Series constructions
Our constructions are another part of the revolution for production boards:
- Inner strength. Buying a board is investing in a good time on the water, in the healthiest drug in the world, in stress-relieve and not to cause stress. We want your board to last. This is why we pay as much attention to making the inside of the board as strong as the outside to avoid invisible internal damage or fatigue
- A board is only as strong as its weakest component. All of our constructions are very efficient by carefully choosing materials and lay-up with a similar elasticity so they all work together in harmony. We have developed and fine tuned our constructions over many years to try to avoid practically all damages as much as technically is possible.
All boards are semi custom build with overlaps on rails and single, double or triple sandwich depending on the area, all tapered into each other to avoid weak points.
There are 3 constructions available:
- SDT.-H-glass (50%), Carbon (15%),Dyneema® (5%)-epoxy-Single-Double-Triple sandwich. 1 year guarantee*. With full H-glass on top and bottom, overlapping on the rails.
H-glass is a new fabric with patented hollow glass fibres. It´s 40% lighter and more impact and pressure resistant. For the first time available in production boards. H-glass based composites are very efficient in shock absorbing.
- HDD.-Dyneema® (60%)-Carbon (15%)-glass-epoxy-single-double-triple sandwich, Our famous Heavy Duty Dyneema® construction with 18 months guarantee*. With full Dyneema on top and bottom, overlapping on the rails. Another first from Witchcraft, the specialists in full Dyneema boards for over 10 years.
- LD.- Dyneema ® (45%)-Carbon(15%)-glass-epoxy-single-double triple sandwich. Our Light Dyneema construction, with a thinner Dyneema skin and a slightly less structural strength as the SDT. For those who want an impact resistent and lighter board. Not that strong for heavy jumping, therefore only available for the bigger models.
About H-glass
H-glass is a new patented microscopically hollow glass fibre. It is 40% lighter and 32% more pressure resistant than traditional e-glass, usually the cause for board breaking. H-glass based composites also serve as a very efficient shock absorber. After Dyneema we found this the best material to use in wave boards, especially for spots without rocks it is a very good alternative.
Link H-glass: http://www.ezentrumbilder.de/rg/pdf/190050-X_Hohlfaser_D_GB.pdf (in german and english)
About Dyneema
Since 1994, under the tough demands of the conditions on Fuerte, Witchcraft started using Dyneema® fibre as the main fibre in their boards. Dyneema* is the strongest fibre on the market. It is very light, even lighter than water but has a very high tenacity and energy absorption. Still it is stiffer than Kevlar and glass fibre, being slightly more flexible than carbon. It also has a long flex life and is not brittle as carbon or glass.
Comparison of technical properties of different fibres used in wind surfboards:
|
Density |
strength |
energy required for penetration |
|
gr/cm³ |
N/Tex |
Jm²/kg |
Carbon |
1.78 |
1.9 |
1 |
Glass |
2.60 |
1.35 |
2 |
Aramid (kevlar) |
1.45 |
2.05 |
6.5 |
Dyneema®* |
0.97 |
3.1 |
12.5 |
*) DSM´s registered trademark for High Performance Polyethylene Fiber
Apart from the price, the problem with Dyneema is that it is hard to work with, hard to cut, to sand and to laminate. It requires high quality workmanship, since irregularities cannot be corrected afterwards.
With Dyneema it is nearly impossible to puncture the board. On impact there may be a dent which can be heated out with a hairdryer or hot air gun, since the sandwich material we use has memory and returns to it´s original shape over 70° C. On heavy impacts, the thin layer of glass fibre covering the Dyneema for the finish, may crack, the Dyneema will usually still be intact to stop water penetrating the board.
We have also developed various secret construction "tricks" on the inside, to make boards stronger and to prevent fatigue, that are quite simple but very effective.
We don´t use T or Delta stringers, our solution is much more efficient and stronger.
Wood is in principle not a bad material for weight/strength/price ratio however it also has a few flaws which is why we don´t use it:
- It is only strong in 1 direction so when pressure is applied it will just break along the weak line.
- It is also a completely different material with a different elasticity than the other materials used therefore losing a lot of it´s efficiency.
- It can´t be bend around the rails.
- And it can absorb water, inch or start rotting.
But, as we don´t want to reveal too much here, you´ll have to take our word for it and let our guarantee conditions convince you. We are also the first company to actually reveal the amounts of different fibres we use in our boards, just like is common with masts for many years.
All this results in a superior board with the highest strength to weight ratio possible, truly ``Witchcraft``
*Functionality first: All boards are equipped with G10 Witchcraft Trifins, one colour ergonomic pads, Pro Limit ergonomic straps, four screws per strap, sidefin boxcovers.
