Low Key for Dado

There seems to be something about black on black. It just looks so clean, don't you think? This is "Billie". A custom Rubber Bucky built for an Italian with a penchant for going fast on mats. Just the ticket then.

Billie is a 200/70 mat built for Eduardo "Dado" Girardini. She has free rocker and as you can see, Dado has gone for a bungee fitting as well to allow for a leash.

The Rubber Bucky is my larger model (which is then specifically scaled and tailored to the rider). This means that the mat has a larger planing area so offers more glide in smaller surf. Dado is aiming to open up spots around him offering waves around waist to chest high so this is the perfect mat. The wheezer option makes sense then because Dado will cover less of the deck so a slower air transfer offers a more stable mat allowing for lower inflation, despite the reduced deck coverage.

So a bit about Dado. He says:

"I grew up in northern Italy and moved to California right after high school. I became a regular at Rincon and met some of the greatest surfers in the world, including Andrew Buck. My friends and I rode anything from food trays to 12’ gliders but nothing blew my mind harder than seeing Buck going a thousand miles an hour on those little cove dredgers.

Now I live in Portugal and those waves just don’t exist around here. I started surfing bigger waves to get away from crowds but somehow riding the mat is still the most thrilling thing there is."

Hopefully Billie will open up the options for Dado to surf in his new locale.

Have fun Dado!

Cheers

G

ANALOG

ANAGLOG (yes the caps are deliberate) is a Rubber bucky built for Pete D’Ewart. Pete has had a few mats off me now, being the first person to pay for a mat off me way back. Pete knows all about mats having been a mat surfer for a looooooong time. He’s a big fan of the Rubber Bucky and has the skills to make this model really go.

ANAGLOG is a 200/70 free-breather with free-rocker. The 200d fabric is a fairly open weave, as is the navy 70d bottom skin so a light, fast mat. Pete is a fan of simple panels of grip (like on a 5 Star General). We’ve gone with clear EBT which give plenty of traction and the un pigmented sealant is more durable.

Pete lives in the Pacific North West so some long chilly walls will be just perfect for this mat.

Have fun Pete

Cheers

G

It's Opposite Day!

It’s been a bit slowed down of late with some family stuff going on but I’m back with a mat for Jamie McClellan. This mat, which Jamie has named Wheezy Jefferson iis built by way of wages for Jamie’s work for MatSurfers.com.

Jamie is one of those mat riders that has a special talent. He’s put in the hard hours and surrendered himself to the craft and is, as a result, able to work with very lightweight and plable mats to manage the drift and tap in to that sought after quality of surfmats…

SPEED!

Weezy then is something of an ironic name because Weezy Jeffereson is the very opposite of being wheezy. This mat is a free-breather with I-beams with crescent cut ends and 5 breather holes. What that means is that the internal venting is completely unrestricted.

Weezy Jefferson is bult withnegative rocker, very light weave 70d bottom skin and I-beams and a slightly denser (but still very light) 70d deck. She also has slightly squarer than normal back corners wihich further relaease hold in the tail. The grip is also applied thinly as Jamie is more than able to top it up if needed.

All in all, this is an incredibly lightweight and pliable surfmat that will go like a greased turd off a hot shovel!

At the time of writing this post, Jamie and his family are hunkering down to ride our Hurricane Dorian so Weezy Jefferson is still sat in G-Mat Towers and will go out once things calm down. In the meantime, take care of yourself McClellans.

Cheers

G

Expanding the Quiver with Nancy

Here we have a 200/70 G-Mat Rubber Bucky named Nancy, built for Sean Stansfield.

People may well remember Sean. For those who don’t have long memories, Sean was the first person to host Phileas when she set off on her travels:

https://customsurfmats.com/phileas/tag/Sean+Stansfield

That was a while ago now!

Sean has previously had another couple of mats from me named Gladys and Dorothy:

https://customsurfmats.com/blog/2015/5/11/just-what-the-dr-ordered

The last 2 mats were a 70/70 Ute and a 200/70 Chino Racer. When Sean dropped me his order form he was pretty clear on hat her wanted. A Rubber Bucky and a fast one!

No problemo!

We mulled over the options and decided on a stable deck so went for 200 denier material, but focusing on the speed, we thought about venting (free-breather) and rocker (negative).

The rest was simple. Sean likes his mats low key and monochrome so all black with white grip was where we wound up. SIkaflex EBT Grip 3/4 length with front corners…

Nancy IS going to be fast…

Personally, I love the Rubber Bucky. The glide and the ease for the tail to break free make this a a design that absolutely epitomises the essence of the modern surfmat. It also means that for the uninitiated, there is a drift that can initially be a little disconcerting (we all love dropping the tail though right?)

I really stoked to have been able to build another mat for Sean. He’s a connoisseur of the craft of riding these craft.

Enjoy mate!

Cheers

G

Unexpected Addition to the Family!

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!

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.

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.

His and Hers

I’ve finally got around to building a pair of mats that have been on the horizon for some time. These are G-Mats 163 (AKA “Bear”) and 164 (AKA “Bunski”) and have been built for husband and wife surfmat tag-team, Ben and Yoko Bennink.

Ben and Yoko run the wonderful Slidaholics website based in their homeland of Australia. They are both enormously experienced waterpeople with a good deal of experience riding all manner of craft, including mats.

Given that, it was a real pleasure to work with them around this collaboration. Ben and Yoko came knowing that they wanted mats that were fast and loose, with stacks of glide. Given that, a brace of free-breathing Rubber Buckies seemed to be the order of the day.

As you can tell from the picture of Bear and Bunski side-by-side, there is a bit of a difference in size between Ben and Yoko! As a result, there was a need to do some serious scaling in both directions but, job done.

Have fun you crazy kids!

Cheers

G

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March 7, 2019: FEEDBACK FROM BEN & YOKO:

I’m so stoked to get this message from Ben! THIS is why I do it:

“G-Mats Situation Report.

Yoko and i got to test the new G-mats this morning. We actually got really lucky, we scored somewhere with just the two of us, a place that's usually always packed. There was offshore / cross-shore devil wind on it. Hence the lack of crowd. But, pick the right one between gusts, and it was a good size, fast and reasonably hollow despite the bumps coming up the face.

Graeme, those "Rubber Bucky's" you scaled for us both are fucken insane.
Seriously, just fucking WOW. Bravo dude, fine workmanship. Worth the wait and every cent.

We found them to be,faster than the Ute model, and that's in tricky bumpy conditions! Which is pretty wild, the ute is damn fast too, but these are quicker.
Seriously can't wait to get them in something with a cleaner face. yes more slip, and much more sensitive than the Ute, but it's manageable, and a shit load of fun.

Can't report on crossovers at this stage, we were overtaking each other easily, but didn't risk the crossovers at that speed in the wind and bump, didn't want to hit a bump, get it wrong and knock each other out.
So mainly sharing speed runs, and swapping the lead. Made a couple of windy barrels as well.
Both hooting like kids on speed. Still smiling, and the last time I saw Yoko that stoked, was when I made a new noserider for her. BTW. That problem we had when I was on a G-mat, and she wasn't, where i kept out running her, problem solved :) Now she's as fast as me, or even faster.

G it's obvious you put a lot love and dedication into you're work. We both genuinely appreciate it.

Thanks Dude, from two very happy sliders. :)

Rattler... Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie!!!

Say hello to G-Mat 145 (AKA "Rattler"). Rattler is the third mat I've built for UK based Ozzie, Henry Marfleet. I was over the moon to build this mat as Henry's previous mats have both been built for solid waves. He goes on annual trips to Indo so you can see why.

So back to Rattler; she's a 200/70 Rubber Bucky. Henry wanted to get in touch with his Ozzie roots so opted for a bit of colour... Green deck, yellow logo and yellow bottom. We went for clear grip to to add a touch of frosty goodness and let the green really show through.

Rattler has a subtle neg rocker to work with the deeper concaved of the Rubber Bucky design to make what is going to be a fast and slippy mat. Perfect for Henry's frequent trips to Cornwall. (We always prepare ourselves for a week of onshore choss when he says he's coming down!).

Henry has also ordered a sexy green tee with a yellow logo. That's currently in the works so will be sent on later. Looking forward to getting in with Henry and Rattler next time he's down.

Cheers

G