Shell Yes!

Here's a mat heading to the US Virgin Islands for Mariah Ernst.

Mariah is a mat surfer of long standing who knows how to ride a mat well. She is on the team at Emocean Magazine and has a close effinity with the ocean and natural world, so no surprises then that Mariah rides a mat!

Having recently hung out with Andrew Andrew Stephen Buck talking mats, Mariah was pretty clear that she wanted an RB-JMC super-free-breather with negative elastic rocker and, a particular Buck influence, an animal theme. As Mariah has always had a fantasy of skimming across a wave face on a giant clam shell her choice was simple and "Shell Yes!" was born!

Shell Yes! is a nice addition to the quiver for Mariah. Over the years she has had a Nouveau Racer and a free (flat) rockered RB-JMC that has more restricted venting so Shell Yes! will give a very different ride to both. Very technical and very fast. Perfect addition. Shell Yes! also has one of the new low profile spring valves so I'm excited to hear how Mariah finds it.

So, shell yes will be heading over to the US Virgin Islands and I can't wait to hear and see how she goes.

Have fun Mariah.

Cheers

G

PS Mariah also recently picked up a G-Mat Mini from my partner Tom Jennings She says you should definitely get one too.

RV Krystal Voyager

Here we have a mat for Hamish Kent @clevestone Hamish is a Byron surfer with a deep interest in riding and creating surf craft. I always enjoy building mats for people who are interested in how what they ride and how it works. Hamish is certainly in that group and we had a few calls to get things right.

Hamish has gone for an RB-JMC, as his current go to is a G-Mat RFT. He was keen to get something a little wider with a different feel. This mat and Hamish's RFT are both 70/70 (70 denier nylon deck and bottom) and as Hamish likes to make lots of turns, we settled on a free elastic rocker (flat but flexible) rather than the usual negative rocker used with this design. The other key difference (apart fron the shape) it the venting. The RFT is a restricted breather (wheezer) where as this mat is a free-breather with extreme venting (what I call a super-Free-breather). Fast, sensitive, malleable and inclined to carve through turns. Nice... Oh and we have dyed her with scarlet acid dye. Hamish was after hi vis but not garish and I think this fits the bill nicely.

I asked Hamish about his journey into mats. He said:

“As a bit of a nerd, and a hard core surf and surf history nerd, I have always sought to have a variety of experiences on as many and as varied craft as possible. Not infrequently, I will ride as many different wave riding vehicles as possible in a single session.

I first started dabbling in mat riding around 2013 or 2014. I had watched Crystal Voyager a number of times, and was excited by the challenge of something new.

Some friends had started riding mats, and I saw them having fun, and thought I’d better see what I was missing out on.

I bought the most accessible mat that was on some kind of sale at the time, and started trying to ride it. After 20 or so years of regular brine time, this allowed me to reach a new level of humility and humiliation in the line up- there’s really nothing like sliding out and missing a section on a perfect wave, that you know you could make on almost any other craft you own. It was a strange combination of devastating and wonderful. Some brief low friction, high speed moments punctuated by moments of complete helplessness, getting flogged in the impact zone trying to hold onto a wet plastic bag cross to a balloon, and I was kinda hooked, like a beaten lover in a bad relationship. Clearly I had room for development.

Rather than slash a hole in my wave riding vehicle so that no-one else reach the subterranean depths of ego that I had been able to experience mat riding already, I decided to limit the humiliation to once a week. Once a week the morning session had become a prone zone with bodysurfing being the prone activity of choice. I added in mat riding as another horizontal humility building pursuit.

Fast forward to a trip to NZ; I wanted to take a quiver, but didn’t want to carry a quiver. I took a board, and a mat, and enjoyed a few lonely sessions with seals, started to get the hang of things, and with only seals to laugh at me, I was able to learn a few skills from them; they learnt nothing from me. I rode the mat most days for about 10 days. I improved slightly, but only slightly.

I continued to ride my mat intermittently, with another breakthrough coming on a 70km coastal hike where I decided that the mat was to be my only surf vehicle.

The last few years we have had some excellent mat riding conditions in the areas I frequent, and I have found myself using a mat more and more, and hoping for good conditions to ride the mat. It’s become the vehicle I am often most excited about riding. I’m enjoying the constant learning, the dynamic approaches to wave riding that are afforded a the mat, and the child like glee that comes from riding a wave with your mates new and old. ”

— Hamish Kent

Lovely stuff and a testament to the words of Greenough to ride your mat and nothing else for at least 10 sessions straight when you first start out! Speaking of George, his influence on Hamish is clear with the name of this mat... "RV Krystal Voyager".

At the time of writing I'm waiting for Hamish's hoodie to arrive (Lilo Life print by Ry Akins @ry_akins) and then RV Krystal Voyager will head south.

Have fun Hamish. It's been a pleasure mate.

Cheers

G

Evil Twins

Having just taken deposits for the next 10 builds, I have quickly slipped in a couple of mats for Derek Hynd as Australia slides into winter. We went for a quiver of two to cover all bases.

This is mat number 1 named Evil Twin F. She is a 70/70 RB-JMC free-breather with negative elastic rocker.

Derek puts a lot of pressure on his mats, taking late drops in solid waves. We talked about grip patterns and opted for diagonal strips to give grip both length ways and across the mat, whist still maintaining maleability as Evil Twin F is Derek's all-rounder out of the 2.

Mat 2 of 2 for Derek is Evil Twin M is the gun of the quiver, ready for the solid winter swells at The Pass.

Evil Twin M is a Nouveau Racer; a mat with a lot of hold. As is standard for this model, ETM is a 200/70 wheezer, meaning the ride is stable with the mat holding it's shape more. It also means that when cutting back you have air in the outside rail (when in trim) for longer when you make the turn, giving more hold. The narrower, rounder outer pontoon, more acute curve in the rail and rounder corners also help with hold.

I personally think the RB-JMC and Nouveau Racer are pretty much the prefect quiver combo. I'm looking forward to the feedback on the Evil Twins.

Have fun Derek.

Cheers

G

Snowflake

Another rainy-day project and the next addition to my monochrome quiver is a 70/70 RB-JMC named "Snowflake".

Showflake is a super-free-breather with negative elastic rocker. I have gone fairly light with the grip as top-ups take about the same time as re-waxing a board, so no bother, and the increased maleability is worth it.

There's not much more to say other than she's the perfect quiver mate for my new Nouveau Racer named Dusty, my 5 Star General and my BodyBag mini-mat. I have a couple more in mind and have a week off with strong winds and rain in the mix so might get something done.

I've just finished a mat for that I'll put up in a couple of days. Colin shares my love of the low-key. It looks slick...

Anyway, cowabunga and all that!

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

Lilo Trip

So then here's the last mat in the current run, a G-Mat RB-JMC built for the very talented Ryan Akins. Ry is currently riding a prototype super-free-breather RB-JMC I lent him. His new mat, named "Lilo Trip", is the permanent fixture for that slot in Ryan's quiver.

For those who know Ry, he is a super talented artist with a very individual style. In particular, he has documented his Surfmat journey through his creations, including contributing a piece named Lilo Life which is available as a tee and hoodie in the G-Mat Apparel clothing range and shifted a lot of tees when it dropped and remains a favourite:

https://gmatsurfmats.teemill.com/product/lilo-life/

I asked Ryan about his matsurfing and art and he said:

““My first encounter with surf mats was when I was living in Byron Bay 13 years ago and I was out longboarding the pass when I noticed somebody surfing a mat. My first thought was… yeh that’s rad and looks fun and that was about that.

Fast forward in time and I was having a coffee with my friend Huw Beynon at his house and he was really keen to show me his G-Mats. Straight away I was super stoked on them! and as I left his house I couldn’t stop thinking about mats for day’s.

Ever since that day surf mats have been my main craft in my quiver and I just can’t stop surfing them!

I’ve been recently surfing a RB-JMC Super-Free-Breather and man it’s like going into another dimension! The feeling is unreal.

Mat surfing is an extension to my art, a vessel. The feeling, the speed, the style. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had in the water.

Mat surfing is art.

.RY.””

— Ryan Akins

Nicely put man!

As you can see, Lilo Trip is acid dyed in teal and features pink logo and trademark zig zags. Other than that, she matches the mat Ry has been riding. We're planning a surf together to hand over Lilo Trip. I'm always stoked to be there for someone's first ride on a mat I've built them.

The other thing I'm excited about is that Ry has given me another piece to add to the G-Mat Apparel range! The design is also called Lilo Trip is available in my clothing store now:

https://gmatsurfmats.teemill.com/product/lilo-trip-white-print/

This is available in black or white prints and mens and women’s tees as well as unisex hoodies.

Stoked to have built this for you Ry. Have fun mate.

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

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

Florence

A mat headed to Oz for the super-mat-stoked and very skilled Johanna Brebner. Jo is a Kiwi who frequents the breaks around Byron and Noosa and surfs boards and mats to a very high standard. Jo took Derek Hynd's mat, Donald Campbell out for it's maiden voyage and texted full of joy, particularly because she was on the list to get a mat herself. Certainly made the design job easier... Just build that!

OK...

So this is Florence. Like Donald Campbell, Florence is a 70/70 RB-JMC. She has a negative elastic rocker and is a super-free-breather. In other words, an unrestricted, highly responsive mat designed to fly like a dementor guided by the subtle manipulation from an intuitive surfer... Perfect.

Jo was particularly taken by a mat named Selin built for Helen Derici and opted for the same colour scheme. A lovely choice for sure.

I stopped short of signing off with a daisy and in the name of individuality opted for a fat Yellow and white mats just seen to demand such things.

Anyway, Florence and Jo will be hooking up soon. I can't wait to see how they get on.

Have fun Jo.

Cheers

G

Patronus

My good friend and mat surfing veteran Matt Pierce got in line for this run of mats. I'm stoked to finally be able to hook Matt up with an RB-JMC and when he said he wanted all white my monochrome vibes got all tingly (I did say I liked it). Matt didn't just want a white mat to paddle out in hardcore lineups, cross his arms, avoid eye contact and never smile.

No...

He wanted a white mat to attach LED's and light that fecker up like a bleddy UFO for night surfing!

Lovely stuff!!!

With that in mind Patronus has a gap in the grip on the central pontoon so a strip of lights will go down there. Matt is going to attach velcro for this. He has already done this a bit with an orange Ute I built him named El Gnaranja and it looks bonkers, particularly in some of the river waves Matt surfs.

Apart from that though, Matt is a really good matsurfer so I'm super excited to hear what he makes of the RB-JMC. He's one of those reactive, controlled-chaos looking watermen who just pull rad shiz out of nowhere and brings a lot of fun to his mat surfing. I have had the honour of sharing waves with Matt and James Sowell at Doho and it was a real laugh.

Onto Patronus, she is a 70/70 Super-Free-Breather with negative rocker. I think Matt will notice and love the completely free spot movement in this mat. It's not for everyone but I really think it will be for him. He has gone for a deck valve. The grip is clear to maximise the light up factor.

As for the name a Patronus is a mythical protective creature from the Harry Potter stories. Matt says his animal is a pelican so again, perfect colour scheme.

Light shows aside, Matt is due to take a trip to hang out with a lovely long right hand point break later this year and Patronus is just gonna love that! Can't wait to see it.

Have fun Matt! It's weird shipping a mat to Idaho!

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.

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

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

Tximista

How do pirates know that they're pirates? They think therefore they ARRRRGH! (There's a lot wrong with Descartes but that's a solid gag).

Anyway, say hello to Tximista, an RB-JMC built for French all round waterman Benoit Moreau. For those unaware, Benoit absolutely charges riding a range of craft including mats and I am stoked to see him on one of my creations. A few years ago, Benoit lost an arm in an accident which brings some challenges to mat riding that he overcomes seemingly effortlessly. I asked him about his journey into mat surfing. Here's what he said:

“I arrived in the world of the surfmat thanks to my good friend Régis who has been practicing it diligently for a very very long time. Before my accident I practiced the bodyboard, it was unfortunately very complicated since. And then one day I tested the surfmat and the sensations were incredible. This machine is literally dedicated to giving you pleasure. There are never bad surfmat sessions. And since then I always have a surfmat with me whether at home or abroad. And I’ve never been disappointed with that . From very hollow shorebreak going through a reef beeak like in Makaha or on very soft and bumpy mellow waves where we always have the banana.”

— Benoit Moreau

Well Tximista is certainly a machine built for pleasure. We narrowed the aspect ratio more than usual as Benoit reaches across the mat to grab the opposite rail but have kept the key characteristics of the RB-JMC to maintain that hovercraft feel. We have added a bungee to fit a leash and also used the same pool toy valve I fitted to a mat named Green & Blue which went down to Oz. The feedback on that valve is almost unnervingly positive so I had no qualms about fitting one into Tximista to make inflation/deflation easier with one hand. Tximista is a 70/70 super-free-breather with neg elastic rocker.

So why did Benoit pick the name Tximista? Because it's Basque for Lightning Bolt.

Nice.

Have fun Benoit! Hopefully we'll get to share some French waves one day.

Cheers

G

Nepenthe

This is a mat I've been really excited to build. Chris Cravey is a super talented surfer and mat rider hailing from Santa Cruz. You have almost certainly seen him in the Jack Coleman mat flick, Circum Vehicle. Check the opening few waves of Chris riding his VPT mat

Chris is also a very skilled surfboard shaper so knows what's what. I always love building mats for shapers/designers. They share my nerdy interest in all the hydrodynamics and technical aspects of design. They also ask the kind of questions that prompt reflection and new thinking as well as sniffing out bullshit so you have to be legit.

Anyway, on to the mat. Chris has gone for an RB-JMC 70/70 Super-free-Breather with neg rocker. Not really a surprise given his talents. Chris wants as much control in his hands as possible (including the decision to let go). We had a lengthy discussion around the scaling and tinkering which I'm fairly certain we have right. We shall see!

Chris has named his mat "Nepenthe" saying:

“As far as the name goes, it’s pretty hard to have a mat session and walk away without a smile. As I’ve ridden more of the lighter weight/free breather ones I’ve had these feelings on waves that no other surfcraft has offered and it’s totally consuming. Nepenthe is known as a mystical drug that wards off sorrow or pain and somehow thats stuck in my head lately so it seemed like a good fit. How can you think about anything when you’re blissed out of your mind flying across a wall of water on an air bag?”

— Chris Cravey

Perfectly put. What a name! I can't wait to see how Chris and Nepenthe get on. Chris has a trip on the horizon so let's see how they go.

And finally if you haven't, do watch Circum Vehicle on YouTube. And if you have, watch it again!

Cheers

G

---

FEEDBACK - Sept 2023

More Green & Blue - Synapse

Here we have a G-Mat RB-JMC named Synapse built for Californian, Rob Belli. Rob is a very fine mat surfer who you may well have seen sharing waves with mat art master Jared Katz.

I asked Rob to tell me a bit about his journey into mat surfing. Here’s what he said:

“I got into mats about 2008 (I think, I can’t quite remember) when I ordered a mat from a shop called Wetsand in Ventura,CA. They were selling mats called Neumatics made by some guy named Dale Solmonson haha. So I ordered one but around that time Dale had some health problems and didn’t get the mat till about a year later. In the meantime I think I got a 4th Gear with denim on it for grip. But as everyone knows once you get a good wave on a mat you realize there is nothing on earth like it. What’s funny is once I got Dale’s mat it smelled so bad from the grip (even after riding it for a while) I stupidly sold it for 100.

I picked to name my mat Synapse from my experience riding mats in choppy onshore conditions. I was amazed at the feeling I experienced at the micro adjustments the mat was making to the bumps and chops at high speed and going faster and faster down the line. It was like the mat had a brain that was taking input and translating to speed.”

— Robert Belli

Synapse is a 70/70 super-free-breather with neg rocker. Rob was inspired by a mat I sent to Oz for colours although the clear grip and black logo give a different feel. As you see, Synapse has a bungee for a leash on really windy days as Rob travels to some breezy places with long swims and is keen not to lose his mat!

I'm really looking forward to feedback on this.

Have fun Rob!

Cheers

G

Mimosa

This is Mimosa, a mat built for Welshman Huw Beynon. Huw has been a mat surfer for some time and has been riding a stock G-Mat and pretty well at that. Living on the Gower in South Wales, Huw has some great mat waves on hand so when he got his deposit in for a custom mat I was over the moon!

Mimosa is definitely a step up from Huw's current ride being a 70/70 super-free-breather so much more sensitive and responsive than the 200/70 wheezer RFT that he currently rides. We discussed elastic rocker options and Huw opted for free rocker, given the wide range of conditions he will be surfing. With some very peaky waves in the mix, Huw felt a mat that would respond to hard cutbacks was handy whilst flattening nicely for the points. The bungee has also been added to cover nipping over the Severn to jump in the wave pool.

Huw has also gone for pigmented grip and logo. They say blue and green should never be seen. Well... I beg to differ.

The only downside is my spelling of Beynon! Sorry Huw... As a fellow Celt I feel suitably ashamed. Huw seemed to find my balls up funny though so all's well that ends well.

I'm going to get to surf with Huw and Mimosa in April at The Wave on Bristol. Can't wait to see them in action!

Cheers

G

Wu Wei

Stealth is the order of the day sometimes. This is one of those times.

Dom Davenport has been on the list and trying hard to get in for a mat for some time so I was stoked when he did. A dedicated mat surfer who has fallen hook, line and sinker for these craft and I always love to build mats for those people. Here’s a word or two from Dom:

“I have been riding mats for about 10 years, having started with standup surfing in my 30s I saw someone riding a 4GF one day whilst living in California, flying along a point break like a pelican and I knew it was for me. Since then I have almost exclusively ridden mats, although I discovered the joys of the kneelo as a compliment, particularly the displacement hull as perfected by Paul Gross. Now living back in the UK, I spend my time heading to the reefs and hidden points of the Dorset coast.

There is a feeling when riding a mat that can’t be found with any other surf vehicle, a bag of air brings the opportunity for complete integration with the wave’s energy. The lack of substance in a mat stops you from forcing things or from trying and moves you to respond to the moment.

There are no bad days on a mat and the pure joy I’ve experienced surfing them has made my life better in so many ways. I’m excited to get my hands on one of G’s mats, the RB-JMC is an evolution of surf mat design that I couldn’t miss out on trying.”

— Dom Davenport

Dom has a trip to Morocco planned so with long points in mind a 70/70 neg rocker was the order of the day. Dom wanted a responsive mat and enjoys surfing lower inflations so the super-free-breather was the obvious choice for him.

Also, a low key colour scheme as you can see. Dom also went for a bungee as living in the South East of the UK these days, trips to artificial waves are often his only option and they insist on leashes. Horrible things but needs must.

As for the name, Dom has called his new mat “Wu Wei” meaning non-action or without force which sums up the approach to mat surfing. Responsiveness as opposed to reactivity.

So as I said, Wu Wei and Dom are off to hit the points of North Africa and I really hope we get some pics!

Have fun Dom.

Cheers

G