Cabrinha Spade Pro 5’3 2021
Reviews / Surfboards
56,118
At A Glance
The Spade has been part of the Cabrinha family for a while now; this year sees an update to the popular design. As well as a new construction, hence the Pro moniker. The new lay-up is an exciting development; the aim is to create a lighter, more responsive board that delivers even more performance to the rider. It’s light, much lighter than the previous boards Cabrinha have made and it is still very durable.
The board features a lightweight EPS core that utilises a carbon stringer to manage the flex characteristics. To ensure extra strength, there are honeycomb reinforcements in the high-pressure areas, and the overall finish is sublime. The Spade Pro is still designed to be a solid allrounder, happy performing in the air and on the wave.
In terms of design, the width has been reduced, which gives the rail more contact with the water, this is good for pop and also grip in the bottom turn. In addition to that the board now has a bottom channel through the tail to increase lift and speed, plus the board has five fin boxes allowing you to choose between quad and thruster set up.
Sizes: 5’3” and 5’7”
On The Water
The Spade Pro 5’3” is a little pocket rocket, make no mistake; this board has bags of performance to keep you entertained. Oh, and it’s quick too, very quick over the water. The new construction feels excellent underfoot, a good amount of flex through the chop but stiff enough to feel dynamic and direct on the wave.
In strong winds, the board gives you lots of confidence, in conditions where other boards had us skipping a rail the Spade Pro kept on biting like a Rottweiler who’d caught a burglar running out your grandma’s back door… It was this impressive grip that helped us to feel at home right away, it’s an easy board to dial into, and the performance rewards are plentiful.
In smaller waves the narrow width allows you to get from rail to rail really quickly, especially with the stepped down tail. You can get very snappy in the pocket with ease and not feel like the board is holding you back at all. In bigger waves, the rail grip plays a part again to help you feel at ease. Strapless is fun too, the light nature of the board allows it to stick to your feet, while that speed and grip help you get some serious pop.
The 5 fin set up is a good way to give you some more choice, we recommend the quad on big days for even more drive and grip and the thruster for days when it’s smaller, and you want to get more radical. Our only gripe was that the board tended to dig the tail in after a wipeout in waves when wearing a leash, no issues if you ride without a leash, but a bit of an annoyance sometimes when a set is headed your way on a big day. I’m not sure if this is because it is so light it would often flip and blow around, or because of the position of the leash plug, but it is something to watch for on a really windy day.
Overall
Speed and grip are two words that sum this board up well, two attributes that can really help your riding, both on the wave and in the air. The speed and drive allow it to perform in small mushy waves while the Spade Pro can still hold its own when it gets bigger. The grip gives you endless confidence in the bottom turn to set you up for a solid hack and also allows you to get some serious pop for strapless tricks. We’re big fans of the new construction too, light and durable is always going to be winner, the honeycomb looks sick too.
Videos
This review was in Issue 84 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit CabrinhaRelated
By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
