Sizes Available: 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16m
Sizes Tested: 9m
Cabrinha Says:
The Apollo is a performance freeride kite designed to pull every bit of power out of the atmosphere and deliver it right into your hands. It is purpose built for kiteboarding, meaning that it has been designed from the ground up specifically for the sport of kiteboarding. The inflated skeletal frame of the kite sets it apart from a ram air kite in many ways. The skeletal frame provides the structure that keeps the kite design true to its intended shape while in-flight. In shifty winds, the inflated struts drive the kite through turbulence with a minimal amount of deformation. The inflated leading edge structure of the kite introduces the laminar flow of air across the kite’s Pure Profile panels, making it very stable even at low speeds. These inflation properties make the Apollo unbeatable as a light wind performance kite and incredibly accurate as a high wind kite. It also goes without mention that an inflatable kite is much more reliable to relaunch, thereby making the Apollo much safer and much more fun to ride than a ram air kite.
Visit for more info: www.cabrinhakites.com/kite/apollo.html
Our Testers Say:
“It’s stable with excellent upwind capability and great boost and hangtime.” // Rob Shea.
“Happy place, happy face, happy in space. Easy boost, lift and hangtime. Upwind madness, hangtime gladness.” // Dray Murray.
“Every tack, this kite took me dozens of yards upwind and covered tons of ground so I could have more fun riding downwind and boosting on my way back.” // Chris Borodic.
TKB Says:
The Apollo is a new kite for Cabrinha this year and stands out from the rest with its exotic high-aspect canopy and bow-style swept back wingtips. The Apollo is a 5-strut inflatable that looks like it belongs on a racecourse with the rest of the ram airs, but excels in performance freeride, which is to say that it zooms upwind like a crazed banshee and delivers in the big air department with impressive lift and solid hangtime. The Apollo features a large diameter bayonet style inflation valve that requires no nozzle on the end of your pump hose and a single setting front bridle and three wingtip settings to adjust. This kite flies extremely forward in the wind window, accelerates with every gust and will put you in the performance spectrum of ram air kites but with the dependability of sure-fire relaunch of an inflatable. The Apollo has slow turning speed, which is to be expected, but the sheeting is progressive with medium bar pressure and the depower is fairly good for a kite that’s built to accelerate. Testers gave the Apollo high praise for its upwind chops and boosting. Some noted that the steering requires a little bit of adjustment, but once you dial in the load and pop timing it is quite fun. The Apollo won’t get you across the finish line in first place at the nationals, but it is a fairly easy to use and reliable option for freeride kiters that want to cover some distance, boost big lofty airs and set some personal speed records.
For this year’s test Cabrinha sent us three options each outfitted with the Fireball system: 1) Overdrive 1X with Recoil (Adjustable bar ends with spring/tuning strap) 2) Overdrive 1X with Trim Lite (Adjustable bar ends with cam cleat tuning) and 3) 1X with Trim Lite.
The Fireball system offers a proprietary ball and socket connection between the control bar and your harness. Most testers chose to use the supplied NP harnesses with the Fireball spreader bar attached. The Fireball brings the pivot point between harness and kite closer to your body which tended to reduce the spreader bar from ratcheting upward into your ribs and reduced the harness’ propensity to rotate. Some testers praised the Fireball for keeping the throw close to the body and for making back rolls and toeside riding easier and more comfortable. The Fireball is a fairly clean push away quick release with a below the bar hand swivel that doubles as a release guard. The quick release handle has a notch similar to last year’s that locks the handle in the open position for an easier reset in the water. While some testers were indifferent or resistant to adopting a new harness system, the one very clear advantage of the Fireball is doing away with the traditional chicken loop and donkey dick system and it’s potential to create a false or “foul hooked” situation in which the bar becomes unhooked seconds after launch or midway through a session. If you’ve ever seen a beginner negotiate the perils of a foul hooked situation on a rock studded beach, then you’d know that the safety feature of the Fireball sells itself.
The Overdrive 1X with Recoil is a dual adjustable length bar (48cm/56cm or 57cm/65cm) that riders can adjust on the water. The Recoil features a streamlined single center-line safety depower system, low V, and a fixed length durable plastic sheeting/throw line which combines above the bar tuning with longer travel throw while keeping controls well within the rider’s reach by using extension handles. The plastic depower/throw line doesn’t include an adjustable stopper but the spring loaded controls act to keep the bar within reach when let go. The center lines end in a knot and the outside lines end in loops. Testers commented on the Overdrive 1X’s slightly thicker grip diameter and liked the rubber texture of the hand grip.
The Overdrive 1X with Trim Lite is a dual adjustable length bar (48cm/56cm or 57cm/65cm) that riders can adjust on the water. This bar features a streamlined single center-line safety depower system, low V, and a fixed length durable plastic sheeting/throw line which combines above the bar tuning via a cam cleat. This is likely Cabrinha’s answer to those riders that prefer a simpler bar layout than the spring/tuning strap (Recoil version). The center lines end in a knot and the outside lines end in loops. Testers commented on the 1X’s slightly thicker grip diameter and liked the rubber texture of the hand grip.
The 1X with Trim Lite is a fixed length bar (44cm, 52cm and 60cm) that features a streamlined single center-line safety depower system, low V, and a fixed length durable plastic sheeting/throw line which combines above the bar tuning via a cam cleat (another option to Cabrinha’s Recoil system). The center lines end in a knot and the outside lines end in loops. Compared to the adjustable bar ends of the Overdrive, the 1X with Trim Lite is overall lighter and requires smaller floats. Testers commented on the 1X’s slightly thicker grip diameter and liked the rubber texture of the hand grip. Cabrinha also offers this bar’s adjustable length bar ends (Overdrive) with the Trim Lite simplified cam cleat tuning system instead of the spring/tuning strap/extensions of the Recoil tuning system.
Visit for more info on the bar: www.cabrinhakites.com/controlsystems/overview.html
