From the very start, Cabrinha has attracted riders who want to push the limits of the sport. That begins with founder Pete Cabrinha himself. Long before he started designing kites, he became wave sailing world champion in windsurfing in 1985. In the early 1990s he was part of the group of Maui watermen who invented tow-in surfing, using a jet ski to pull riders into waves too big to paddle into. That is how, on 10 January 2004, he surfed a 21-metre (70 ft) wave at Jaws on Maui. It earned him the Billabong XXL Award and the record for the biggest wave ever surfed, which stood until 2008.

Cabrinha's kites made history too. On 28 October 2010, American kiteboarder Rob Douglas hit 55.65 knots (over 103 km/h) in Lüderitz, Namibia, on a 9 m² Cabrinha Switchblade. It was officially ratified as a world record and made him the fastest sailor on the planet at the time. Douglas later also won three world titles at the KiteSpeed World Championships.

For years, the face of Cabrinha in big air was Dane Nick Jacobsen. In February 2017 he won the Red Bull King of the Air in Cape Town as a Cabrinha team rider, with his trademark one-footed boogie loop. A few months later he jumped with his kite from the helipad of the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, more than 200 metres up, one of the most talked-about stunts in kiteboarding. After that he was towed up to 277 metres on a long line behind a Volvo Ocean Race team's yacht and flew back down on a Switchblade, breaking Jesse Richman's tow-up record of 244 metres.

The team isn't just made up of stuntmen. Keahi de Aboitiz made travel films with Cabrinha packed with barrels in some of the best waves in the world. British freestyle champion Tom Bridge combined twintip and foil on Cabrinha gear early in his career. And with young Brazilian Kauan Grubert, who loves flying a 9 m Nitro, the next generation of big air riders is already lining up. What all these riders have in common is that they test the gear in extreme conditions, and you'll find that experience in every Cabrinha kite you buy at Kitemana.

Every Cabrinha product starts life on Maui, where the team still develops and tests everything. The island is a natural test lab: on the North Shore you'll find strong trade winds, big waves and flat water within a few kilometres of each other. Designers such as Pat Goodman refine every prototype on the water until the shape, feel and strength are just right.

As with most major kite brands, the production itself takes place in specialised factories in Asia. Official US documents, for example, state that Cabrinha bars are made in China. What really determines quality is the choice of materials, and Cabrinha is picky about that. The Apex line uses Ultra HT Dacron in the leading edge and struts, with lighter SK99 bridles and bladders.

For Cabrinha, sustainability starts at the source: everything the brand makes runs on wind, a 100% renewable energy source. The brand sees its riders as guardians of the ocean and invests in projects that support this. A good example is the 2019 Soundwave Project, a collaboration with the Surfrider Foundation on Maui. Pete Cabrinha and lead designer Patrick Dunne painted ten ukuleles, and all proceeds went to organisations working for a clean ocean.

The most sustainable gear is gear that lasts. By choosing strong fabrics and testing them to the limit on Maui, Cabrinha builds kites you can ride for years. At Kitemana we help with that too: with Cabrinha spare parts and our repair service, you keep your gear in top condition for longer.