For 2011 Caution has streamlined its kite offerings to a single line of kites, combining all the best features from their 2010 line into a single free ride kite that excels in the waves and performs for the freestyle riders in flat water. The line features a new sizing scheme, slightly less bar pressure, faster relaunch, and Caution’s precision steering dynamics.
Caution has designed and built kitesurfing products since day one with more than eleven years of experience in kite product development and manufacturing. Their focus is to build high performance gear built to withstand the demanding conditions of Santa Cruz.
Caution’s Peter Schiebel, Poul Shiebel, Jeff Burton, and Brendan Richards gave us an overview on what we can expect from the company’s
entire 2011 line, including boards.
2010 was a great year for Caution with the introduction of the Zombie kite and refinement of the Mayhem which evolved into the Mayhem X. Are these two designs coming back in 2011?
For 2011 we have consolidated the Mayhem X and Zombie kites into a single model. For now we’re calling it the Spitfire, but that name might change before we release it. It offers our riders a mix between the two.
Over the last year, we found our team and core riders were moving toward the Zombie which offers stability, fast yet predictable performance, and all around good handling. Our aim was to take the Zombie platform and tweak it to get some more performance while keeping the qualities that have made it such a popular kite. What are the major differences between last year’s line and the new kite?
The advances for 2011 are subtle fine tuning changes made to steering characteristics, bar pressure, and overall range. We took feedback from our riders and reps and changed our sizing around a little. We made sure we kept the Zombie’s impressive range while designing for performance.
We experimented with our wingtip design, ultimately reducing bar pressure without losing any precision response and control. We also made changes that allow the kites to relaunch from deep in the window faster, which will help advanced kiters get their kites in the air before the next set and will allow beginners to spend more time with their kites in the air.
The kites are tested and optimized for wave riding conditions, but at the same time offer big boosts and friendly unhooked sheeting characteristics.