Lesser Black Back

Here's a new ride for Kernow based mat surfer, Tom Carter.

Tom lives in West Cornwall and has really into mats for a while. He got a Ute from me last year, named Black Back, which has been his go to since. This time he wanted something to fit the profile of a low volume, narrow mat he has. With that in mind, we agreed that an Ubercat would be the way to go.

It's been quite some time since I've built one of these. The narrow profile and deep concave makes for a mat that locks in and goes rail to rail really well, but will straggle more in the flats than designs with a wider aspect ratio. But then, Tom has Black Back for those days. In punchy waves, the Ubercat feels lively and a lot of fun to whip back into the pocket, particularly in wedgy waves.

With less volume, we have gone with a 70 denier deck. As the Ubercat is narrow, Tom will be covering the deck more so the material doesn't need to be as heavy to still give some stability. We have gone with a restricted venting set up. "Wheezers" keep their inside rail shape more through turns. We've also gone with a free (flat) elastic rocker.

So what has Tom called his new mat? Well, the colour scheme and grip pattern of Tom's G-Mats are in keeping with each other, so sticking with the gull species, Lesser Black Back of course! Well there is less of her!

Have fun Tom!

Cheers

G