Contra isn't a kite that you would think of as the king of jumping because you want a fast kite to flick it up and get that height, but with the Contra it's a really good, lofty feel. For a lot of you riders who are doing hooked-in sent jumps, you're going to get a fair amount of loft from the Contra. If you're a freestyler or anybody who's just getting out there and really wanting to send it and go hard, it's going to make that threshold, super light wind session really fun for you. In all these clips that I got, I was actually borderline underpowered, just barely able to make it work. It's kind of funny- I went out two days prior and I got these ripping shots and I was so stoked and I was powered up on the Contra and... I dropped my GoPro; they're gone. I came back out two days later and filmed this in much lighter wind, but it's probably a more fair assessment of the Contra anyway.
In summary, what you can expect is moderate bar pressure, moderately fast. Get ready to think two steps ahead. It's going to hit that fine point for pretty much all disciplines. I think its biggest weakness, honestly, is hydrofoiling, which is funny because they did add that pivotal design, I think to stoke out some of the hydrofoilers. Ultimately, this kite still pulls downwind a bit more than I would want from a hydrofoil kite. But for getting by in the waves it's killer. In the light winds for freestyle, for freeride, for kiteloop-based tricks, I'm super stoked on the Contra when using the right size in the right conditions.
So if you're looking for a light wind, twintip kite, whether you're in footstraps or boots, I think it's still a really killer choice. I'm probably going to keep this one as long as I can until Cabrinha takes it back, and if you've got any questions on the Contra or how it compares to the other light wind kites, let me know. I just got a fresh Juice from Duotone in the RV here, so I'm going to go out and test the new one to see if I feel any differences and do a fresh comparison. It's been a few years since I've compared these kites. If you want to see any comparisons or you want me to try any gear, let me know. We're going to go hard with reviews this year, so hit me with your questions, leave them in the comments. If you found the video helpful, hit that subscribe button, hit the thumbs up button, and I will catch you later.
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