We just finished putting together a photo gallery of 2008 Naish Sol, so if you’re at all curious about the state of this fine kiteboard, here’s your chance! The Sol is the go anywhere, do anything, all-terrain model from Naish’s 2008 lineup. The aggressively rounded nose and tail are a result of what Naish calls their Infinite Outline shape, which gives the board its incredible maneuverability and surfy feel. The Sol is about as close as you can get to that slashy directional feel while still riding a twin tip board.

For 2008 Naish has increased the width of the boards slightly, so they ride a bit more true-to-size than they did last year. The rounded nose and tail decrease the effective length of the edge, and in 2007 the narrower widths resulted in boards that rode a size smaller than their lengths suggested. The 2007 Sol 136 rode more like a 133 cm board, the Sol 133 more like a 130, and so on and so forth. By increasing the widths for this year, the 2008 Sol 134 feels more like a 134 cm board, the Sol 131 a true 131, etc.

With a single carbon fiber strip running the length of the top of the board, the Sol is stiffer than the Haze (which has no carbon strips at all) and softer than the freestyle-oriented Thorn (which has a bottom strip, and two top strips that cross in an X shape).

• The Sol at Big Winds
• Our Sol Photo Gallery at Flickr
• The Sol at Naish

We’ve just uploaded a new photo gallery that meticulously documents the 2008 Cabrinha Switchblade 3. The Switchblade is Cabrinha’s go-to kite for wakestyle riding, with a smooth powerband and a pulley-less bar system that eliminates all but the slightest trace of bar pressure. The Switchblade offers all the safety and depower you would expect from a bow kite, with the familiar feel of a classic kite.

Even if you’re not a wakestyle rider, you still might want to consider the Switchblade. We here at Big Winds feel that Cabrinha pushes the whole “handle passes and rail slides” thing a bit too hard, as there are many experienced kiters who don’t want to pull wakestyle tricks, but would probably love the Switchblade anyway. The kite has very light bar pressure, and thus you get very little tactile feedback for where your kite is at in the window. This is dangerous for beginners, but advanced kiters have already developed that sense of knowing where their kite is located, even without feedback.

Thus freed from bar pressure and any physical effort thereof, the Switchblade offers an incredibly free and open ride when you’re hooked in. At times you hardly notice the kite at all, which lets you focus your attention on other things. If you’re Cabrinha, those “other things” are wakestyle tricks. If you’re Dane, one of our shop riders, those “other things” are carving, carving and carving.

Dane comes from a snowboarding background, and when kiteboarding he loves to slash in just about any conditions, from flatwater to chop to swell. He does his fair share of jumping, but he really gets his thrills from carving back and forth, going heelside to toeside and back again, and pushing the limits of his edge control. Dane could care less about wakestyle tricks, but he’s riding the Switchblade anyway, because he loves how it opens up his riding and lets him focus on carving.

• The Switchblade at Big Winds
• Our Switchblade Photo Gallery at Flickr
• The Switchblade at Cabrinha

The Omega HD is Cabrinha’s latest addition to their quiver, a true high-performance kite that’s forgiving enough for beginner riders, with a smooth ride and enough nice features to keep even intermediate and advanced riders happy for years. We’ve put together a photo gallery that shows off everything included in the complete Omega package, and highlights some of its best and most distinct features.

Descriptions like “one-way single-point inflation” and “2:1/1:1 bar conversion” and “pull/pull trim system” and “abrasion-resistant panels” sound all well and good, but what do they actually mean? When compared to other kites we are confident that the Omega stands tall on its own merits, so we’ve decided to let the kite do the talking.

Visit our photo gallery for unpacking the 2007 Cabrinha Omega HD »