More Valve Developments

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The new Boston Valves have been working very well indeed with entirely positive feedback to date. The one observation that I have made is that deflation can be a bit slow when loosening the base out in the surf. The temptation can then be to loosen too much meaning the valve comes out. Not a huge problem but an irritation.

I've come up with a solution though and have had my drill out.

Drilled Boston Valve

That shot is a super close-up. The residue doesn't affect the thread at all and quickly cleans itself up. Both sides are drilled giving just the right amount of ventilation. The rubber seal of the valve stops any leaks once the valve has been tightened.  

All future G-Mats will come with this set-up. Anyone who has Boston Valves which haven't been drilled, feel free to have a go yourselves. If there are any problems then I am more than happy to send over a replacement drilled valve to screw into your mat so give me a shout.

Cheers

G

G-Mat 28 (AKA "Yellow Peril")

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It suddenly dawned on me that I didn't have a Bullet in my quiver after my last one left me for another bloke.  With that in mind I knocked up this little lady.

G-Mat 28 (AKA "Yellow Peril") 70/70 G-Mat Bullet

I've named her Yellow Peril for obvious reasons but I really wish I'd waited for my wife to come home first. She took one look and said "Jasper" which is Cornish dialect for "Wasp".

Bugger...

70/70 construction with a little restriction in the airflow to keep some shape in the juice. The colour will help should I lose her in the early morning murk too.

The grip is Sikaflex... Stink-free. 

G-Mat 28 - Backlit. Idea for this lighting nicked from Jamie McClellan

Anyway, looks like we have just the swell for her tomorrow.

Excited! 

Cheers

G

Andrew Stephen Buck Interview

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Ken McKnight has spent some time chatting with Andrew Stephen Buck in the latest installment of "Here & Now" on UK Mat Surfers.

ASB was able to supply some great shots of himself riding mats and boards, including a few of himself riding his latest G-Mat, "Slippery Dick". Really stoked to see these.

The interview is well worth a read:

http://ukmatsurfers.org/html/asb.html

Enjoy.

G

Andrew Stephen Buck by Will Adler

Andrew Stephen Buck by Will Adler

Ongoing Project

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I've been putting thought and now time into a design idea recently and have come up with this 200/70 free-breather..

G-Mat 27. Full bellied goodness.

This is a mat more in the belly and less of a hook on the rail than other models mixing characteristics of the Bullet and Glider designs. Hopefully this will give a good all-rounder but needs testing.

G

Lambeau & Bluey's Big Adventure

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I received some great feedback from Henry Marfleet about a mat from my quiver; an Ubercat named "Lambeau".

Henry posted his feedback on the UK Mat Surfers forum and said the following:

"Got back last week from a 2 week holiday in west oz.

G-Mat 19 aka "Lambeau" hitched a ride with me, as it needed to get over to east oz, and thought it would be nice for it to get a taste of west oz.

Was in the water 2 hours after arriving in Perth, and because it was small and the spot was shallow reef took the fatty out, nice to be surfing in boardies for a change.

Then down to the south west of west oz around the Yallingup region, to surf some proper waves.
Grabbed Lambeau, and never looked back, poor sod had no rest up as I surfed it for the rest of my time over there .

Surfed a variety of reef breaks, handled the steep take-offs, loved the fast walls, and held nicely into the barrelling sections.

It was just as happy in the hollow beachies, was slightly worried that it would not want to track and stay in the barrels but no worries on that count, slipped and stayed into them perfectly."

Sounds like Henry's scored himself some pretty sweet waves!

G