Project Chiledub

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Peter D'Ewart (AKA "Chiledub") has just jumped on the Ute train with his new mat named "The Breeze".

Pete has opted for a slightly squared tail corner. This should speed things up a touch whilst loosening the tail but that's something a mat surfer of his standard will relish. We've also worked the bottom shape a little to support the squarer corners.

Free-breather (as always), 200/70 with the emphasis of the grip in the middle of the mat with the middle pontoon clear for 12" to help with getting up on take offs.

G-Mat 55 (AKA "The Breeze") - Deck

G-Mat 55 (AKA "The Breeze") - Bottom

Pete is a real mat connoisseur so I'm always keen to hear his feedback.

She's boxed and sets off tomorrow. Have fun Chiledub. 

G

G-Mat 53 (AKA "Zeb")

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Aussie matter Henry Marfleet (commonly known as Bluey) has a plan. This plan involves some heavy hollow waves. He came to me after a mat for such circumstances and, having tried a prototype Ubercat some time ago, was pretty clear on what he wanted.

So it was, Zeb was born...

G-Mat 53 (AKA "Zeb")

Zeb is an Ubercat. 200/70 construction with a white deck and black bottom and a very light rail rocker. She also has a bungee leash attachment as you can see for those heavy waves I was on about.

She's en route to Henry right now.

G

G-Mat 51 (AKA "Desperate Dan") - Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

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Me catching a little lump of chop on a Redback. Photo: Mat Arney

We have been having one of the worst summers I can recall in the UK in terms of surf. Weak, dribble has been the order of the day for the most part. I've been spearfishing and riding my bike but enough is enough.

When I was at the Slyder Cup a few weeks ago I had a go on a Redback. Not great mats by any stretch of the imagination but the big, traditional 4 pontoon design was able to get into a glide which smaller, lighter mats couldn't in the the knee high wind slop. It dawned on me that it might be good to build myself something similar, so I started work "Desperate Dan" as a side project whilst building Phileas. 

Big Boys! G-Mat 51 and a Redback

G-Mat 51 Deck

Now, I was sent some assorted samples a while ago. In the mix was some 800 denier Taffeta. Too heavy for my liking for my usual builds, I figured that I might try to make some bags out of it but an 800 to 800 weld was just too much hassle. However, this was perfect for building an 800/70 retro mat as huge decks require heavy material to manage the air movement. A lightweight, huge mat will just leave you chasing the air around like a game of whack-a-mole! The heavier material also has a textured canvas finish so did not need my usual grip, especially considering the waves I have in mind. Instead I applied a hot wax finish as developed by Paul Gross to grip up his Fourth Gear Flyer mats.

G-Mat 51 Bottom

As I say, the Redback went OK (ridden backwards) but needed work so I went back to the drawing-board and updated the design. Square as Sponge Bob, with no fade into the corners, but an XR Tail corner, rather than the drawn out curve. Essentially, I've cut 3-4" off the Redback's 'rounded-pintail'.

I've also increased the venting a touch.

So then, an interesting deviation from my norm and not a mat that will get a huge amount of water time, but something to open up the bottom of the bottom end and hopefully, fun for my wife to get on too!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 49 (AKA "LiLo") - One good turn and all that...

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Paipo by Chris Hartop

So then, let's start with the back story.  A while back, surfboard shaper, Chris Hartop, suggested a board/mat trade. Now, I've long been an admirer of his work and am a sucker for a paipo so that deal was too good to miss.

The race was on...

Who would get their surfcraft built first?...

Obviously it was Chris. My waiting list is AGES long! 

Anyway, Chris hooked my up with my beautiful new board at the Slyder Cup a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway, I wasn't too far behind (turns out Chris is busy too) and I've just finished Chris' G-Mat Ute which he's christened "LiLo".

G-Mat 49 (AKA "LiLo")

G-Mat 49 - Bottom Contours

For Chris....

So then. Chris is a relative newb to mat surfing but a man with a wide range of experience as a waterman so I'm sure he'll 'get it'. I can't wait to here how he finds his new ride.

Also, for those interested, Chris runs a shaping workshop so if you're interested in building your own stick then take a look at the Love Foam Facebook page.

Cheers

G

The Approaching Lines - Slyder 2.0

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This weekend saw me and the family take a wee trip to Cornish beach, Porthtowan for the Approaching Lines Slyder Cup 2.0.  This is the second of an annual event celebrating all forms of skeg-less surfing.

The Slyder Cup has a tongue-in-cheek competition element to it but the conditions weren't exactly supportive of this.

Flaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.....

Nonetheless, it was really good to hook up with everyone and to promote mat surfing as best I could. A few other UK matters were planning to pop along. Phil Sinclair made a showing, but a combination of injury, domestic crises and it just being too far to travel with no surf meant that me and my lad, Webbo, were the only regular mat surfers in attendance. 

Let's hope the surf comes together so we can get a gaggle of matters together for the re-arranged splash-a-thon due to take place in the autumn (TBC).

Anyway, I had a table set up and enjoyed some great chats with interested people. 

There were some truly beautiful creations on show. The spirit of the Slyder is getting in and having a go with all of the creators of various surfcraft having stuff to try.

Most Stoked!

Anyway, despite the lack of surf we all went surfing. And despite the lack of mat riders, there were people riding Redbacks and having a blast.

Great to see a collection of finless craft in the water together with a great vibe all round. 

Webbo had some good waves riding various craft, including the paipo he shaped for the day (second from the right above) and he managed to snag himself an award for being the "Most Stoked Surfer".

All in all, this was a great day and I'd urge anyone to make these. The organizers, Demi and Chris from Approaching Lines, put a ton of work into this and they deserve support.

Keep an eye out for more info on approachinglines.com

See y'all there next time!

G

PS I rode a Redback. Not a design I'd rush to look into but perfect for the shin-high wind chop.

G-Mat 48 (AKA "The Flying Egg Plant")

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Finally managed to get this finished, wrapped around a hideous throat and chest infection.

G-Mat 48 (AKA "The Flying Egg Plant")

This little lady has been built for Californian surfboard shaper and artist, Graham P Day. For those unaware of him, Graham is the man behind Driftwood Caravan Surfboards. His site can be found here:

http://driftwoodcaravan.com/

He also bashed out some pretty sweet mat related art pieces featuring the the character "Mat Rat".

Talented man. Talented mat rider too.

Back to the mat, she is a 200/70 G-Mat Ute scaled to Graham's size. He said he wanted a versatile mat but one that will handle the juice.

Hopefully, that's what he's got...  Looking forward to the feedback.

Cheers

G