Mr Bubble

Here's a mat for my good friend and mat surfing legend, Andrew Stephen Buck (AKA ASB or "Buck").

Andrew has played a huge part in the evolution of my designs over the years. The Rubber Bucky model was designed based on his feedback over a number of prototypes. Following this the design was further tweaked based on feedback from Jamie McClellan to create the RB-JMC, and this is what Andrew has been riding since.

You may have noticed as well that Andrew is a big fan of animal themed mats and this one is no exception. Andrew was keen to go with a crab this time around and this is the design we came up with. In consultation with his nieces, this mat was named Mr Bubble. Pretty much the perfect name for a mat!

As for all the technical jimbo-jambo, Mr Bubble is an RB-JMC super-free-breather with negative elastic rocker... About as fast and sensitive as possible. We have also gone with a low profile spring valve for Andrew to try, as well as a bungee for potential pool encounters.

Mr Bubble gets collected tomorrow and should be in Carpinteria before the end of the week so going well. Not that there's any surf by the looks of it but hey ho... The waves will be back.

Have fun Andrew.

Cheers

G

Horsemouth

Say hello to Horsemouth, a 70/70 RB-JMC built for the super talented Bryce Young.

Bryce doesn't need much introduction but for those who don't know him, he is the son of Nat Young and brother of Beau. Bryce comes from an impressive surfing heritage and is an incredible surfer.

If people haven't yet seen the Need Essentials film Following The Fall line, then I insist you do! You will see why I was so excited to build a mat for Bryce. The whole thing is mind-blowing, but for me, the section where Bryce is riding his Alaia is the best example of this kind of wave riding I have ever seen. I mean by a long way. This kind of inate talent leaves us normies in a state of confused awe!

So as I say... I was very excited when Bryce hit me up for a mat.

We had a chat and Bryce has been riding a mat that his dad picked up from George Greenough. We were left with a dilemma around the basic model and materials. On the one hand, these Aquaman types just jump on anything and surf it like they've been doing it for years. On the other, we didn't want to build something that felt 'too' different. I hit up George to get some info on the mat that Bryce had been riding and then after some umming and ahing we hit the spot (I hope) with a 70/70 RB-JMC Super-Free-Breather with negative elastic rocker, scaled to Bryce's height and body dimensions but with a nod to his current mat.

Horsemouth will be a big change but I'm hopeful will fit like a glove. Just a different glove.

Onto the aesthetics, Horsemouth (named after reggae legend Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace) has been dyed with a spruce green acid dye. The process has created subtle aqua and blue streaks across the beam of the mat that look lovely (if I say so myself!). Then we have gone with a green, yellow and red fade logo on the deck. It kinda looks like an apple... Yum yum!

I'm super excited to get Horsemouth and Bryce hooked up. We're just trying to figure where the mat is headed as he is super mobile currently. Oh and Bryce has just had a birthday so the perfect time for a new mat!

It's been a pleasure Bryce! Have fun mate.

Cheers

G

Gwahir

Meet Gwaihir, a G-Mat Nouveau Racer built for New England mat surfer, Ryan Kleinert.

I'm sure people are aware of Ryan, but in case you're not, he absolutely charges on a mat. Gwaihir is the third mat I've built for Ryan with his first two (Starchaser and Starchaser 2) being RB-JMC's. Starchaser was blown out to sea when Ryan was surfing solid 10ft barrels, hence the second coming. So you see what I mean when I say Ryan charges on a mat!

With these days in mind, Gwaihir was born..The Nouveau Racer is my gunniest model and with the 200d deck and restricted breathing will feel much more stable. It is a design that gives you a lot of confidence on big days, so is perfect for those dredging winter New England waves. Although the Nouveau Racer definitely had a bottom end to it, in bigger and more powerful surf it's a very fast design so I think naming Gwaihir after the King of the Great Eagles in Tolkein's Lord of the Rings is apt.

As you can see, Gwaihir is in Ryan's trademark hot fuschia with white grip. We've Hestered the valve too so all in all a pretty good looking mat. I showed Gwahir at the Fish Fry in Crackington Haven, North Cornwall, so thank you so much to Ryan for being kind enough to let me show Gwaihir there before shipping.

Finally, people might be wondering how Ryan has got in on the order book so regularly. Well, he said that after missing the first email of two when I opened the order book last, he just sat on his laptop all night ready to pounce on the second email! With dedication like that I'm stoked to build Ryan a mat!

So as I say, I'm excited to show Gwaihir at the Fish Fry on Saturday (it will be great to see people and both Tom @rftsurfmats and I will be there). Following that, Gwaihir will be flying off to the US East Coast to get into some winter swells.

Have fun Ryan!

Cheers

G

Bulgy the Whale

It's Bulgy the Whale Kids!

Surfmat supremo Andrew Stephen Buck is heading over to the UK and having only palmed off protos to him in recent times we agreed it was high time we did something just for him. People who have seen his previous mats (Fluffy Sunshine, Comrade Napoleon and Mick Dundee) will be aware of his penchant for animal pool toy themed mats.

With that all in mind Bulgy was born! Bulgy was an actual toy inflatable whale so the perfect name for this ride!

Bulgy (this one) is a 70/70 RB-JMC with negative rocker and super-free-breather venting. I stepped up the venting in the super-free at the beginning of the year and think Andrew will appreciate it. Bulgy has been painted with acid dye and then mouth, eyes, fins and blowhole stenciled. A time consuming build but I'm super pleased with the result.

You might also notice the bungee up front and be thinking "WTF?! Buck with a leash?!" Don't worry, no such nonsense. Andrew is coming over to the UK and we're meeting up at the Wave pool on July 4th of all dates! Hopefully someone will get some footage.

We're hoping we'll get some actual real waves whilst he's over. Maybe a flight down to Newquay airport is in order

Anyway... Bulgy is a thing now.

Have fun ASB

Cheers

G

9-2-Go

I was going to wait for my special day but sod it. This is a mat for my birthday named 9-2-Go. She's an RB-JMC Ultralight 70/40 Super-Free-Breather. I was planning to build myself one of these having given my old Ultralight away to Jamie McClellan but I hadn't meant to do it just yet.

I'm just getting through the last few mats before the next run and I did a little experimenting with dye techniques. I asked everyone in the remaining bunch if they wanted this deck skin and they all said no, politely letting me know they thought it was horrible so here we are!

Anyway during the horrendous weather we've had over here of late I took what would otherwise have been play days to weld up and grip 9-2-Go. Ultralights are a build you probably only get out of the mat bag two or three times a year but summer is on its way allegedly and I adore the featherweight feel of these mats. So fast too!

9-2-Go is wrapped up ready for me to open on my birthday.

Anyway... Cracking on.

Cheers

G

PS Birthday matmeet at The Wave, Bristol, UK: 20th April 8am Expert Turns on the left. All welcome so get booked

The Prone Ranger

Say hello the "The Prone Ranger", a G-Mat RB-JMC built for musician a prone surfing obsessive Kris Simeon. Kris lives in Oxnard, California and has got into mats over the last couple of year.

When I say into mats, I mean REALLY into mats.

What's more Kris is quickly picking up the art of riding at lower inflations and when he got onto the list for this round he was immediatly on to me with waht he was after... A 70/70 Super-Free-Wheezer RB-JMC.

Before we get onto The Prone Ranger though, I asked Kris about his surfing and journey into mats but bofore that, about his brand Los Boogiemen. Kris said:

I got into bodyboarding late in my 20’s. I kinda stopped for years. I was never that good. Mostly just terrified. The pandemic was the best time to get back into things or learn new things. I was inspired by that documentary series 100 foot wave on hbo. I figured if they could surf 30-40 ft regularly, I can probably handle 2-3 feet at my local breaks haha. Dug out my old equipment. Was paddling with some buddies. Kinda came up with a joke name called Los Boogiemen. I made the art, and that art resonated with the bodyboarding community. I started making shirts and sending them worldwide.

Being the curious person I am, it’s become more than a brand to me. It’s more like a blog where I get to share my adventures in the water. I got a mat and was pretty frustrated for months. I swore it off for half a year. Only this past summer did I get back into it and commit to it fully. Loving the journey in the magic towel itself.
— Kris Simeon

So then onto The Prone Ranger and Kris wanted an acid dye burnt orange and a few added stenciled decals. I'm pretty stoked on the finish. I think it would have been easy to overload the mat with all of these but they sit well.

The build itself was the real challenge. I remember Dale Solomonson telling me about sub-zero temps in the Pacific North West where the ambient temps led to surprise under-cooked welds. I thought we were immune to this in the UK South West but we had a stint of -7C mornings and The Prone Ranger became the first mat I have built to suffer this fate! I always test my welds and when I heard the dreaded PING! PING! PING! I new there were wobbles afoot.

NOOOOOOOO.....

Fear not though. 3 hours of surfmat surgery top up welds with the hand iron and The Prone Ranger is ready for action! Kris was good enough for me to add my own secondary name and this mat is now known as G-Mat 286 (AKA "The Prone Ranger" (AAKA "Survivor of the Ice Age")).

Go well Prone Ranger. God speed.

Have fun Kris!

Cheers

G

Pinkoflage

Another between runs build, this time for my partner in deflation, Tom Jennings.

With the winter nearly upon us and some solid Autumnal swells lighting up the South West UK, Tom was keen to score a G-Mat Nouveau Racer. I had a dyed 70d skin (see pic 2) that Tom had his eye on and we decided to go with grip to match (as far as you can match fluro pink!). With all this flamingoesque blotchiness going on Tom came up with the name "Pinkoflage". Perfect! 🩷

Pinkoflage is a 200/70 Wheezer as is standard for a Nouveau Racer. Some of the North Cornish reefs have the kind of swims that would turn your hair white at size so we have included a bungee for leash attachment. We have also gone with elastic rocker which emphasizes the concave and and tightens driving turns on the rail. I'm looking forward to having a go on this mat!

I've made a start on the next run of custom orders now. Thanks to everyone who got in with their deposits.

Have fun Tom!

Cheers

G

Starchaser 2

Here's a quick post about something of a Phoenix from the Flames (or maybe an Albatross from the Atlantic). I've just finished a run and before starting the next one bashed out a couple of mats. The first being this one and the second a mat for winter for my business partner Tom.

Onto this mat then and it's a rebuild of Ryan Kleinert's RB-JMC named Starchaser. Those who follow Ryan may remember he surfed a solid 10ft day in Maine and lost Starchaser 😩


Starchaser 2 then is a copy. Super-free-breather, pink as you like with neg rocker and Hestered valve . Starchaser 2 will head to Maine tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled for Ryan charging more solid New England bombs in hi Vis real soon!


Have fun Ryan!

Cheers

G

Adam Has Found His Mojo

So then, mat 2 of 2 for Adam Goldin named "Mojo".

Mojo is a G-Mat RB-JMC. As you can see Adam has gone for a bit of colour with a fade to a lighter coloured tail. In terms of all the gubbins, Mojo is a 70/70 super-free-breather. She has a negative elastic rocker (as opposed to her quiver mate Yaroomba's positive rocker) so is prime for those points around Adam's part of the world.

It's been a fun project working on these. Have fun mate!

All in all I would say Adam has a really balanced quiver here. Solid hold , stability and responsive rail to rail mobility with Yaroomba and balls out frictionless down the line speed with Mojo. I'm really looking forward to hearing how he goes with Mojo. I've already had some feedback on Yaroomba which made me a very happy man!

It's been a fun project working on these. Have fun mate!

Cheers

G

Stealie

Here's a mat for Jim Freeman.

G-Mat 273 (AKA Stealie). RB-JMC for Jim Freeman by Graeme Webster. 70/70 Acid Dye Grateful Dead Surfmat. Negative Elastic Rocker. Bungee. Super-Free-Breather. Stencil.


As you may have guessed, Jim is something of a Grateful Dead fan and he came with a pretty clear idea of what he wanted. An RB-JMC Super-free-breather with negative elastic rocker and a bungee. He also had some pretty intricate acid dye work in mind.

G-Mat 273 (AKA Stealie). RB-JMC for Jim Freeman by Graeme Webster. 70/70 Acid Dye Grateful Dead Surfmat. Negative Elastic Rocker. Bungee. Super-Free-Breather. Stencil.


You might remember I recently posted a mat called Pinliner trying out a new method of creating boundaries with sealants? Well now you know why I tried that out.

Preparation is everything.

I asked Jim a bit about his matsurfing journey and he said:

I started “lying down on the job” around 60 after breaking a hip. Have a wonderful mat guru in Steiny who showed me the ropes. Got hooked. Been lusting after RB-JMC after the viral Andrew Buck video. I love the Grateful Dead and put “Stealie’s” (Steal your Face) logos on my boards so when G was up to that challenge….
— Jim Freeman


We're both pretty pleased with how Stealie has come out. I was a little anxious about using the Grateful Dead artwork but a quick Google showed that they are pretty casual on that. Nonetheless I felt uncomfortable taking money for their design so did the Stealie logo gratis.

Despite his Instagram handle @jimmy_cant_surf Jim is a decent matsurfer and I can't wait to hear how he goes with Stealie.

Have fun Jim!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 273 (AKA Stealie). RB-JMC for Jim Freeman by Graeme Webster. 70/70 Acid Dye Grateful Dead Surfmat. Negative Elastic Rocker. Bungee. Super-Free-Breather. Stencil.

Pinliner - Trying New Things

TRAVELLING BACK IN TIME!!!

No... Not really but the eagle eyed among you might notice that the numbering on this mat is out of sync. The reason for this is that I number mats as I design them and this one was designed a while back and then other things took priority.

So what's the deal here? Well this mat is a bit of a prototype. It's a 70/70 RB-JMC super-free-breather with neg rocker, but with a much squarer tail. The RB-JMC design has a squarer tail then nose anyway, but this mat has that taken to an extreme. The squarer tail of the RB-JMC releases more readily giving less drag, thus more speed. This also encourages the tail to drop slightly allowing the mat to sit in its naturally faster position on the high line. This mat is taking that concept to its extreme to test its limits.

G-Mat 262 (AKA Pinliner) - RB-JMC Squaretail Proto. 70/70 Super-Free-Breather. Acid dye.

I have actually already built one for Andrew Stephen Buck and he has surfed it once. The feedback is that it might be too much with the hard corner possibly inviting cavitation but as Andrew said himself, one surf isn't enough. Also I really believe that as a builder it is important to test designs myself to get live feedback.I have left space between the end of the grip and the corners on both Buck's mat and mine to re-shape the tail if this really doesn't work.

G-Mat 262 (AKA Pinliner) - RB-JMC Squaretail Proto. 70/70 Super-Free-Breather. Acid dye.

The other part of this experiment is the aesthetic. I have had an idea about using sealant pinlines and stenciled designs to create a barrier for acid dye. Hard edges are pretty much impossible with acid dye on nylon. When I got an order for an intricate design (that one's on the way) it was obvious that it was time to try it out. Not really "pin" lines on this mat but I had the idea for a name in mind as tribute to the legend of Moonlight Glassing, Peter St Pierre who's internet handle was "Pinliner". My efforts are not a patch on anything Pete does so maybe more of an insult. Sorry mate!

Anyway, Pinliner is going to be my new mat. Whether this new iteration is what I stick with or I just reweld the tail back to what already ain't broke will have to be seen.

Cheers

G

G-Mat 262 (AKA Pinliner) - RB-JMC Squaretail Proto. 70/70 Super-Free-Breather. Acid dye.

Nephele

Here's a new mat for Nilus Mattive built back in December called Nephele.

Nephele is a RB-JMC built with negative rocker and a super-free-breather so a very fast mat. As you will notice, Nephele has an acid dyed deck.

Nilus is a fine mat surfer from Santa Barbara, CA. I asked him about his journey into mats:

My first real surf craft was a Morey Waimea Pro body board. In 2013, I returned to my prone roots and got my first mat, mostly thinking I’d use it for junkier days. Didn’t really pull it out a whole lot.

Fast forward to 2016, when my nine year old daughter Vela got into surfing. That gave me the opportunity to start messing with the mat more often.

Now she’s 15 with the long-term goal of qualifying for the world tour. We’re in the water most days, traveling quite a lot, and I always bring a mat with me. Have had the chance to ride one all over the place — Hawaii, Indo, Barbados, the Waco wave pool, etc.

My favorite is taking a mat out when conditions are too fast and hollow for me to surf standing up. Matting is also a great way to break the tension in a lineup or simply remind yourself what the essence of surfing really is. Whenever I bring one out — whether it’s CA or Kandui — people seem genuinely stoked to see me send it on a couple.
— Nilus Mattive

Mats certainly do help remind everyone what this is really all about.

Nephele is nearly with Nilus so I'm looking forward to getting some feedback. Rincon has been on of late so fingers crossed the swell hangs about!

Have fun Nilus and please do send a pic of you in your Tee

Cheers

G

Cardiac Abnormality Express

This is a mat for Mariah Ernst. Mariah got in on the last round of orders and probably for the best. You might remember that a while back, Mariah lost hold of her favourite mat Jamu Jamu leading to her ride taking a trip across the coral at Uluwatu. I did some serious surgery at the time which held up for some time but alas the leaks just crept in.

So on to this mat named Cardiac Abnormality Express. Mariah had a bit of a health scare a while back. Don’t worry, she’s fine, but a significant event in her life. What better way to mark that and the journey moving on from that experience than to get yourself a new mat! And Mariah is the perfect mat surfer… Keep it simple, have fun and spread the love. Perfect.

Cardiac Abnormality Express is basically a rebirth of Jamu Jamu. Given the waves Mariah surfs in Indo a Nouveau Racer is ideal. The free elastic rocker keeps things moving but stretches cleanly into a smooth curve for turns and the combo of 200 denier deck and wheezy venting inside keeps things stable when things get bonkers. The Nouveau Racer design offers a lot of hold so all in all, hollow powerful waves are covered. Mariah has also gone for a mottled pink deck that I do think looks perdy.

Cardiac Abnormality Express is on the way to Indo now. Have fun you two!

Cheers

G

The 70/40 Experiment Goes On...

The experiment continues and I am very excited to send this mat off to her new owner.

G-Mat 221 Ubercat 70/40 Surfmat positive rocker elastic rocker Chinook James Tanner

As a mat builder I have always been a believer in testing things out before imposing them on the general public (or ‘going to market’ I guess if I want to sound fancy).  I believe I am a reasonably good mat rider but certainly not the best and aside from anything else, it is important to get things under the bellies of talented mat surfers who are able to give me detailed feedback. That’s no different for this 70/40 construction.

So far, Andrew Stephen Buck has an RB-JMC built with these materials. He’s had a few waves as Rincon has had the worst winter you can imagine but the feedback to date is “best yet”. The next test pilot is Kiwi James Tanner.

G-Mat 221 Ubercat 70/40 Surfmat positive rocker elastic rocker Chinook James Tanner

For those who don’t know him, James is one of those watermen who just hit the flow whatever they are riding and that’s no different with his mat riding. James has a really dynamic style getting a mat right onto it’s rail and really defining S-turn surfing, without losing an iota of speed. He has an RB-JMC in his quiver but we talked about an Ubercat given his style so we’re both excited to see how this mat named “Chinook” goes.

The 70 denier deck is dyed salmon pink with the bottom and I-beams being cut from orange 40d taffeta. Chinook has an elastic bottom hiving a natural inclination to create a smooth progressive curve into turns. Perfect!

G-Mat 221 Ubercat 70/40 Surfmat positive rocker elastic rocker Chinook James Tanner

So lets see how she goes. My 70/40 RB-JMC has been surfed 15 to 20 times. She has developed a super-slow leak. It doesn’t affect inflation when surfing but it is there. I think this is due to a scrape with a reef but I can’t be 100% sure. This is why we test... to see what happens over time with different mats, different riders and different conditions.

Exciting though!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 221 Ubercat 70/40 Surfmat positive rocker elastic rocker Chinook James Tanner

FEEDBACK 25th JANUARY 2022

Something Fishy Going Down

G-Mat 207 Mack Daddy Surfmat Trevor Gordon G-Mat RB-JMC.jpg

So then, here is a mat that has been on the radar for some time and I am as stoked as a freshly poked campfire to have been able to build a mat for a very, very talented waterman. For those unfamiliar with him, Trevor Gordon is s super talent surfer from Santa Barbara, CA. I got to know Trevor through our mutual friend Andrew Buck, when “Buck” put me in touch with Trevor’s extraordinary wife, Maddie, to build her a mat named Bumbarreller.

So back to Trevor. He is, as you would expect, a very good mat rider. His surfing style suits the mat perfectly: super smooth, no wasted energy, being guided by the wave rather than trying to impose himself on it. And of course, hailing from the stretch of coast with endless point breaks, PLUS living on a sail boat Trevor has it pretty sweet to be a mat surfer. Not that I’m envious at all!

We started talking about this mat and Trevor asked for a Mackerel Print deck. I had a few goes and you know what? I just couldn’t do it! It just came out as a greeny, bluey stripy splodgy affair and not really conveying the mood. Trevor wanted his mat to clearly be all about the mackerel! We went back to the drawing board and here’s what we cam up with… Meet MACK DADDY! All hail! Gotta say, I dig this one.

G-Mat 207 Mack Daddy Surfmat Trevor Gordon G-Mat RB-JMC (3).jpg

Mack Daddy is a 70/70 G-Mat RB-JMC. He has negative rocker and is a super free breather. The deck is acid dyed and there is a sexy Mack on one rail (I’m trying to work out if this is the Mack Daddy or if Trevor is like some kind of fishy Dr Doolitle). There is also a bit of branding down the other rail, just in case anyone is wondering who is coming. Finally, the grip is added using ClearFix sealant which I have started to use for clear grip jobs.

G-Mat 207 Mack Daddy Surfmat Trevor Gordon G-Mat RB-JMC (4).jpg

Trevor and Maddie are currently in the Canaries and with the weirdness around Eupoean shipping since Brexit we’ve agreed to ship to the US so Trevor will have Mack Daddy waiting for him when he gets home.

 I’m looking forward to sharing some waves with Trevor and Maddie either when I’m next over there or when they’re next over here.  

 Cheers

G

Jungle Fever!

It’s always good to see developments in the custom mat world and for me this mat symbolizes one of those moments.

G-Mat 190 Dengue Ian Jermyn RB-JMC Surfmat Negative Rocker Acid Dye Organic Devolution

Ian Jermyn is the man behind Organic Devolution. A talented artist and mat surfer, Ian has devoted himself to the art of dying Surfmat skins, having contributed to some colourful creations over at Warpmats.

I dye plenty of mat skins but there is a significant difference on that front between me and Ian. I can use dye to create some pleasing, simple, designs. But Ian is a hugely talented artist who can create complex and awe inspiring pieces that you could happily hang on a wall in their own right.

So I was over the moon when Ian made the decision to broaden his business and went free-lance, meaning that anyone (including my customers) can get his artwork on their mats! To kick off it was obvious that we needed to build a mat for Ian. And given Ian’s talent as a mat surfer, it was a pretty short discussion around which mat to build him.

On to Ian’s mat then… G-Mat 190 had to be named. It has been a tradition since number 1 that my custom mats are named. I won’t even ship them until they have one! After some consideration, Ian  has named this mat Dengue.

Screenshot_20200726-115242_WhatsApp.jpg

Dengue is a G-Mat RB-JMC 70/70 with negative rocker. A super-free-breather and with a light ¾ grip in clear Sikaflex EBT with front corners gripped. After some discussion, Ian opted for a Hestered valve.

G-Mat 190 Dengue Ian Jermyn RB-JMC Surfmat Negative Rocker Acid Dye Organic Devolution

 The navy fabric has a very open weave so feels super light and pliable, and the acid dying process makes the material more supple so along with the light grip, very free venting and neg rocker, Dengue should go like the clappers!

G-Mat 190 Dengue Ian Jermyn RB-JMC Surfmat Negative Rocker Acid Dye Organic Devolution

Dengue is en route to Ian on the West Coast of Ireland to get in to some of those long, quiet points and reefs. Very much looking forward to the feedback on this one.

Back to Ian, as I said he is a real talent and produces all sorts of wonders, many of which are for sale, so take a look at his website:

https://organicdevolution.com/

Cheers

G

G-Mat 190 Dengue Ian Jermyn RB-JMC Surfmat Negative Rocker Acid Dye Organic Devolution

The Green Hornet

G-Mat 178, Jim Griswold, Surfmat, 200/70, Nouveau Racer

It’s always fun sending mats to the hotbed of modern matsurfing that is the area around Sant Barbara. That stretch of coast with seemingly endless pointbreaks and a community of open-minded and talented surfers is the perfect combo for these things called mats. One of said Santra Barbarans is Jim Griswold. Jim is a friend of Kerry Burns who recently had a mat from me. Jim was looking for a mat to handle fast breaking hollow waves. After a bit of chit-chat, we opted for a 200/70 Nouveau Racer… A Green one!

Given the type of waves Jim is riding we setteld on building The Green Hornet as a wheezer. This restricts the airflow which meansd that, even at low inflation, the mat will keep its shape so be more predictable and handle any bumps more easily.

G-Mat 178, Jim Griswold, Surfmat, 200/70, Nouveau Racer

The colour and been added via a “bucket dye” process where the completed mat is acid dyed in a bucket. This gives an interesting mottled effect do the Green Hornet looks a little like she’s been built out of some kind of radioactive marble!

The Green Hornet will be hitting the Central Cali coast soon so if you’re around that way, keep your eyes peeled for a streak of green.

Have fun Jim!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 178, Jim Griswold, Surfmat, 200/70, Nouveau Racer

Unexpected Addition to the Family!

Inkblot Surfmat Rubber Bucky G-Mat 166
Inkblot Surfmat Rubber Bucky G-Mat 166

Say hello to Inkblot.

This is an unexpected addition to the family.

The customer who originally ordered this mat was all good to go and then unfortunately ran in to some unforeseen expenses which meant they we unable to go forward. I had already dyed this deck and cut the panels.

As it turned out, the customer was very close to my size and the mat is a 70/70 free-breathing Rubber Bucky and I have been desperate to get one in my quiver but just haven’t had the free-time to build one so I made the decision to have her.

Don’t worry… I squeezed in an extra day of work on the Bank Holiday weekend to get her done so hasn’t slowed anything down production wise!

Inkblot Surfmat Rubber Bucky G-Mat 166

Anyway, with Inkblot and my Nouveau Racer, Unity I now pretty much have the perfect 2 mat quiver and am sorted for the next couple of years at least. I don’t tend to hang on to unused mats so I’m putting my blue and yellow mat named Michael Stripe up for sale for anyone who wants her - £145 GBP + shipping.

Screenshot_20170902-212906.jpg

She’s was built in September 2016 and is in very good condition (the result of washing with 50 dunks after every session). I’ll top the grip up before she goes out.

Michael Stripe is an Ubercat (in case you hadn’t guessed) but being a 70/70 free-breather is much more of an all-rounder and goes well in pretty much all conditions. She is best suited to an experienced mat surfer or, if you are less experienced, more air and patience to get used to her floppiness will see you adjust!

Cheers, G.

G-Mat 151 (AKA "Grenadine")

G-Mat 151 Surfmat Ute Tony Ryan

This is G-Mat 151 (AKA "Grenadine"). She's a G-Mat Ute built for Tony Ryan over in San Diego.

Tony has a bit of a thing for Surfcraft with a bit of a bubble gum feel and Grenadine is no exception. The fade from black, through grey and into pink looks good and emerged up from the black bottom too.

G-Mat 151 Surfmat Ute Tony Ryan

Grenadine is built with a 200/70 construction. The internal venting is slightly restricted so she is a little wheezy to help keep her shape. The grip is clear Sikaflex EBT which really pops the colours.

Grenadine will be setting sail shortly so should make it in time to be able to get in to some of this decent run of swell that Southern California has been getting.

G-Mat 151 Surfmat Ute Tony Ryan

Ride reports to follow.

Have fun Tony! 

G

G-Mat 151 Surfmat Ute Tony Ryan