Testimonials

There are various reviews in the Boards.co.uk forum on the Witchcraft Tri-fin topic:

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A Waveriding Orgasmatron in Forces of Nature

In our messageboard

Surfspullen.nl (in dutch)

Boards Mega Wave Board test on the 2008 74SDT: (full text)

Witchcraft is a Fuerteventura-based custom house run by Dutchman Bouke
Becker that has recently branched out into larger-scale production via a
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 got ten years on the rest of them because he's
been working on this aspect of design for so long). 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 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 just stop and luff.
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 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 quite often
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  kiteboard STYLE straps
which none of the testers FELT ACCUSTOMED TO OR COMFORTABLE WITH so we ended
up changing them for conventional ones. (Ed.:The straps need a bit of time to mould to your
foot, on the test of the 84 they did start to like them)
Deck: We found the deck and pads just a little bit slippery.(We have new pads and non slip now)

Popularity: The board got a mixed reaction. One guester liked it so much he
is considering a purchase while another found it a bit too hard work.
(Ed.:Afterwards we found out that this guy was an intermediate of 88kg)
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 technical 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 tend to be rough on your gear.

Downloads of the whole test are available from www.boards.co.uk