Signing Off with a Wee Gem

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G-Mat 68 (AKA Buckwheat)

So, here's my last post of the year as I pack up G-Mat Towers to spend some quality time with family, friends and waves.

I'm signing off with some shots of my latest build, a G-Mat Rubber Bucky built for cold water mat legend, John "Bagjuan" Mann of Washington State, USA.

John is what we mat builders refer to as "compact". As a result,  his mat (named Buckwheat) is comparatively small.  I would be a happy man if I could see Buckwheat and Matt Pierce's mat,  California King side by side. It would look like a mattress and pillow combo!

Anyway, Buckwheat is en route and John tells me that he and his son are awaiting arrival.

Les BagsDeux

So, back to the wrap up, it's been a great first full year. I'm so stoked to have been able to build mats for so many people. The waiting list is currently going to keep me busy for the next 6 plus months so it's onwards and upwards!

Thanks to all my customers for all their support.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

G

California King - A Big Mat for Big Matt

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I have just built a monster. This is "California King", a G-Mat Ute for the 6' 7" wookie that is Matt Pierce, OC mat charger. California King is Matt's 3rd G-Mat and this time he's going BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG!!!!!!!!

Matt asked for this 70/70 monster to have added grip at the nose to save unwanted separation, hence the snow-capped corners. This is a very lightweight mat  which has been scaled to fit Matt's colossal dimensions.

As you might expect, Matt has largely learned his mat riding on craft which are comparative travel pillows so this will be a new experience for him, which which may require some adjustment. I know he's relishing the challenge and I know that a rider of his immense talent will do it with ease.

I'm hopeful that California King will open up new waves for Matt.

This has been a real fun build and I'm really looking forward to hearing the feedback.

G

California King next to an average sized mat.

Matt and his Mat

RAMBO!!!!!!!!!!

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With the Approaching Lines Slyder Cup approaching this weekend I thought I might treat myself to an early Christmas present.  

This is G-Mat 67 (AKA "Rambo").

Rambo is a 70/70 Ute, gripped with Sikaflex 11FC+I've been toying with the idea of creating camo for some time and the recent acquisition of green fabric seemed to be the perfect opportunity.  As for the jungle pattern, well maybe that was overkill but I'm pretty pleased overall.

So then... Off to the Slyder Cup I go and it sounds like quite a few of my UK Mat surfing brethren will be going along too so it promises to be a blast. You can keep up with all that here:

http://forum.ukmatsurfers.org/post/slyder-cup-the-slydie-bit-7160969?&trail=15

If you're in the south west of the UK over the weekend then come along.

Cheers

G

Adrian, Ripley... Ripley, Adrian...

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UK matter, Adrian Paterson has taken the plunge with a Rubber Bucky. He likes a glidy mat so he and "Ripley" should get along just fine.

Ripley is 200/70 and very well vented. She has Sikaflex EBT grip (rather than Sikaflex 11FC+), providing a significantly more robust type of traction to keep things together in a wetty during what looks like it's going to be a cracking UK winter.

I hope to be surfing with Adrian at his first outing. I love the way these ride so can't wait to see it.

Cheers

G


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