Circe - Heading to Noosa

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This is the first of two mats going to Australia for a matting couple in Noosa. "Circe", a 200/70 Ute built for Rachel Scarff. Rachel says she has named her mat "Circe" beacause:

“I’ve always loved mythology, in particular Circe, and always find myself coming back to her. Thought it would suit as her legend is based around water. Her dad is the sun god and mother is a sea nymph. She also represents femininity in the stories about her in a way that’s scares men, so thought it would be funny to have a mat called that in a sport that’s fairly dominated by guys who don’t always give women respect or the time out in the ocean. It’s like if they were mean I’d just channel Circe (she’s a goddess of sorcery) and put a spell on them and turn them into a sea cucumber or something 😂😂”
— Rachel Scraiff

Notice the mistake here?

That is perfect!!! I always love building mats for women. Unlike much of the mainstream surf media, mat surfing tends to break down the gender barriers and just welcomes mat surfers as mat surfers and we really do need more women to be surfing mats.

I asked Rachel about her matting experiences the journey into mat riding. She said:

““I’ve been living in Noosa for the last 7 years, originally from South Australia. Started out on a log, but downsized to an 8’2 V bottom made by local board shaper Ado (Maren surfboards), because I just want to trim and turn. I’m fairly new to the mat game. I started using my partners spare mat more seriously last year and have been enjoying it so much that I decided to get myself a custom mat for my size (I am very short haha!). My partner has been wanting to order a g-mat for a while now, so perfect timing!

I’ve found myself hardly surfing my board these days and only taking out the mat because I just love it so much - I can go out and even if I only get a few waves I have a blast, as opposed to taking the board out and not getting that same feeling.

Love riding the mat out at Tea Tree and always fun to mat with pals James T, Matt C and my partner Ben. Still a few other mat friends that I’m wanting to catch waves with….””
— Rachel Scraiff

That's such a familiar story. Mats get you like that!

So then, on to the tech bits. Circe is a 200/70 wheezer with free elastic rocker. Rachel has also gone with a Hestered valve. As with all customs this has been specifically scaled to meet Rachel's body size so will hopefully feel like a good fit.

Circe is on the way to Oz now along with her partner Ben's mat... but that's a story for another day.

Have fun Rachel! It's been a pleasure.

Cheers

G

Surfadelic!

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Pete D'Ewart is a connoisseur of surfmats so I'm always honoured when he has one built by me. The latest is a G-Mat Ute named "Surfadelic."

Surfadelic is a 200/70 build with elastic rocker. The grip panels are Sikaflex EBT to offer additional stability to the deck. Blue deck, navy bottom. 

Just the ticket for winter in the Pacific North West.  

Cheers  

G  

Fluffy Sunshine

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​Ladies and gents, boys and girls,  this is the next instalment of weird surfmats for Andrew Stephen Buck, following hot on the heels of Pacmat.  

G-Mat 89 (AKA "Fluffy Sunshine") is a free breathing 200/70 Ute with rocker. 

You may also have noticed that she has a little artwork.​

Fluffy Sunshine is a gift for ASB from his good lady, Olivia. Apparently she was quite insistent about this theme. Thankfully, Andrew seems to like it.

Whether or not the Rincon locals will get their heads around it is another question all together!   

In any case, we can be sure that there will be no missing ASB in the lineup and, should be lose his grip, Fluffy Sunshine should be easy to see. 

Cheers  

G  

G-Mat 77 (AKA "Righty Tighty")

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Ladies and gents, this is "Righty Tighty", a G-Mat Ute built for Santa Barbaran (Barbarian?) Colin McCrindle,

Colin tells me that he surfs a lot of points and reefs, including Rincon. Given this, we've worked on maximising Righty Tighty's lift and down-the-line speed which I'm very excited to see in action.

As you can see, Righty Tighty is the customary Santa Barbara monochrome. Colin actually went for dark grey, rather than black lettering which seems to disappear in the shots above but is actually visible.

Colin has gone for Sikaflex EBT grip to maximise traction. The more I use this stuff the more I dig it. It adds a bit of overall weight to the mat but that is negligible once you add a rider. The grip is so dependable.

Anyway, Colin has some boat trips planned so I can't wait to hear back from him on how she goes.

One last thing though, Colin actually named this mat Righty Tighty and I accidentally wrote "Tighty Righty" on the edgelap.

Tighty Righty... Sounds like Ron Paul's new underwear line, am I right!!!

Thankfully, Colin took it on the chin. DOH!!!

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UPDATE:

I forgot to post this at the time of WRITING, accidentally saving it as a draft,  so all of that above is a little out of date. Colin has been riding his mat a bit in good waves and has given me some feedback. He had been riding an extremely narrow mat so had some adjustment to make. Seems like he's made it. 

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Here's what Colin had to say:

"The mat has been great. We've had a few really good south swells recently, so I've been getting head high to double overhead surf quiet a bit.

I'm still adjusting to the width, but it's not an issue. The speed it generates is incredible, a new skill I'm working on is hitting the brakes to not completely outrun sections. I got one really good barrel on my last go out, so I'm getting it dialed in.

More later. "

Well, 'too fast' is fine by me.  We can always stall. 😆

Cheers  

G  

Just What the Doctor Ordered

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Please welcome G-Mats 79 and 80 into the world. This pair are called Gladys and Dorothy, respectively.

Dorothy is a Ute and Gladys is a Chino Racer. Both are 200/70 free-breathers with subtle elastic rocker. This is an ideal quiver for all eventualities.

First up, Dorothy. She's a Ute and the perfect all rounder. Sean currently surfs around North Devon and with summer coming a mat to glide those long, glassy peelers at spots like Woolly is ideal. Dorothy isn't shy of the juice though but I have slightly emphasized the bottom end  as she is part of a double act.

Next we have Gladys. She is a Chino Racer so loves power. Sean travels an awful lot and surfs some very high quality solid waves. He tells me that he has found that he has been pushing the limits of his existing mats in some of these waves so Gladys is here to fill that gap.

Gladys will dig those big hollow North Devon days too.

Can't wait to hear how these girls go. 

Cheers

G

Happy Birthday Webbo!!!!!!!!!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BOY!!!!

Photo: Becky Webster

My boy Webbo (AKA Joe Webster) is 14 today and I'm not being at all biased when I say that he is a great lad of whom I am very, very proud.

Anyway, Webbo is becoming a pretty good mat rider and asked for a new mat for his birthday so here she is... "The Camo Carrot".

The Camo Carrot is a 200/70 G-Mat Ute. She has an Urban Camo style grip job with Sikaflex EBT, offering plently of traction, is hard  wearing and also helps to add stability to the deck to make things more manageable. 

That stability is also increased with the restricted airflow in this mat. I don't usually built "wheezers" these days but it does offer a more predictable platform so should help Webbo to continue to progress.

The Camo Carrot also has a bit of rocker. Webbo seems to have developed a bit of a taste for steep waves so that should help to keep things in order.

Finally, The Camo Carrot has a bungee leash attachment. Nice to keep Webbo attached to his mat... At least for now.

Once again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDE!!!!!!!!!

Dad.

G-Mat 70 - Keep the Faith

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Here is my first mat of 2015. I'm honoured to have been able to build G-Mat 70 for So Cal Surf Photographer, Joe Ewing who has named his new ride "Faith".

G-Mat 70 (AKA "Faith")

Faith is a 200/70 G-Mat Ute. Joe wanted an easier paddle so she has a flat rocker to help on that front and will also see this mat get down the line in a hurry.  The grip is Sikaflex 11FC+ in white with a grey logo. 

Joe has opted for a bungee leash attachment too.

Anyway, back to Joe, those who know him lill be aware that he's a talented surfer great photographer. You can see his work here:

http://joeewing.printroom.com/pro/ewing/default.asp

Have fun Joe.

Cheers

G