Cabrinha Double Agent 2016
Reviews / Hydrofoil Boards
56,118
At A Glance
Almost all of the top brands have jumped on the foiling bandwagon now, however, Cabrinha have taken a slightly different approach. Their foil board is, as the name states, a Double Agent. Cruise around foiling in the morning and when the wind and waves pick up in the afternoon head out on your newly transformed surfboard. It’s the best way of maximising your time on the water.
Cabrinha have steered away from creating a difficult-to-use, high-performance race foil, these types of foils can be very expensive and extremely delicate. Instead, they’ve gone for a much more affordable, user-friendly, bomb-proof build. It’s definitely peace of mind to know that if you accidentally foil at top speed into a sandbar you’re not going to snap it in half…(don’t take our word for it though!).
Something that is really handy is the neat travel bag to keep all your foiling bits neatly together when being stored. The wings, shaft and fuselage separate from each other to make travelling easy and that really is an advantage of this board. Often if you are on a kitesurf holiday you’ll be waiting for that magical 15 knots of breeze before you kite, however with the Double Agent you’ll be flying along in just 8 knots. It really is an incredible feeling, especially when you see everyone else sat on the beach watching you in awe.
On The Water
We won’t lie, much like the Liquid Force Foil Fish we tested last year this board has got some weight to it, in fact it’s a workout just getting it from the beach to the water. As we’ve mentioned already, this does mean you won’t be nearly as worried about damaging it as you would if it was a high-performance carbon fibre machine.
A real benefit of the Double Agent is its ability to foil at really slow speeds, many of the race foils require you to go at quite some pace to be on the foil, which can be pretty scary! Fortunately, this means that if you are learning you can take it step by step, starting slow and doing short foiling flights and gradually building up your speed. Don’t worry though you won’t grow out of it, this board can still go a decent speed, and then, of course, there is the matter of learning how on earth to turn without falling off!
If you haven't foiled before, you’ll be impressed with how high upwind the Double Agent points. Foiling opens up huge expanses of water for exploring that you never even considered before. You’ll find yourself cruising several miles upwind without even trying to…just make sure you’ve practiced going downwind as it is notoriously tricky!
The Double Agent is going to suit first time foilers, and those riders looking for something fun but indestructible to ride. With the foil removed the board is entertaining to play around in flat water, it’s great for popping airs and doing strapless tricks. By its very nature it won’t hold it’s own against a proper surfboard on a big day, but you can still have a good time with it in the waves.
For
Really easy to ride compared to other foils and superb for learning; a great choice if you are looking to get into this discipline of the sport. The board and foil are super tough, so it will stay looking good despite any mishaps you might have whilst learning.
Against
It’s definitely a heavy board and you might find that the surfboard is a bit basic compared to what you’re used to if you ride waves, that said it’s still a lot of fun!
Overall
If you’re looking for a ‘first foil’ to make quick progress on, explore the coastline and just generally have loads of fun with, then this is for you! It won’t win you any races, but it will offer plenty of smiles on the water. When the wind and waves pick up, simply take the foil off and have a blast…
Videos
This review was in Issue 56 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit CabrinhaRelated
By Jack Galloway
Jack is a fanatically keen kiter from the South West of England, he loves riding just about anything with a kite from foil boards to surfboards and everything in between. He's competed in the Red Bull Ragnarok snowkite race on numerous occasions as well as some world class kite racing events. He's our Web Editor for the magazine, as well as one of our testers where his vast knowledge of the sport and different kites and boards comes in handy!
