This is from the Boards Mega Waveboardtest 2008:
Witchcraft is a Fuerteventura-based custom house run by Dutchman Bouke
Becker that has recently branched out into larger-scale production via their own, new Bulgarian factory. Bouke has some pretty unusual ideas about wave board
shapes that translates into some rather strange looking designs.
There are various peculiarities to these boards. For a start they feature
a tri fin arrangement - not exactly new, but with all the hype currently
surrounding twin fins, side fins are certainly on the agenda right now.
(Although Bouke reckons he´s ahead on the rest of them because
he's been working on this aspect of design for 10 years). More unusual is
the nose shape which with a very low 'bow' but high rounded rails, which
looks rather like a small boat. Perhaps more different and more relevant
than anything to performance are the incredibly hard and sharp rails
going from the tail all the way to the mast track, making the board look
more like a slalom design! Then there is the unusual rocker (a parabolic
curve which flattens progressively towards the tail, but no flat areas
anywhere) and inverted vee underwater shape, which works a bit like
single concave but with a difference... For sure this board gave us a lot
to think about - and it feels as different on the water as it looks on
the beach. We won't try to match up the designs to their effects. No doubt some will stick around and become familiar to us while others will disappear with time but in the meantime there's one board on the beach
getting most of the attention! (If you want more information on the
boards and intricacies of design check out the website at
www.witchcraft.nu)
On the Water: The first thing that becomes blindingly obvious is that you
need a little time to adapt to this board. It is not conventional. The
board is very short and the stance is wide making it appear even shorter.
It is not a board that you really want to spend a lot of time on
slogging - certainly not in the smaller sizes anyway. The small size (and
possibly that rocker profile) meant that it took a bit of initial
unsticking, however once unstuck it is very easy to get and keep planing
with excellent acceleration that is more like a fast tail Freestyle Wave
than a wave board.
It has good grip which translates into excellent upwind ability. Whether
it's the three fins, the rocker profile, bottom shape or hard rails or the general
combination thereof.
it was always the first board upwind and this is actually a great quality
in a wave board because the quicker you get upwind the more riding you can do! The other unusual quality of the board is its grip in the turn.
The rails bite very powerfully and seem to accelerate you round the turn.
Where we noticed this most was in its jumping since you can carve hard
and go a long way upwind without losing speed to hit the wave head on
even when sailing in very onshore conditions. Once in the air its small
size and the wide stance make it very controllable.
In terms of just blasting along the board is not particularly difficult to sail and it cuts through the chop very well. However, it likes to be
sailed hard all the time and is therefore not relaxing to sail. Sailing
it makes you realize that a lot of the time on other boards you are
sailing but also resting. The Witchcraft is really lively but seems to
need constant input. It is very well behaved at speed if you keep the
hammer down but that does need some skill and concentration. If you take
your foot off the gas it really doesn't perform so well. The same can be
said for the gybe where the rail bites beautifully carrying you round in
a very fast, tight turn. However, again, if you take the power off or are
lazy with the rig flip it will either carry straight on or stop.
For riding it is like the opposite of an Evo style board. It is very
dynamic but in a very carving way. It is not at all pivotal and needs to
be turned at speed on the rail. Having said that the rail bites
beautifully and accelerates you hard into the wave and the board goes from rail to rail very well to allow easy changes of direction. It needs
more speed than the softer, slidier boards and has a more dynamic and
connected but less pivotal and slashy feel.
We didn't fully get to grips with all the finer points of its wave riding
but the more expert of our team did find that the rail needed to be
buried well forward in very fast, hard bottom turns and that occasionally
the low nose would 'bottom out' but this could easily be a case of
acclimatisation. Overall it was generally considered to be a powerful riding board that could handle a wide variety of waves but that has a
very specific carving style.
Fittings: Fins: The three G10 fins are of similar size with the central one
2.5cm longer than the thrusters at 15cm. We can't be sure what is
attributable to the fins and what to the board design as we didn't have
time to play around with them. We can say the board flies upwind.
HOWEVER, WE CAN ALSO SAY THAT IT IS EASIER TO SPIN OUT THAN THE OTHER
BOARDS AND SOMETIMES ONE FIN IS SPINNING OUT GIVING A VERY SLIGHT
FEELING OF DRAG AND UNCERTAINTY TO THE TAIL. It is hard to sail downwind
at speed (though this is seldom necessary on a wave board!).
Thruster fins take a while to get used to. Initially, you're not used to
them being there when waterstarting (or even just carrying the board),
and two of us did nasty damage to our toes by kicking the fins both in
and out of the water. Obviously they will also be a pain for anyone who
always takes fins out after a session. However, on the plus side you can
afford to sail over shallow reefs secure in the knowledge that you draw
virtually nothing and this can be a bonus in some wave breaks. Overall
the jury is still out on the tri fin, although the board certainly works
well with them..
Straps: The board came supplied with PRO LIMIT ergonomic straps. Witchcraft say their comfort is popular with customers but being unaccustomed to them we changed them for conventional straps for testing purposes.
Deck: We found the deck and pads just a little bit slippery.
Popularity: The board got a mixed reaction. One guester liked it so much
he is considering a purchase while another (much heavier and intermediate) guester found it a bit too hard work.
Generally it was very popular with the testers who are extremely excited
by the board but still not absolutely certain exactly what they think and
why, even after extensive trialling!
Overall: It will take a bit more time to reach firm conclusions about
such a very different board but the initial findings are mostly very
positive. It is an extremely dynamic board, fast and exciting, that seems
to turn with extraordinary speed and bite for a wave board allowing very > fast clean carves into waves and amazing jumping. It is however quite a
challenging board to sail and we would be very wary of recommending it to
anyone who didn't consider themselves already very proficient on a wave
board. It is certainly not a board that we would consider using for
simple high wind use in swell and chop as it is too fast and not relaxing
enough and if this is a significant part of what you buy a wave board for
then it is not for you.
However, if you like a bit of speed and adrenaline around the break then
it provides excellent jumping, upwind potential and a fast, precise style
of wave riding that can be exhilarating.
Construction appears to be very sound and a more expensive version
(HDD) with an eighteen month warranty is available if you happen to be rough on your gear.
