Introducing the Rubber Bucky

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I recently posted about "Hestered" valves on a new mat. Well, now I've ridden the mat in question in conditions ranging from walled up solid peelers to rippy junk and now it's time to go public...

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! I give you, the G-Mat Rubber Bucky. 

ASB's Rubber Bucky Proto's: 200/70 top, 70/70 bottom.

Apart from having possibly the funnest name to say out loud of all the G-Mat range (I bet you just tried it too) the Rubber Bucky is a contender for the Ute’s all-rounder crown. Developed in partnership with Santa Barbara mat-meister, Andrew Stephen Buck, this mat emphasises traditional high speed mat surfing, quickly finding a plane and favouring controlled drifts and subtle rail control, whilst still holding well enough on steep walls to get your fins out of the water and let loose.

This three pontoon mat is slightly narrower than the Ute, but has a fuller feel due to having slightly more depth (thickness). The I-beam positioning draws heavily from the Ubercat giving a deep concave and pronounced rail hook. The overall feel is very different though with a greater width to length ratio and slightly enhanced bottom contours.

Photo: Jon Shafer

ASB Photo: Olivia Sabedra

Slightly rounder parabolic corners fore and aft work together with the bottom contours to give a clean progressive curve to aid hold. Well vented internal structures allow easy air transfer letting the mat to change shape rapidly, increasing speed and responsiveness.

The Rubber Bucky works well with a 200/70 configuration (200 denier deck and 70 denier bottom skin) or 70/70 for increased sensitivity.

Check it out in action from 1:10 in the following video.

Cheers

G

Hestered Away on an ASB... Erm... Paddow?

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OK. I will be the first to admit that the pun in the title of this post is flatter than one of Andrew Stephen Buck's mats, but I have some early feedback of my own on my scaled up version of ASB's favourite G-Mats. Namely, the valve position.

Hestered Away Valve

This valve has been tucked away under the edgelape at the nose to give a clear deck so as to reduce the likelihood of unwelcome union during duck dives and wipeouts. This positioning wasn't my idea. My first go at this was on a mat for the living legend that is Henry Hester on his mat "Stinkles", so I call this "Hestering" the valve away. 

I don't know if Henry is keen.

Stinkles

Stinkles Valve

My initial concerns were that the valve would catch but, as you can see from the shots, the valve is clear of the water at full inflation and the nose of the mat is always fully inflated. It's easy enough to get at the valve to reduce air by twisting the valve and the air pressure during deflation seems to prevent water from getting into the mat.

All in all, I think it works pretty well. Henry has given positive feedback as has Ian Wraith regarding his mat "Badger of Honour". I think my personal preference is still to have the valve on the deck but this is certainly a valid option for those who are into it.

Ian Wraith's "Badger of Honour"

Back to the ASB mat, I've ridden it once in very nice walled up glassy reef surf and she went really well. I need more sessions but am confident that it's a good design. To be honest, if I thought it was bad then I would be questioning my riding rather than the design as ASB is a far more able mat surfer than me.

More to come.

G

4 Pontoons

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Generally, I'm a fan of 3 pontoon mats. Personally, I find them to be generally more versatile with less of a structured feel and will usually require less air. However, the flatter feel can be an advantage at times and more pontoons allows width without depth, so lower volume when required. Also, some people just prefer the feel of four pontoons.

I built a couple of four pontoon mats a while ago. The best one being an all white mat named Casper, now owned by Cornishman, Phil Sinclair.

Casper

Casper was a lot of fun and Phil swears by her, but I found the mat felt very full and flat, a feeling that didn't really work for me. I left 4 pontoon mats alone for some time but started mulling an idea over a little while back and thought it was time to try it out with ever willing guinea pig, Ian Wraith.

G-Mat 58

I've tried to take the things that work in 3 pontoons and apply them to 4. First off, More stagger (the depth of the channels). I-beams 2 and 4 are slightly over half the height of 1 and 5. It's not evident in the photo but I-beam 3 (the central one) is taller than than 2 and 4 so there is more stability through the middle.  This also moves the pivot points out towards the rail so will provide a different feel.

I may have gone a bit too deep with the concave so might put more volume in the middle of further mats. I think we might need more grip up the middle but Ian rides toward the tail so we'll see.

The corners are pretty round to help with hold, rather than hacking down the length. We've also gone with Henry Hester's preferred valve placement. 

The Drawing Board

The Drawing Board

G-Mat 58 - Hester valve placement.

I'm excited to get some feedback on this. We just need waves over here now!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 58

Back to the 70's

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The thing that really got me into building surfmats in the first place was the quest for light weight rides. No surprise then that the two latest rides to come out of the workshop have had me smiling, both being 70/70 construction (lightweight 70 denier material on the deck and the bottom).

First up is G-Mat 56 (AKA "Slop Humper"), a Flying Carpet. It's been ages since I build one of the flat, thin, square speed machines and I've tired a couple of new ideas, specific to this design which look like they will work well. These take more work than the other mats that I build but well worth the effort for those days where you just need to tweak the trim and fly!

G-Mat 56 (AKA "Slop Humper")

G-Mat 57 (AKA "Black Betty")

Next is G-Mat 57 (AKA "Black Betty"), a 70/70 Ute built for Stuart Marshall. Stu seems to constantly be off to warmer climes, charging endless bowling points and reefs. He's also a man who enjoys a flacid, lightweight mat so I'm really excited to hear about his adventures with Black Betty.

As you may have noticed, there seem to be a lot of monochrome mats coming out of G-Mat Towers at the moment... That seems set to continue. 

Black is the new black it seems. 

Cheers

G

Sikaflex News

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For some reason which I really can't get my head around, sealant manufacturers periodically change the name of their products.  I put a video together a while ago on topping up grip using Sikaflex 11FC.

I've recently had an email from a US mat surfer saying that he has struggled to find Sikaflex 11FC over there. Having done a bit of research it looks like Sika have renamed it SikaBond Construction Adhesive. 

As I say, I have absolutely no idea why they do this. The sealant I use for logos has changed it's name 3 times in the time I've been building mats.

Anyway, as far as I can see, this change is only in the USA at present. Anywhere else, just look for Sikaflex 11FC.

Cheers

G

UPDATE: 31/05/2017

My personal fave for topping up is Sikaflex EBT. It bonds to everything and is durable. What's more, you can get it in the UK from Screwfix!

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