The mail is world wide sales of the Crossbow is declining or the Bow Kite in General.
Hybrids and the new C kites are dominating world sales.The Fuel , Torch and Vegas have a huge following now Ozone has anounced a C kite is coming into to production in the not to distant future and Cabrinha will follow suit as well.Cabrinha had extremely dissapointing sales of the Revolver so the C is making a comeback or should I say they never really went anywhere they just got a hell of alot better.
Testing and production is well under way look out for some major suprises for 2010.
Thelonerider
now there will be a c with a good bar finally, unlike the cluttered rubbish being made by slingshot year after year
I remember Mark shinn also saying something along those lines and other stuff about how inferior they are on kook forum not that long back. hahaha.
i couldn't imagine doing that to my cab bar, especially after having fuel bars and seeing many slingshot bars fall apart. it doesn't make sense to do that.
I remember when I first saw a bow kite I reckoned that as a kite it would make an excellent awning over a window .. 
Just remember Cab had the Co2 which was up there when it came to C kites.It was probably one of the most popular around.I think kite companies are realising their is a market for C kites especially for the young generation of kite surfers which are into wakestyle kiteboarding.I know I have always had a C kite in my quiver and always will.Even good C kites these days you can get away with a two kite quiver as range and depower are nearly as good as hybrids/ bows but when it comes to performance C kites are in a league of their own.
Thelonerider
I reckon unhooked waveriding (park it style) still feels nicer on C's than hybrids also. Don't get me wrong hybrids/SLE's still perform fine but there's something there.
I can see there being a niche for C kites and if Cabrinha want to make a kite for that market then that's just good business.
I can't see C kites catching on for the mainstream market. Who wants to go back to the days of having to ride a 15-20m kite just to get out on a light wind day.
He has got a 12m because he does powered wakestyle moves. No one can use a 9m as thier lightwind kite for wakestyle no matter what kite it is. Unless of course they just miss labeled it an its really a 12 or 14m haha.
apparantly van haylen are getting back together with david lee roth and are going to tour australia promoting the "new" cabrina "c" shape kite. And have also re-recorded the track JUMP to go with the killer new promo vid staring Australia's top rider Alex Lewis Hughs who has joined the cabrina team along with fellow rider Sean "happy" Craick to push wake style riding to the limits.
Some new C kites have very good Low end. One of my mates had a 13m 2009 Fuel this season and he got going in less wind than my 13m Rev2 and we both weight around the same weight. New C kites are just more refined than the ones we used to ride years ago in the days of 18-20m kites.
I for one cant wait to see the reaction from all the local Crossbow riders who have turned their backs on C kites when cabrinha bring out a new c kite. Will they have a go???
We used to see powerlines taken out on an almost weekly basis. Kitepower used to say they visited old folks in the area and reset their videos for them. I haven't seen powerlines clobbered for years. True, C-kites made a start on that with proper balancing but bows nailed it. (Actually I saw a kite end up on a roof the other day. It was a C-kite with a beginner attached.)
I have personally seen guys hauled off the beach and dumped in the water by gusty cross-off winds. Now it never happens and you see beginners trying to kite in any and all conditions.
I've have personally seen guys get hauled off the beach and dragged across the foreshore, across the road, through the powerlines and into the front of houses. It never happens now. Again, C's made a start with proper balancing but bows made it a standard feature of all kites. Just push the bar out and the kite stops.
The other day we were riding bay surf in onshore 30-40 knot winds with kite sizes ranging from 5-9m. All bows, except for one Rebel (which is a bow in all but name and North's grudging response to the Xbow.)
Fuels used to be the single most popular kite in our area. Now it's Switchblades by a long way. Even the hard core Slingshot guys are all riding Revs.
HA HA, come to Melville WA and see the Bow circus. We have one pine tree that only eats Cabrinhas.....the most common kitemare is a bridle tangle to deathloop....Sure bows/hybrids are easier for beginners, but keep it in perspective.
