2015 Best Cabo Wave Kite review.

Rider: Weight 94 pies, Level (advanced)
Style: Surf
Weather: 15-20 knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: I am the owner of Action Sports WA in Balcatta so take this review as a guide only .... or don't

Hi Peeps,

This is actually a post I never thought I'd be making. I have watched the rise and fall of Best kites since they first came to be. Although they had quite a few decent kites over the time, I always felt the brand was a 2nd rate brand in terms of material quality and design, so we had little interest in stocking them in the shop. A lot has happened with best in the last year or two, new management, new investors, new materials, new company vision and the team riders and the money to achieve it. Best has basically been reborn into a very slick operation with premium gear.

A chance meeting with the brand rep last year whilst traveling through Perth on the way to Kitestock and I got an invite to the dealer meeting where we managed to test every Best product in weak, puffy northern Queensland winds. I did ride the Best Cabo 9m (along with the TS, Kahoona and GP) at the dealer meeting, and I honestly really wanted to like the Cabo, as wave riding is my fave discipline. I was on a surfboard and even in the seemingly reasonable wind strength, I failed to be able to stay upwind and the kite felt a little ..... for want of a better word, "dull". I mean it did what it was supposed to do and felt OK, but I did feel a little disappointed that it wasn't going to be on par with the top selling wave kites.

I still had hope that it might have just been the wind and so this was one of the first kites I tested at our Exmouth demo week.
I normally don't go on about stuff like the bag and technical aspects of the kite, but to get a feel of where Best are heading it is important to have a more detailed look at all the little things which combine to produce a really first class package.

The bag has all the stuff all the other bags have but also has a "wetzone" in the bottom for storing your wet gear after a sesh and not soaking the car. The Zipper pull is a spare bridle slider, the kite has an expandable inner liner bag with a handle so you don't need to take the back pack bag when going OS. Separate bar bag which fits in the bar pocket. Like I said, it's the little things and these little things appear throughout the bar and the kite itself as well as the bag. Best are serious about taking market share and have left no stone un-turned.

The inflation system, in my opinion is the best in the business, simple, effective, needs no additional bits, inflates fast, doesn't leak and deflates quickly without fuss.

Anyways, ... the kite. As soon as I launched the kite, it felt solid and the structure looked quite rigid. Although the Cabo uses a compact bridle to allow de-power and proper safety flagging, the kite doesn't have the "bridled feel", (The industry on the whole seems to have sorted this issue out with shorter more compact bridles giving a much more direct feel). Steering is crisp and responsive and the kite, being only three struts moves and changes direction with little effort. In fact, steering the kite takes very little bar input at all. I really likes this in a wave kite.

The power of the kite wasn't weak, but also wasn't as strong as say the North Neo. Somewhere in the middle. The beautiful thing was that with a mere flick of the wrist, producing minimal bar input, you dive the kite down a bit in a subtle attempt at sining but without needing aggressive flying, and you get instant apparent wind power. This works well for when you need a little squirt of power without radically changing direction of the kite or travel direction of the board.

Of course the kite turns very quickly and has nice light bar pressure, similar to the Ozone and lighter than the Neo. The kite responds instantly to bar input, and this is where it differs from some of the other wave kites, less bar movement and yet the kite isn't skittish. It did remind me quite a little bit of the 2012 Ozone Reo which I also loved.

The Cabo drifts well and falls predictably when the lines go slack on a screaming bottom turn allowing you to "catch" the kite on the top turn. The ability to just sheet out and stop the power momentarily and just turn it back on again with "sheet-and-go" power makes it super easy for anyone to use. I didn't find the top end of the kites wind range, but in the winds we tested it in, I and the other testers really liked it.

The kite will have appeal to all levels of surf riders and be more specifically appropriate for surf board riders. I think heavier twin tip riders will prefer the monster power of the Neo from North. The Cabo isn't going to hold anyone back regardless of kite or surf skills, it has no bad habits and is built like a brick dunny.

I was absolutely stoked with the performance and reckon it will find it's way onto the beaches in all spots if people are keen to give it a demo. I was hoping to, but never thought I'd say it, but the Best Cabo is up there with the best wave kites I have ever ridden. Very impressed and I strongly suggest a demo ride if considering a new wave kite this year. There is a new player in the wave game and they are playing for keeps. It's now impossible for me to pick a favorite to use in the waves this year. Neo, Cabo, or Reo? I'd be stoked on any of these kites. Incidentally, the Cabo is the only wave kite in 9m size less than $2K this year!

DM

Hi TD,

Sorry mate, I didn't try last years Cabo, but did try the last years TS. The 2015 Best TS is MUCH better than the 2014 TS in my opinion, it goes upwind heaps better. The Cabo doesn't come from the same factory as Cabrinha, it comes from Aqua Dynamics in Sri Lanka, the same factory as Core and North.

I agree with your feedback but would class the responsiveness to bar input as quick, not reasonably quick. This was one of my favourite kites of the demo week and as I said in the original review, really surprised me.

Best are looking to take back a big chunk of market share this year and as far as I can tell, they have the quality of gear, the advertising budget, a plan, and the focus on innovation to sit up and make people take notice. Again, I really think that this kite is going to make people rethink their preconceived ideas as to what are the top brands are in the world of wave kiting. For my mind they have come out of left field with this one .... well in the West anyways. I think Joe has done a pretty good job with Best on the East coast but over here Best has been under represented.

Don't write this one off, it's well worth a demo!

DM