THE HYPE: The Imperial continues to be the choice for riders who want to excel in all styles of riding. Since the Imperial lends itself to high speed riding through rough or choppy waters, Cabrinha have added a concave bottom shape to help you get up-to-speed quicker. To handle the speeds even better, the outline has been altered slightly to increase the edge response and tracking. This has all been done while maintaining the forgiving feel and easy ride that it is well known for. An entirely new component set lowers the weight and raises the finished standard even higher. A new 3D moulded foot pad fits like a well worn shoe. The wide-body adjustable foot strap is extremely simple to attach and easy to adjust to a perfect fit.
TEST TEAM NOTES:
NEAL: There aren't many twin-tips that have maintained that long thin outline of a few years ago but this has maintained a super-sharp rail. Pads and straps are lovely and comfortable and there are three positioning options, however, only one seems to be possible otherwise the pads come over the edge of the board because it's so narrow. The Imperial has a tougher finish than it’s had in the past.
CHRIS: I really enjoyed this in the bumpy, windy conditions today. The pads and straps are really comfortable and all the accessories are upto- date. I think there's still a place in the market for a board of this shape – it's super-fast, super grippy and as long as you want to stay in the hook it's ideal for blasting and carving at speed around the ocean and boosting airs in the typically choppy conditions. It's not the ideal board for unhooked freestyle conditions.
NEAL: Still a little bit short for me and I had to watch the nose disappearing – would have liked to have tried the bigger size. I found it harder work on knees because it’s narrower and shorter and, for my size, needed a bit more wind to get it going, but it's narrowness made it easier to keep a rail in when windy and hammering along.
WILL: I thought it was really strong upwind today. Its stiffness and narrow shape means you can get the whole rail in and biting nicely without too much difficulty. A good intermediate high wind board.
NEAL: Would be good for carving up onshore waves in strong wind.
SUMMARY: Where did all the fast blasters go from a couple of years ago? In the age of wide-styles, this is a great high-wind board for lightweight intermediate to advanced riders in this size. Tap your visor down and twist the throttle. SIZES:
123 x 36cm
128 x 37cm
133 x 38cm
138 x 39cm
www.cabrinhakites.com
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