Gord Baines had asked for a brief review of the Witchcraft Wave 89 (v.3) that I rode a few times at San Carlos last week. It is the full-on wave version.

The board is made in the Canaries (Fuerteventura) and no one carries them in North America, so I was keen to try one given this rare opportunity.

I sailed it in mostly 13-18 knot conditions (slog out, ride a wave in with perfect power) on a 5.5, 5.3, and 5.0. I did sail it powered up one day in up to 25 knots. I weigh 200 pounds. Volume is 89 L, 60 cm wide, 223cm long or so. It is a tri fin set up.

The board felt corky and stable slogging out. Planed up well given enough juice, and felt pretty quick for a wave board.

On a clean wave, the board is MAGIC to turn. It has a very thin tail with sharp rails back and soft rails up front. It doesn't require heavy front foot pressure to turn, you just need to stay centered. Off the top of the wave (cutback), it took very little effort compared to most quads to come around. In fact, it has one of the nicest cutbacks of any board I've ridden (the Quatro KT quad 83 rivalled it easily though). It never threatened to trip the rail and was very plug and play. I'd be happy to own one if they weren't so difficult to find/crazy expensive.

It was the first thruster/tri set up that I've loved. All other windsurfing thruster set ups have been horrible that I've tried! Witchcraft have been advocating the tri set up for years over the quads. I still love the quad set up, personally, but the Witchcraft would be near/at the top of my list for my next wave board given a good price. They've done their homework. There's none of that funky crabbing feeling you often get with small finned thusters.

On a choppy wave face (we got very little chop on the wave most days except for 1 or 2 days!) the corky front rails feel a bit bouncy and tough to engage whereas the Goya Quad, for example, would bite in and settle beautifully into a turn even in chop. So my little experience on this board tells me that choppy waves are a bit of a weakness for this design, but it still rips in more side onshore conditions like CB as well.

Jumping felt pretty good, but the hull didn't have the same float in the air as other boards for jumping. The short length looped very well and I managed a couple of dry ones on it the first few times I was able to jump! I was rarely super powered though, so it may jump much better in proper windy conditions. The hull construction felt very (maybe too much so) stiff. It jarred a bit on the body landing jumps, but it also gives so much feedback riding that I can forgive it for that!

The board ripped upwind at least as well as a quad. Very surprising given the smallish fins!

Loved the board. Wish we had access to them here.

Thanks, Chris. Bouke told me a while back that he didn't have any plans to get into the North American market. I'm really intrigued by the design and construction, but just can't bring myself to drop that much money on a board i've never ridden.