SEA MONSTER!!! G-Mat 47 (AKA "Midori Mirage")
/Here is the latest out of the workshop... A mammoth build, in more ways than one.
G-Mat 47 (AKA "Midori Mirage")
I was extremely honoured when a genuine member surfing's royalty asked me to build him a surfmat. For those unaware of him, Prof Greg Deets is a legendary bodysurfer and one of the pioneers of The Wedge in Newport, SoCal. Greg is also the man behind Voits reissue of theoriginal Duckfeet and UDT swimfins and the brains behind the most recent incarnation of these in high-tech rubber with and bio-mimetic flex (like being a mermaid!)
So then, on to the mat.
This kind of patterned grip takes and age but Greg's vision has certainly made an eye catching reality.
Greg is a big man, and as such needs a big mat. Bigger than I have ever built! We engaged in a great deal of conversation around this: 3 pontoons? 4 pontoons? Leash fittings and where to put them?
Oh and grip patterns of course.
Bungee leash attachment. The leash is attached to the middle part of the bungee (hidden under the edge lap) with a loose loop allowing the leash to move freely. This ensures that the forces a spread evenly across the bungee with it's elasticity, the elasticity of the leash and the natural pneumatic suspension in the mat dispersing the load effectively.
In the end we even looked at the inflated dimensions of Greg's favourite mat and guess what... A scaled up Ute fitted the profile nicely. Phew!!! It is proportionately shorter than the base design but that should be fine with the volume. The corners also use a rounder template to compensate for the height of the rail and ensure a continuous curve.
The leash attachment (a necessity when faced with over-zealous Californian Lifeguards) ended up at the tail leaving arms and hands free to work their magic shaping this free-breathing form of the mat.
Hopefully we will have a gliding, bombing, maneuverable surfmat which is befitting of her owner. I am really grateful to Greg for his candid approach to this process. An open mind and a willingness to experiment is always a joy to work with.
My breath is well and truly bated... More news as it comes in.
G