Monk Seal

Here's a mat for Blake Snyder-Rogers named "Monk Seal". Blake lives on the Big Island of Hawaii and was after a mat "for riding big gnarly waves"... Roger that.

The Nouveau Racer is a model I worked out a few years ago. It's had some minor tweaks to the base design and we are on the third iteration. The key thing is that it feels very dependable in bigger waves, when other models might start to feel skittery. That's a pretty reassuring feeling! The Nouveau Racer definitely has a bottom end so is a model compliment an all rounder. Blake is covered on that front as he already owns a G-Mat RFT2, the stock version of a 70/70 RB-JMC built by Tom Jennings.

So on to the build, Monk Seal has a 200d deck. I only build the Nouveau Racer for big surf as a 200/70. Combined with restricted venting and the fact that the mat is narrower so the rider gets more deck coverage, this all adds to the stability of the mat overall which on a larger mat would need higher inflation levels to compensate. Blake was also keen to go with a good grip coverage to keep himself stuck to the mat. This also adds to the stability.

Blake asked for a bungee. I get asked about these a lot and honestly, leashes and mats are not a good mix. Although I heavily reinforce the front flange, they tug on the mat and get in the way. I sometimes think people have got so conditioned to just letting their surfcraft go and all in all, learning to hang on is better.

There are exceptions of course such as physical issues, surfing wave pools and, of course, "... for riding big gnarly waves" where losing the mat finds you stuck offshore with the sharks!

As for the colours, Blake asked for a grey deck (so popular these days!) with purple logo and grip. The grip is purple, despite my camera trying to convince you otherwise!

Finally, Blake asked for positive elastic rocker to help to drive Monk Seal through turns.

So, Monk Seal is heading off to the Big Island to hook up with Blake. Have fun man!

Cheers

G

Pooltoy II

Here is a mat for Rincon regular Jason MacMurray.

It's been some time since I built a mat for Jason MacMurray. Jason is one of the old school (by which I mean the sold school of the new school) who cut his teeth riding Neumatics built by Dale Solomonson. Back when there weren't many of us riding mats and we all knew each other.

Jason got in on this run and immediately knew what he wanted. Being best friends with Andrew Buck, he has seen and heard all about my super-free-breather configuration in combination with the neg elastic rockered RB-JMC design and was all in! With Rincon as his local, a mat that holds a line whilst breaking out the tail and hailing ass down the line was just what he wanted. I already had dimensions for him so that was the easy part. He did come with octopuses (or octobodes if we want to get all fancy with the ancient Greek) drawn by his daughter to spice things up so stencils and dye were the order of the day.

Oh and he asked for a bungee which was a real surprise! However, you never know when you might end up in a pool so the leash option can be helpful.

I asked Jason about the name for his mat and he said:

“I think I am going to go with the seemingly uninspired ‘Pooltoy II’ for the nickname of the new white mat.  The original Pooltoy was built by Dale and was the first mat that he produced that I know of that didn’t just have the rider’s initials.  It took hours of conversations with him by both Andrew and me to convince him that he should allow us to give our mats nicknames. I’m not sure Dale ever thought Andrew and I were as funny as we think we are but we finally wore him down.

When Dale retired, I was on the waitlist for him to make me a much coveted white mat.  He had a very limited amount of a superlight white material he made a few mats out of.  I’m sure he thought I was not worthy or capable of the white mat, and he was right, no doubt, but again I wore him down.  Though my skills weren’t there yet, I think Dale knew Andrew and I had a vision of where we could take the mats and it aligned with his.

Now, roughly 20 years later the coveted white mat is finally landing thanks to you.  The mats are better than we could have dreamed of 20 years ago and I like to think I am finally worthy of such a tool.  Plus, my daughter delivered with the artwork to remind us all not to take it too seriously.  It’s just a highly tricked out Pooltoy.

Gracias”

— Jason MacMurray

That's perfect. I remember the original Neumatic Pooltoy so am personally stoked to add to the lineage.

Pooltoy II is en route as we speak so I am looking forward to hearing how things go. Maybe you'll be able to keep up with Andrew now, Jason!

Cheers

G

Kopite

Here is a mat for my son, Joe.

Joe is a talented skater and has ridden a mat a bit. More recently has got out on the mat a lot more and has really clicked with the more nuanced aspects of riding, dropping his inflation levels and getting on a high line to make fast sections. His current mat, named “Treble”, is a 200/70 Ute with free elastic rocker and wheezy internal venting. Treble has a bungee fitted for a leash attachment and is also gripped with ClearFix.

Having spent more time on his mat, Joe has a clearer idea of what he wants. 2 key things were more grip and to ditch the bungee (they have their place but he never uses a leash and the extended and reinforced front flange is noticeable. With that in mind, Joe’s new ride is the same build essentially but with Sikaflex EBT grip and no bungee. The additional change is that the red deck material is inelastic so we are restricted to either positive or flat rocker. With those options it is nice to put some variety into the quiver so a positive rocker was the way which will support turns off the rail. We often surf wedgy waves and the stable deck, restricted breather and rocker will really support tighter turns.

So on to the aesthetics. As mentioned, the deck is red and the bottom has been acid dyed in red too.

Red goes faster, right?!

In our house we are big Liverpool FC supporters and Joe wanted to honour this, so a red mat with white trim does that perfectly. We also added a small Liverbird (the Club’s crest) on the left rail along the edge of the front corner grip. The name, which came from Becky (Joe’s mum), is “Kopite”. For those unaware, a Kopite is someone who stands in the Kop, the iconic stand behind the goal at the Walton Breck Road end of the Club’s stadium, Anfield. Perfect name! Not everyone is into football (soccer) and football fans are tribal, but for us as a family, our love of LFC is something that bonds us and we have so many amazing memories supporting this Club, so it means the World to me build this mat for my son.

Kopite is a Christmas present so will be boxed up. Here’s to getting some swell over the Christmas period.

Have fun Webbo. YNWA

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

El Duderino!

Here's a mat for mat surfer Sebastian Pleuse.

Seb is a German matter hanging out in SW France who got in on this run of custom mats. We took a bit of time to think about what would suit Seb best. Seb was keen on a stable and versatile ride, so we settled on a Ute (that's two Utes in a row)! We went for a wheezer to help with stability (plus always a good option for a wide range of conditions) as well as a 200/70 construction. As you can see, Seb went for an orange deck with blue logo and grip, a navy bottom skin and a bungee to give the he leash option for the more out of control days!

This mat has a free elastic rocker to keep things versatile.

Seb also had a mat bag and a G-Mat Apparel hoodie, which he is stoked on.

I spoke to Seb about his journey into matsurfing, and he said:

“I’m in my early fifties and have been a surfer for more than 30 years. Four years ago I first heard of mat surfing while watching random videos on Youtube. I love to try all the water sports so I could not resist and ordered my first mat. I really loved mat surfing from the first wave on. Being so close to the water on the mat gave me an unknown feeling of speed, which I never had on a bodyboard. And with the mat being so soft and comfy it was so easy on the back at the same time. Just like surfing a sofa, really. Pulling into little close-out tubes I could never have taken on a surfboard, I felt happy like a little kid. It was so good!

When my first mat gave out on me, I looked for a different manufacturer and found G-Mat. I finally made it into one of the slots. Lucky me!

You’ve done a wonderful job building my new „El Duderino. During the process, we exchanged several emails, and I felt really heard with my wishes and questions. My new toy has finally arrived. It looks super cool, and the build quality is outstanding. Unfortunately the ocean is flat at the moment. I can’t wait for the next swell to take this stunning mat for a ride”

— Sebastian Pleuse

Stoked to hear your happy Seb! With swell in the Atlantic now hopefully you'll get some!

As Seb said, he has named this mat El Duderino. Why? Because f*cking cowabunga is why!

Cheers

G

Pacific Express

Choo chooooo! All aboard the Pacific Express!

This mat is a G-Mat RB-JMC built for Mark Garcia. Mark lives in Southern California and is a pretty experienced mat surfer. A while back, Mark picked up a couple of RFTs (200/70 and 70/70) from Mollusk and had been trying for a custom for a while.

Mark was pretty clear on what he wanted having fallen in love with the 70/70 feel and managed the snaffle up the last of my olive green 70d fabric to boot!

Mark said:

“I honestly feel like the mat riding has clicked more with each mat I’ve got. 200/70 to the 70/70. The craziest thing about the 70/70 is I’ve had insane sessions in the shitiest spring surf.
I came home from sea ( May is the worse time of year for surf in San Diego) and had some good and memorable mat sessions. Had one with Dane, Osprey Surfboards (one of the best local surfboards) where I was really in the zone. And even he was asking about the mat.”

— Mark Garcia

So then, Pacific Express is something of a step up again. PE is a Super-Free-Breather so pretty much completely unrestricted air flow internally. Mark has some long empty point breaks lined up so I was super excited to hear about how this all turns out and Mark has had his mat for a couple of weeks. I reached out via email as it turns out Mark has had his Instagram hacked.

He said:

“I got to ride the mat a couple since this last week and had some great sessions on it. So lively and responsive. It just seems to bend into the waves and fit the curve of sections. Can’t wait to get it down to the longer Baja points.

I gave my 70-70 RFT to my good friend Adam Burns to try. He’s a really stand out surfer here at the cliffs and has been riding mats for a while. Anyway he was so stoked on it after one session he reached out to Tom and ordered a 70-70 for himself.”

— Mark Garcia

Pretty stoked on that!

Have fun Mark. And have fun Adam!

Cheers

G

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.

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.

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

The Widow Maker V6

This mat is an Ubercat build for one of the English South Coast’s prone stalwarts, Mike Steele. Mike has been a body boarder for many years, seeking and charging some of the phenomenal hidden gems on the Jurassic Coast. Mike says:

“Got the bug when I was 10 when my dad bought me a polystyrene board for the summer and then progressed to the Mach 7-7 and was a devout Morey fan until they sold to Mattel. Grew up surfing Bournemouth Pier, then discovered the local reefs and was completely sold on boogin’. One of the spots was in an M.O.D. training range and we got arrested for trespass for walking back from the break after we had been told to get out by the range boat. In and out of court for two years and the day before judgement they dropped the charges. The whole thing was very underhand by the M.O.D., false evidence etc. Anyway, after that ordeal we decided to buy a boat so we would never have this problem again and we discovered a few spots that were literally made for bodyboarding. We had a few eventful boat trips in the surf, one in particular was witnessed on quite a big day, my mate driving hit a big wave too fast and we were apparently fully vertical and the ‘prop was 10ft clear of the water’. How we all survived is beyond me and hence we named the boat ‘The Widowmaker’. Most of our crew has their own boat now, mine is the Mk 5, and now the mat is the Mk 6. Re: board progression, had many boogs over the years, and I know the guy who imports NMD and VS and he is very pally with Nick Mezeritz so been getting customs with experimentary tails for about 10 years. Then saw Noah Lane in Ireland riding Guy Butcher wooden boards and went down that route, again experimenting with shapes with Guy. 3 boards in and started following the fringe element and saw some clips of fellas on mats going exponentially fast and have been trying to get my grubby mitts on one of yours for a couple of years. And now I have one!”

— Mike Steele

Mike and I spoke about the amount of adjustment needed to switch from a bodyboard/paipo to a mat. He is up for the challenge!

So on to the mat, WMV6 is a wheezy 200/70 Ubercat with positive elastic rocker so has good hold and is well set up for tight S-turn surfing on slabby waves and wedges. Mike has gone for the bungee leash option as a lot of the waves he surfs involve tricky swims if losing the mat. You will notice the 2-tone blue and white bottom skin and logo. This was based on a design Mike sent me and we’re pretty stoked on how it’s come out.

Widow Maker V6 is with Mike now and with a winter of south swells looking to be on the cards we’re pretty hopeful that they will get plenty of action!

Have fun Mike. Can’t wait to hear about your journey into matting!

Cheers

G

Circe - Heading to Noosa

This is the first of two mats going to Australia for a matting couple in Noosa. "Circe", a 200/70 Ute built for Rachel Scarff. Rachel says she has named her mat "Circe" beacause:

“I’ve always loved mythology, in particular Circe, and always find myself coming back to her. Thought it would suit as her legend is based around water. Her dad is the sun god and mother is a sea nymph. She also represents femininity in the stories about her in a way that’s scares men, so thought it would be funny to have a mat called that in a sport that’s fairly dominated by guys who don’t always give women respect or the time out in the ocean. It’s like if they were mean I’d just channel Circe (she’s a goddess of sorcery) and put a spell on them and turn them into a sea cucumber or something 😂😂”

— Rachel Scraiff

Notice the mistake here?

That is perfect!!! I always love building mats for women. Unlike much of the mainstream surf media, mat surfing tends to break down the gender barriers and just welcomes mat surfers as mat surfers and we really do need more women to be surfing mats.

I asked Rachel about her matting experiences the journey into mat riding. She said:

““I’ve been living in Noosa for the last 7 years, originally from South Australia. Started out on a log, but downsized to an 8’2 V bottom made by local board shaper Ado (Maren surfboards), because I just want to trim and turn. I’m fairly new to the mat game. I started using my partners spare mat more seriously last year and have been enjoying it so much that I decided to get myself a custom mat for my size (I am very short haha!). My partner has been wanting to order a g-mat for a while now, so perfect timing!

I’ve found myself hardly surfing my board these days and only taking out the mat because I just love it so much - I can go out and even if I only get a few waves I have a blast, as opposed to taking the board out and not getting that same feeling.

Love riding the mat out at Tea Tree and always fun to mat with pals James T, Matt C and my partner Ben. Still a few other mat friends that I’m wanting to catch waves with….””

— Rachel Scraiff

That's such a familiar story. Mats get you like that!

So then, on to the tech bits. Circe is a 200/70 wheezer with free elastic rocker. Rachel has also gone with a Hestered valve. As with all customs this has been specifically scaled to meet Rachel's body size so will hopefully feel like a good fit.

Circe is on the way to Oz now along with her partner Ben's mat... but that's a story for another day.

Have fun Rachel! It's been a pleasure.

Cheers

G

Something Fishy Going Down

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.

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.

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

One for the Birthday Boy!

I always love buildin mats for those who really appreciate the art and Tim Ciasto is one of those people. A German living in Sweden, Tim travels a lot for his waves and he’s riggen his mat on many-a-continent. His skill as a film maker is phenomenal as you can see from the video he put together for the last UK Mat Surfers Matmeet

This is his new mat, Fringesurfer, a G-Mat RB-JMC. I have known Tim for many yeas and he is an avid surfmat rider. He has spent the last few years traveling the globe in persuit of his art, documenting the off piste surf world for his fantastic web series, Fringe Surfer which you can see at:

https://www.fringesurfer.tv/

What better name for this mat then?!

Fringesurfer is a 70/70 RB-JMC. Super-Free-Breather with neg rocker. A very fast mat! As you caqn see, Tim also whanted a splash of retro colour. This is a costly business but Tim is 50 this year so this mat was his birthday present from his wife so no holds barred!

I’m really looking forward to hearing the feedback from Tim on his experiengces with Fringesurfer and I’m particulalry looking forward to seeing her in the flesh again when we caqn finally get together again, somewhere.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!

Cheers

G

Blue & Green Should Never be Seen...

.... or so the saying goes. 

Luckily, that saying is a bunch of ol' pap and I've just built my second 70/70 Rubber Bucky in a row with a blue deck and green bottom skin.

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Meet G-Mat 78 (AKA "Sylvia") built for Floridian, John Hughes.  John is a connoisseur of lightweight surfmats and a strong advocate of drifting mat surfing. Oh and he lives in the land of raggedy short-fetch swells so a Rubber Bucky seems like the perfect chariot.

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Sylvia Is a free-breather with rocker and a Hestered valve. John asked for lighter grip so we went with Sikaflex 11FC+. He also asked me to leave a good amount of clear fabric up the the middle pontoon to save his chin from rashes so I've compensated with a little extra grip on the inside of the outer pontoons to make up for it.

John has also ordered a charcoal grey tee with black print. Sexy monochrome... Cool guy. :-)

Just waiting on the Tee and then Sylvia is off to her new home.

G

Warren's Other New Toy - "Trax"

I've been working hard to get up to speed with the waiting list of late, since my illness a while ago. I'm back on track finally, having been working, perhaps a little too hard, having been working on two at a time. I know... Boo hoo!

I will slow down slightly though to my usual pace.

Anyway, enough whining. Here is the second mat in a pair going out for Warren Pfeiffer which he has named Trax.

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Say hello to Trax.

This is another of the 4 pontoon design that I've been working on. I'm pretty sure that this will become a model in the G-Mat range, but I want to get a few more miles from able test pilots just to finalize exactly what the performance attributes of this design are.

There are few more able than Warren.

As you can see, Trax has a white deck and Warren lives in a pretty sunny spot. We've stuck some smooth black sealant on the deck to reduce glare back off the deck.

The bottom skin is the new 70d taffeta which I have in stock. This material is proving to be extremely popular with the next 3 mats in line looking to have green in the mix too!

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Gentle elastic rocker and a Hestered valve.

As you can see from the shot above, Warren has opted again for a Hester Valve placement. I've also made a double bag for the two mats to be stored together. I'm giving some thought to how to build bags for more mats, should people want them when ordering multiple mats.

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Double mat bag.

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Black anti glare on the nose saves on snow-blindness!

I'm pretty excited to hear how this mat works out for Warren. Although wider than his new Ute, Max, this mat has a lot less volume so I'm really interested to hear about his experiences with Trax in solid surf.

Should be in Oz for next weekend.

Cheers

G

Warren's New Toy - "Max"

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G-Mat 60 (AKA "Max")

Meet Warren Pfeiffer's newest ride named Max.

There are a lot of similarities between Max and Warren's previous G-Mat, Zeno, 

There are a couple of differences though.

Like Zeno, Max is a 200/70 Ute with slightly squarer back corners than normal to enhance the speed. However, the front corners have the more usual Ute template with a slightly larger parabolic curve to prevent them from catching.  Max also has a  Hestered Valve with the grip on the middle pontoon going a long way forward.

The final difference is the subtle elastic rocker. I really think I'm going to start doing these as standard. Shaped rockers are OK, but you notice them when you really need to get that top gear out of a mat with the excess fabric and the natural propensity for the mat to settle into a curve causing them to red line on occasion. The elastic rocker really is the best of both worlds. There when you need it and flat when you don't.

Anyway, Warren has another mat in production so won't be getting his hands on Max just yet as both will go out together, but I'm hopeful he enjoys Max.

Cheers

G

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Extended grip on the central pontoon.

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Elastic rocker. There when you need it, flat when you don't.