2026 Cabrinha Mantis Apex Wing Ride Review

Dead center along Michigan's west coast you'll see two little bumps sticking out into the lake. They're great places to go when the wind isn't cooperating anywhere else, and Tucker got a nice session on the new 2026 Cabrinha Mantis Apex wing at the point to the south, Little Sable Point.

What is the Cabrinha Mantis Apex?

If you've been winging for a while, you're probably familiar with the Mantis. It's been a mainstay of the Cabrinha lineup and continues to deliver all-around performance year after year, with only subtle refinements so they don't lose the feel so many wingers have come to love.

The Mantis Apex takes that pedigree and bumps it up a few notches with a version that uses Aluula on the strut and the center of the leading edge, making a gold T-shape. The wingtips use HTD Lite, a performance dacron. While the leading edge isn't full Aluula, it's got it where the stiffness matters most and gets the weight down without a full Aluula price.

What are the Features of the Mantis Apex?

New for 2026, the leading edge handle is a hard handle and offers an impressively direct feel of what your wing is up to while you're luffing out. It gives you plenty of leverage for correcting the wing if it starts to rock back and forth. Ready to race? Go ahead and remove the handle for less drag.

The strut handles are both quite long and have an ergonomic inward slant that Tucker found to be very comfortable. The diameter was just right for holding on to. Overall, they gave Tucker a feeling of being right there in the cockpit.

The handles are included, but you can add on a boom if you want that option for racing or freestyle. Since the handles are removable, the Mantis Apex is a great wing for travel. Just pack the wing up tight and put the handles in with your board.

The panel layout on the canopy is very well done, making the wing stiff and fast. The Teijin D2 material is a double ripstop for light weight and has a coating to help reduce UV exposure, tears, and scuffs.

The bag seems like a minor detail when you're buying a wing, and you certainly shouldn't bypass a great wing with a mediocre bag, but the Mantis Apex has a bag that's worthy of its contents. And you'll be able to get a lot of contents into it. It's a huge duffel bag that you could probably stuff three wings into, but you'd be better off putting in your wing, a pump, maybe a couple parawings, and even your harness. It's still simple enough that it doesn't drive up the price, yet it's so handy that Tucker's been known to dump everything out and just put his random stuff in there.

How Does the Mantis Apex Compare to Cabrinha's Other Wings?

The Apex is very similar to the standard Mantis, as you would expect, but the Apex is stiffer and lighter, and has a bit more power.

The Apex Mantis is also pretty similar to the Vision, but the Vision does have more grunt and lift for freestyle, light wind, and even new riders.

The AER is a new wing that takes the best surf qualities of the Mantis to make a dedicated wave wing. The AER is incredibly stable and light for a wing with no high-end materials. If you got your Mantis primarily for surfing in past years, then look at the AER for this season's waves. However, the Mantis Apex has more high-end capability, speed, and upwind ability, so if you appreciate those qualities, then you might enjoy it more.

Who Is the Mantis Apex For?

If you're a confident rider who wants to do some speed runs, freeride, and surf, you'll really enjoy the Mantis Apex. If you've tried the AER and liked how it felt but wanted more high speed performance and upwind, this is probably just the ticket for you.

While it's an accessible wing, it's not really marketed for beginners. It's expensive, and a new rider just isn't going to benefit from the improvements over a standard Mantis, which is already a great wing and something we would recommend for new and experienced riders alike.

It's also quite stiff, resulting in a more direct, bumpy ride. That's a good thing if you're experienced and can feel it out, but it's not going to settle into that automatic gear. You have to work harder to find the sweet spot, which is going to be more difficult for a beginner to do.

This wing really shines when it's powered up or even overpowered, which are intimidating conditions for a new rider but an absolute blast for the veteran rider who knows their limits and even likes to push them.

Can you use the Mantis Apex in light wind? Yup, you can. Tucker was having fun with this wing and the new FLITELab AMPJet board. But it's not really acting like itself in those conditions and gets way more fun in the upper half of its range.

If you like to ride the smallest possible wing, this is probably not for you. But if you like to have one wing that covers a wide range and you like to go fast on smaller foils and boards, then the Mantis Apex will let you go all out.

If you like one wing that does a lot of things well, this is also a good pick. You can race your buddies and feel competitive, then go shred on the waves and blast back upwind into the lineup. As long as you like a fast, forward-pulling wing, it's going to check a lot of boxes for you.

Tucker's Review

The Mantis Apex is geared to riders just like Tucker, so he was excited to finally get out on one and had pretty high expectations for it. It did everything he wanted, and it did it really well. It felt like a Mantis with its forward pull and apparent wind generation. It likes to be ridden powered up, which is why he headed to the point to test it. It also had that legendary Cabrinha surfiness with a stable, reliable luff that hangs out patiently until you need to power back up.

The Aluula upgrade did make a bit of a difference, but not so much as to make the standard Mantis an inferior wing. The Apex is for riders at a level that they need the absolute lightest version of the Mantis and can justify the extra cost.

The Mantis Apex was certainly fast. Not as fast as a dedicated race wing, but you'll be able to compete with the crew at your local spot. It really is a fun wing for recreational racing, and afterwards you can play in the waves or freeride.

Tucker's Nitpicks

The wing itself is pretty much flawless. It lives up to its claims, and you will have fun with it. But you'll also pay a premium price for it. Is it justified? Well, the Aluula placement is spot-on, so it's hard to find any waste in Cabrinha's use of that material. But what if Cabrinha offered a performance dacron version as well? Perhaps that could knock off a few bucks while still offering an upgraded wing. Then again, the Apex does use the performance dacron as well, so perhaps the R&D team already looked at that. Sill, it'd be nice to get the price down into the $1500 range to make a 3-wing quiver more palatable. That said, the Mantis Apex is very nearly a full Aluula wing for about two grand, which is hard to beat.

Is the Mantis Apex Right for Me?

If the price gives you pause, the standard Mantis is very nearly as good a wing. It's a staple of Cabrinha's lineup for a reason. There are a lot of happy riders with a Mantis, and it's not going to hold you back unless you're riding at a very high level.

But if you've got the budget and the skill for it, the Mantis Apex will make you a very happy camper indeed. While it's not radically better than the standard Mantis, there is a difference that experienced riders will notice and appreciate, and at that level every bit matters. It's fast, stiff, and light, and it loves the same powered-up conditions you do.

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