Lindsay

This is Lindsay, a mat built for Californian Mat surfer Cameron Weaver. Cam is the son of Longboarding maestro Robert “Wingnut” Weaver and is a highly accomplished waterman himself. He has been riding mats for some time in good point break waves and was keen to get a mat with good speed and hold. We had a few conversations and as is often the case with experienced mat riders, he chose the RB-JMC model with negative elastic rocker.

We had a few conversations around venting and after a bit of discussion concluded that a Free-Breather rather than a Super-Free-Breather would be the best option. Free-Breathers are very responsive but will hold their shape a little better than completely unrestricted mats and as some of the waves Cam surfs can have a little bump at times we felt that going down the middle would maximise the overall speed/hold balance.

When it came time for Cam to name his mat he went for “Lindsay” after the author of the essential book “Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls”. Such a perfect name! It inspired me to revisit this book that I had in PDF. When I have tried to find a hard copy of this I have always come up against a list of books over £100 GBP. As luck (or fate?) would have it, I asked Jeeves and the next thing you know a copy of the 3rd Edition was in the post to me for £15 GBP. Happy G!!!

Anyway, back to Cam. I asked him about his journey into mats and he said:

“Caught the mat bug the last couple years as a byproduct of trying to avoid the crowds around my local and finding ways to surf windows nobody else wants to….been surfing as long as I can remember, riding whatever I can get my hands on….lately smaller planing hulls have been on the menu, a custom mat was the next logical progression….”

— Cameron Weaver

I had a couple of conversations with Wingnut about mats as he wanted to surprise Cam by paying for Lindsay. Wingnut has tried mats a bit and is keen to join Cam in the water so I squeezed in a 200/70 5 Star General for him. For those unaware, this was my original stock mat and the predecessor to the RFT. I think the green deck, black grip and logo combo look pretty sweet! I bumped into Wingnut’s good friend Sam Bleakley recently and showed him Cam’s mat.

So Lindsay and the green 5 Star General are off to California as I type along with a Lilo Life hoodie.

Looking forward to hearing the ride report from team Weaver. Have fun fellas!

Cheers

G

Mat for a UK Legend!

I am stoked to have been able to build a 5 Star General for one of the legends of surfing history, Dennis Cross. Dennis is the man who founded Gul Wetsuits and contributed so much to the development of cold water surfing (so a man close to my heart).

For those unfamiliar with Dennis, here’s a wonderful film about the early years of cold water surfing in the UK and the influence that Gul had which can’t be understated on a UK and international stage.

Enjoy your mat Dennis and thank you!

Cheers

G

5 Star General News

Quick update as I realised that UK Mat Surfers have been telling all the news about the 5 Star Generals and I'd forgotten to share it on here.

I'm doing the 5SG in both 70/70 Free-Breather and 200/70 Wheezer models now. I'm also doing them in three sizes, Small (fits riders from 5'4" to 5'8"), Medium (fits riders from 5'9" to 6'1") and Large (fits riders from 6'2" to 6'6"). 

You can get them in the UK Mat Surfers online store.

I'll be building these every couple of months or so in between custom mats. If you want one I'd suggest getting on the UKMS Mailing List.

Cheers

G

Important G-Mat News

Hello again all.

Another update on the waiting list. Unfortunately, the complexities in my life are ongoing and it doesn't really look practical to keep building custom mats commercially, at least for the foreseeable future. Given that, I will need to wrap up the waiting list and won't be taking new custom orders for the time being. I am going to build mats for the 10 longest waiters on the list.

Beyond this I will be focusing on building the 5 Star General and Bodybags for UK Mat Surfers. I can just work on them as and when I have time and they are MUCH quicker to build using templates and also saving time on collaboration and design from scratch.

My plan is to build these in 3 scaled sizes to cover riders between 5' 7" and up to 6' 4" which covers most people and means people can get a perfect fit.

The 5SG is basically a Ute with a teeny bit more length to extend the bottom end of it's range. I am really proud of it. It's fast with great hold and covers pretty much all conditions. I sold the last one I owned and have missed her ever since! The construction is exactly the same as with custom mats. Ask Adam "King Waka"  Williams from Scumm if you want more info on them.

http://kingwakaskorner.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/officer-on-deck.html

In time I'll build them in 200/70 and 70/70 construction. I'll be doing some different colours too.

If you want to get a 5 Star General then get on the UK Mat Surfers mailing list:

https://www.ukmatsurfers.com/mailing-list/

I'm really sorry for any disappointment caused to anyone missing out on a custom mat. Hopefully a time will come where I have the space to get back to doing them commercially, but with my day to day work being stretched between employed work and self-employment plus needing to make time for increased family demands that's not practical right now.

Cheers

G

5 Star General Down-Under

So, those connoisseurs of inflatable fun on the South Coast of Oz (otherwise known as SCUMM) have got hold of a G-Mat 5 Star General and, as you would expect, have put her through her paces already! 

Enjoy the videos. 😊

G  

I'm suitably stoked on these. Looks like the fellas down there are having a blast! 

G  

5 Star Generals at UK Mat Surfers

I've just built a batch of 5 Star Generals for UK Mat Surfers. These are a stock model that I've put out there for people on a budget, or those who want to try G-Mat before taking a punt on a Custom mat.

Very good mat I think. They are wheezers, which isn't my default with custom builds (although I'll do it if asked of course). Free elastic rocker and gripped with Sikaflex 11FC.

You don't get a bag and Custom is still the better option to my mind but these are a good ride for most matters in most conditions.

Get 'em while they're there:

http://www.ukmatsurfers.com/warehouse/g-mat-5-star-general-surfmat

G 

5 Star General

G-MATS @ UK MAT SURFERS!!!

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I've been a bit busy building some mats for UK Mat Surfers. I designed a mat a year ago called the 5 Star General. Something of an all-rounder, which UKMS now have in their store. 4 mats, all built by me. 

The original prototype was tested by the now infamous Matsquatch.

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Luckily, that mat was rescued from the hands of that beast and now lives with Demi and Chris from ApproachingLines.com.

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I'm very happy with this mat. It is a little different to the spec of  a full custom with a more restricted air flow to suit  a wide range of riders.  It goes great in all sorts of conditions.  

To get hold of one or to read more check the UKMS Store:

http://www.ukmatsurfers.com/warehouse/g-mat-5-star-general-surfmat

£175 plus shipping ain't bad if I do say so myself.

G