92SPOTLIGHTKIT
being sedate. Anyone into high altitude contortionism will find the Karma an effortless yet dependable wing to get you soaring. If hiccups should occur, with riders landing hard, the Karma’ s construction comes to the fore and protects against damage.
When waves don’ t play ball Witchcraft’ s Karma 5m is a useful tool for budding freestylers. Coping well with sliding moves those impeccable manners ensure everything stays composed and efficient. It might not be the right choice for modern power moves, but if you’ ve one eye on this side of windsurfing the Karma will allow sailors to develop the necessary skills to reach that level.
CONCLUSION
Witchcraft’ s Karma 5m is not what you’ d think from first looks. If you believe you know five batten wave sails then think again. For starters the Karma takes durability and bomb proof construction to the nth degree – without sacrificing too much weight. For those after a sail ready to cope with pounding waves, pumping shore dump or simply stand the test of time then the Karma could fit the bill nicely.
On the water it’ s a very wellmannered sail that laps up gnarly conditions – the gnarlier the better. Gruntier than you’ d imagine in light airs riders can change down quickly and get the benefits of wielding a smaller sail sooner than others, potentially. When gusts increase tweak the settings and you have a wing that boosts you along in the most efficient manner. And its eye candy looks make it extremely desirable.
BOUKE’ S COMMENTS:
I came in 1993 to Fuerteventura to work as a windsurf teacher at Flag beach. I had been making my own boards since 1983 in Holland and brought my tools with me to make a board in the storage room of the windsurf centre and started doing repairs. I then met Luca who I’ d previously encountered in Barbados. We decided to team up and start a board and sail repair workshop in 1994. Luca then also showed me how to repair and make sails which can be quite addictive. I spent long nights in the loft. But over the years I was getting busier with shaping boards. In 2000 I got the distribution rights for Ezzy Sails in the Canary Islands and stopped making my own. Ezzy was the brand that most matched my philosophy. But of course I kept on having my own ideas on sail design which I often discussed with Witchcraft dealer John Blackwell, of sailrepair. co. uk, as well as David Ezzy himself. Over the years Ezzy’ s direction, both in terms of sail design and business, were diverting increasingly from my ideas. The desire to make sails again grew. John had often said we should make our own. Our ideas about sail design and construction are very similar and we did not see anything else that we really liked. Finally I teamed up with John to develop two lines of sails. Here on Fuerte, equipment has a hard life. We notice any flaws within six months – something that would take two years in Europe to become obvious. Sailing frequency, wave size, wear and UV radiation are far higher than you’ d imagine. uk
WIND SURFING