Warren's Other New Toy - "Trax"

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I've been working hard to get up to speed with the waiting list of late, since my illness a while ago. I'm back on track finally, having been working, perhaps a little too hard, having been working on two at a time. I know... Boo hoo!

I will slow down slightly though to my usual pace.

Anyway, enough whining. Here is the second mat in a pair going out for Warren Pfeiffer which he has named Trax.

Say hello to Trax.

This is another of the 4 pontoon design that I've been working on. I'm pretty sure that this will become a model in the G-Mat range, but I want to get a few more miles from able test pilots just to finalize exactly what the performance attributes of this design are.

There are few more able than Warren.

As you can see, Trax has a white deck and Warren lives in a pretty sunny spot. We've stuck some smooth black sealant on the deck to reduce glare back off the deck.

The bottom skin is the new 70d taffeta which I have in stock. This material is proving to be extremely popular with the next 3 mats in line looking to have green in the mix too!

Gentle elastic rocker and a Hestered valve.

As you can see from the shot above, Warren has opted again for a Hester Valve placement. I've also made a double bag for the two mats to be stored together. I'm giving some thought to how to build bags for more mats, should people want them when ordering multiple mats.

Double mat bag.

Black anti glare on the nose saves on snow-blindness!

I'm pretty excited to hear how this mat works out for Warren. Although wider than his new Ute, Max, this mat has a lot less volume so I'm really interested to hear about his experiences with Trax in solid surf.

Should be in Oz for next weekend.

Cheers

G

Warren's New Toy - "Max"

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G-Mat 60 (AKA "Max")


Meet Warren Pfeiffer's newest ride named Max.

There are a lot of similarities between Max and Warren's previous G-Mat, Zeno, 

There are a couple of differences though.

Like Zeno, Max is a 200/70 Ute with slightly squarer back corners than normal to enhance the speed. However, the front corners have the more usual Ute template with a slightly larger parabolic curve to prevent them from catching.  Max also has a  Hestered Valve with the grip on the middle pontoon going a long way forward.

The final difference is the subtle elastic rocker. I really think I'm going to start doing these as standard. Shaped rockers are OK, but you notice them when you really need to get that top gear out of a mat with the excess fabric and the natural propensity for the mat to settle into a curve causing them to red line on occasion. The elastic rocker really is the best of both worlds. There when you need it and flat when you don't.

Anyway, Warren has another mat in production so won't be getting his hands on Max just yet as both will go out together, but I'm hopeful he enjoys Max.

Cheers

G

Extended grip on the central pontoon.

Elastic rocker. There when you need it, flat when you don't.

Wiggleworm. The bungee that never was...

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G-Mat 64 (AKA "Wiggleworm")

I'm immensely proud to be able to say that I have just finished building a Ute for the genuinely heroic Scott Reeder. For more on why I say heroic, have a read of Scott's interview with UKMS.

 So then, on to the mat. Scott was pretty clear on what he wanted: a black decked, green bottomed 200/70 Ute. He also wanted a bungee at the nose.

All went well with the build and my new forest green 70 denier material is great, but I've recently re-stocked on stainless steel eyelets which are, inexplicably, razor sharp around the edges once fitted making them unusable for the leash fitting as they'll just push through the edge-lap and come out! Who the hell designed that!?

The first mat built with the new 70d taffeta

Anyway, I'm sure Scott will enjoy his decorative eyelet whilst terrorizing the San Diegan lineups on his new leash-free ride.  (If anyone knows of a good European based stockist who can supply sensible stainless steel eyelets than I'd be very excited to hear from you).

So, back to the bits that work, Scott's new mat has a mellow elastic rocker to help to project the mat off the bottom. The clue to this feature is in the name, using the elasticity of the bottom skin to create rocker at high inflation. This means that a slight rocker comes in to play when squeezing the rails on hard turns, but then springs back to being flat again on lower inflation to maximise speed on a flat plane.

Anyhoo, Scott has named her "Wiggleworm" which he tells me is because he likes the way G-Mats "wiggle" and also in homage to his wonderful wife Pam who he affectionately calls "Worm". 

Have fun Scott!

Cheers

G

Elastic rocker comes into effect at high inflation

Project Jeff

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Bonjour Mes Amis!

This is a post about a G-Mat Ute which has gone out to my Celtic Brother, Jean-Francois Mens (better known as Jeff) from Brittany.

Jeff has gone for a Ute which he has named "Redenn": the Breton word for "slide". He's opted for an all black 200/70 mat with plenty of grip. 

Right now he's on Belle-Ile, an Island off Brittany so Redenn has gone there in the hope of waves.

G-Mat 63 (AKA "Redenn")

I really enjoyed building this mat because she is going to surf waves which are very close to my heart, namely the breaks around Douarnenez, Audierne and La Torche. I've taken a couple of trips to this area myself and will be going back more. The people are amazing countryside is reminiscent of my beloved Cornwall 20 years ago and the waves are varied, high quality and quiet.

Here are a few shot I took on our last trip in 2011:

So then, the first G-Mat to hit the European Mainland is due to surf some of my favourite places. That makes me happy.

I hope Jeff and Redenn have a blast. 

Cheers

G

Clearing Out the Quiver

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Although mats clearly don't take up much room, I'm letting one go from my quiver because she's just not getting a look in.

G-Mat 34 (AKA "Bongle")

Bongle has seen some action, having gone on loan to a few people in California for a while. She was built with a subtle rocker and has hooked rails and concave.

The Glider has now been superseded by the new Rubber Bucky design but is still a very good mat. It is really quick and super loose, having a slidy, skatie feel. 

This particular mat would suit an experienced mat surfer of 5' 10" - 6' 1" looking for a lively mat to make the most out of medium sized surf.

Bongle was built as part of a test of a change to my welding table and as a result one of the welds has a very slight wobble to it. This has gone as far as it ever will and certainly will not cause a problem or affect performance. Due to the wear on the I-beam weld I'm going to let this mat go for £90 plus shipping.

The grip is warn as I type this but I'll freshen it up before I ship it so that will be like new.

Cheers

G

​PS Here's Kendog on a mat of the same size and dims:

Kendog - Photo: Lance Smith

4 More...

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This is G-Mat 61 (AKA "Turd Surfer"). I've named her in honour of South West Water to thank them for the gnarly gastric infection they gave me recently.

G-Matt 61

There are some slight changes from the last 4 pontoon mat. The cant has been dropped on I-beams 2 and 4, thus loosing the main pivot points and slightly reducing the concave. It still has a solid concave though.

Turd Surfer Concave

This is a low volume, flatter mat with rounded corners. Hopefully lots of hold too so should be better for solid waves, both paddling out and riding them. 

No shortage of swell on the way. Me hooking up with it is another issue but I shall try my best.

G

Catching Up with the Master

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I've just spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone to my Sensei, Dale Solomonson.

For those who don't know (and I guess I'm talking to the minority here), Dale is the man behind the legendary Neumatic Surfmats and the man who pioneered the use of lightweight, weldable nylon. 

Dale Solomonson Photo: Ken McKnight

It was so good to finally hook up with Dale after so long. For the many who will surely ask, he sounds pretty good. Focused on getting healthy after his illness and sounding pretty positive about life in general.

As always, Dale has shared some info with me. To be more precise, he re-shared some info but some 40 mats down the line it made a lot more sense and has changed some over-complicated thinking for me.  I'm not going to go into anymore detail than that and apologise for being cryptic. The key lesson today is one that I so often preach in other areas of my life... The solution to compexity is simplicity.

Thanks again Dale.

G

Dale Solomonson Photo: All About Surf