Big, Bright & Sexy!

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A bit of colour on this one then! This is G-Mat 136 (AKA "Jah-Sea-I") built for San Franciscan, Jesse Witthoft. Jah-Sea-I is a Flying Carpet designed to get the juice out of even the slightest swell.

Surfmat G-Mat 136 Jesse Witthoft Flying Carpet Custom

Jess is an interesting fella to build mats for. First off, he is huge!  Secondly, he has a unique riding style way back on the mat (As you can see in the pic below) so there is a lot to think about regarding grip placement. As you can see, the grip is towards the back following a design by Jesse. There is also a bungee for a leash.

Photo by @steevsea - Click the pic to follow him on Instagram

Photo by @steevsea - Click the pic to follow him on Instagram

When building mats for lager riders you have to consider the weight of material. 70d fabric feels like 30d on a jumbo mat. As a result, we have gone for a 200d deck rather than the standard 70d on a Flying Carpet, but Jah-Sea-I still feels super light.

Surfmat Custom G-Mat 136 Jesse Witthoft Flying Carpet

The other issue was that the original plan was for a red bottom skin. We tried and tried and tried with dying a sheet but the size of the fabric meant I just could not get an even finish around the edges. It was bigger than my work bench!  

In the end, we settled to build the mat and go for an all yellow dip dye which has come out great! I now also have a bit of red 70d fabric in the bank now (it's enough for a less massive mat!)

Surfmat Flying Carpet G-Mat 136 Jesse Witthoft Custom

Finally, given Jesse's riding style and the neg rocker in Jah-Sea-I we have gone with slightly more rounded corners than normal to prevent catching.

So, Jah-Sea-I is heading of as soon as UPS get her. Can't wait to hear what the SF locals make of her! She's a fast mat.

Cheers

G

Green Machine Be Safe, Be Seen!

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Meet Jeremy Grosvenor's new mat, Celeste. Those who know of Jeremy will be aware that he is a fan of a brightly coloured surfmat and Celeste certainly fits that category.  

Celeste is a Flying Carpet. I don't build too many of these but Jeremy was clear that he wanted one - 70/70, well vented and very loose and slippery. Perhaps a bit larger than other mats in his quiver but could be just the ticket for those East Coast, US waves.

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For those who don't know of Jeremy, I would highly recommend reading his interview over on UK Mat Surfers. That's a good place to get a look at his eye catching Neumatics.I'm hopeful that Celeste will find a place in that esteemed quiver.

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 As you can see above ,Jeremy's local looks like it's rolling out the red carpet for Celeste's imminent arrival so I'm looking forward to a ride report. 

Cheers

G

G-Mat 88 (AKA "Eye Beam")

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Well kids, it's been a long time since I've built one of these.  This is "Eye Beam", a 70/70 Flying Carpet built for UK Mat Surfers web guru, Bryn Dampney.

Bryn has a bit of a fetish for black and orange which we first saw when he had his first G-Mat, Bombina.  With that in mind, Bryn has gone for pigmented grip on Eye Beam's outer pontoons. I've used Sikaflex 11FC+ so nice and pliable with grit added to help out with the durability and traction when worn down. I've also left plenty of the deck uncovered as Bryn has fine tunes, water chess in mind for this mat.

Bryn made the decision to go for a Flying Carpet with summer in mind. Of course, sod's law means that this El Nino summer seems to be sending us some munting swells (not that we're moaning) but there are still plenty of small shapely days and no shortage of wind slop, so I'm sure Bryn will find something to get Eye Beam going in.

Slippy-slidiness doesn't mean this gal will shy away from a little more anyhoo.

Can't wait to see how she goes. 

Can't wait to have a go myself!

Cheers

G

Back to the 70's

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The thing that really got me into building surfmats in the first place was the quest for light weight rides. No surprise then that the two latest rides to come out of the workshop have had me smiling, both being 70/70 construction (lightweight 70 denier material on the deck and the bottom).

First up is G-Mat 56 (AKA "Slop Humper"), a Flying Carpet. It's been ages since I build one of the flat, thin, square speed machines and I've tired a couple of new ideas, specific to this design which look like they will work well. These take more work than the other mats that I build but well worth the effort for those days where you just need to tweak the trim and fly!

G-Mat 56 (AKA "Slop Humper")

G-Mat 57 (AKA "Black Betty")

Next is G-Mat 57 (AKA "Black Betty"), a 70/70 Ute built for Stuart Marshall. Stu seems to constantly be off to warmer climes, charging endless bowling points and reefs. He's also a man who enjoys a flacid, lightweight mat so I'm really excited to hear about his adventures with Black Betty.

As you may have noticed, there seem to be a lot of monochrome mats coming out of G-Mat Towers at the moment... That seems set to continue. 

Black is the new black it seems. 

Cheers

G