G-Mat 87 (AKA "Bez")

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This is Henry Marfleet's new ride, Bez. She's a free-breathing 200/70 Chino Racer with a restricted flat rocker.  

G-Mat 87 (AKA "Bez") 

As you can see, Bez has a 3/4 grip job of grey (yes, it is grey I swear) Sikaflex EBT+. This is very durable and offers good traction and also adds to the stability of the deck. Bez also has added black grip on the front corners to help with hanging on to her in heavy situations. I've used Sikaflex 11FC+ for this to keep it pliable. This is backed up with a bungee leash setup just in case Bez and Henry get separated. 

Sikaflex love handles 

So why does Henry need such a solid,  stable, belt and braces mat? Well, that's because he's off to G-Land and it can get quite heavy there apparently. As you can see, Henry isn't unaccustomed to waves in that part of the world:

Anyway, Bez has set off to hook up with Henry and then off they go. Pretty exciting trip for both of them.  

Cheers 

G

Henry Marfleet - K-Bay, Dorset, UK

G-Mat 83 (AKA "Self Pleasure"

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Here's Jason MacMurray's new ride. A 70/70 Rubber Bucky, disturbingly named "Self-Pleasure."

As I say, 70/70 and the black material combines with the lighter coated green to make a nicely balanced mat. Jason has gone for some rocker.

I have been promised some shots of Mr MacMurray pleasuring himself in due course although I'm a little apprehensive about opening the email!

G

surfmat surf mat jason MacMurray Rapa Nui Ubercat 658

Some Thoughts on Rocker

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This way, that way, both ways, no way...  Rocker in mats is a tricky subject. 

Since first starting to build mats I've been really interested in bottom shapes. Curves across the bottom have a huge impact on the performance of mats, affecting hold, lift, rail to rail transition, etc. But what about end to end? 

In the past I have built a few mats with rocker built in to them by shaping the I-beams. This gives a curve for sure, but also leaves excess material when the mat at low inflation is flattened which causes form drag and cavitation so slows the mat down. No more of that then!  

Dale Solomonson Neumatic Advanced with an extreme elastic rocker 

Dale Solomonson Neumatic Advanced with an extreme elastic rocker 

Dale Solomonson experimented extensively with "elastic rockers." This is where one skin (usually the bottom) and the I-beams have an ability to stretch and the other skin doesn't (as much). I have moved into using this technique for some time now too when putting rocker into mats. The advantage is that at rest at low inflation the mat is flat. As inflation is increased (ie by squeezing the rail) the rocker comes in to effect. Also the nose of a mat is pretty much always fully inflated to the curve in the bottom is always in operation as water comes into contact with the mat and starts to flow around it.

Much better! 

So,  on to the types of rocker. 

FLAT ROCKER (ROCKERLESS)  

One option of course is no rocker at all.  

Flat rocker

A mat with flat rocker basically has no elasticity in either the top or bottom skins. This means that the mat's default position is flat and flat means fast. Minimal drag. What this also means is that the mat has a wider turning circle so flat rocker is best suited to people who want to get down the line at speed. 

Of course, with mats being mats it is possible for the surfer to bend the mat into any shape they want (I am a builder. The rider is the shaper). That said, mats seem to "remember" their dimensions even at low inflation. It is important point to remember is that when bending a rockerless mat, the lack of elasticity in the skins means that there will be a small excess of material on the shorter side (ie on the deck on bottom turns and on the bottom when bending the mat the other way.)

Rockerless mats are best suited to surfers who want to get down the line and have complete control over what the mat does.  The lack of elasticity end to end makes the mat far more predictable in the way it behaves. As predictable as you can get with mats anyway! 

POSITIVE ROCKER 

Positive rocker (what people generally mean when they say rocker) gives increased maneuverability when turning off the rail by introducing a curve. 

Positive rocker 

The elasticity of the bottom skin gives a smooth, progressive curve, rather than a bend so turns such as bottom turns and cutbacks can be tighter but still smooth, maintaining and even generating speed. 

The downside is that rocker slows the mat down. That's not to say that rocker results in a slow mat. Just slowER than a flat one. With an elastic rocker, you are able to flatten the mat so that the elastic bottom skin returns to a flatter plane, but that magical surfmat memory will still remember and act accordingly. Also keep in mind that, unless you are almost totally deflated, at least some of the mat will be at full inflation as the rider's weight pushes air into other parts of the mat. On a flat plane, this is the nose so the rocker still has an affect. 

Positive  rocker is great in steeper, peaky waves needing a more maneuverable mat. 

NEGATIVE ROCKER  

Negative rocker basically means that the mat is built to "bend the wrong way." A lot of people find it aesthetically displeasing to the eye but function should always win out over form. 

Negative rocker 

The idea of negative rocker can seem counter intuitive and it is certainly a rare build but it gives a very quick mat by producing additional lift (I think in large part due to keeping more of the bottom in contact with the water). What's more, the rocker profile helps when catching waves so mats with negative rocker can get going earlier. 

The potential problems with the design are clear of course. Mats with negative rocker are less inclined to naturally want to turn up on the rail and there is always the risk of catching a rail and unexpected instantaneous pearling is far from unheard of! Rounding front corners can help with that but they can become sticky, negating the point of having a negative rocker in the first place. The advantage of surfmats over other craft is their malleability of course and surfers can manage the outer front corners to deal with these issues.

It's certainly not a design for everyone, but is an interesting, fast option for those who are happy to put the work in.

FREE ROCKER     

Saving the best 'til last? Maybe...

I've coined the name "free rocker" after some reflection on the characteristics of mats that I've built over the years. Free rocker is essentially a flat rockered mat but with elastic top and bottom skins. The majority of mats that I have built have had elastic decks and bottoms because I have not always restricted the elasticity. I'll be honest, this was incidental initially, rather than a deliberate decision on my part.

As I have said, at rest a mat with a free elastic rocker will be flat, even at higher inflations. The difference between free and flat rocker though, is that free rocker can stretch either way to produce a smooth positive or negative rocker when needed. At times this will be because the surfer has chosen to put it in, eg on a bottom turn or pressing down on the nose to get into a wave or over a flat spot. At other times, the mat will develop a positive/negative rocker (or both) of it's own accord because it just needs to.  The wave and mat kinda get together and agree!  

The more I think about free rocker, the more I think it is probably more "surfmat" than any of the above three because it is the only one that is completely unrestricted. That is not to say that it's always the best bet but fans of surfmat magic just have to dig it, right?!

At the end of the day, the decision on what's best will be down to the surfer, the waves they ride and where the mat sits in a quiver.

Lots to think about though.  

G

G-Mat 81 (AKA "Sea Wasp")

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Here's Dan Lawrence's new steed. Something a bit low key...

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Dan has an Ubercat currently, what with his local being a racy peaky barrel. However, he needed something with a little more range for every day waves. He likes his concave so a Rubber Bucky was the obvious solution.

With the British summer upon us I'm sure that Sea Wasp will get plenty of water time.

Oh yeah, slight negative rocker... VROOM VROOM!!!

G

Pigmented Grip/Logos and Magic Dust...

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I stuck a wee shot on Instagram a few days back but here's a bit more info on coloured deck grip. I put together a 70/70 Ute to test out my new pigments. 

G-Mat 84 (AKA "Winston")

I've given this mat a couple of go outs, just to test out the durability. Particularly as the cure time is extended with colour added. Basically, in terms of characteristics the sealants behave in exactly the same way as normal so I'm pretty stoked!

I've also added a new ingredient to my grip - "Magic Dust." This will hopefully increase the durability of the grip and doesn't affect the pliability.  Magic Dust also cures the common cold and gives your mat the power to fix global warming.

[NB Not all of the claims above are true]

Anyway, Winston is on the way to California to see if Mattitude can wear the drip off.

Cheers

G

G-Mat 82 (AKA "Pacmat")

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I've had a bit of fun building Andrew Stephen Buck's latest Rubber Bucky. For obvious reason's she is named Pacmat.

Pacmat is a gift for Andrew from his brother Mike. That is one hell of a brother!

This is (obviously) a mat that ASB will jump straight onto. It is the first one I've built him with a light elastic rocker so I will be interested to hear how that goes. I'll also be interested to hear what the Rincon crew make of all this!

This is one of the first mats using my new pigments. Im really happy with how that has worked out.

Oh, and this isn't even the strangest thing that ASB has me working on at the moment...

Cheers

G

G-Mat 77 (AKA "Righty Tighty")

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Ladies and gents, this is "Righty Tighty", a G-Mat Ute built for Santa Barbaran (Barbarian?) Colin McCrindle,

Colin tells me that he surfs a lot of points and reefs, including Rincon. Given this, we've worked on maximising Righty Tighty's lift and down-the-line speed which I'm very excited to see in action.

As you can see, Righty Tighty is the customary Santa Barbara monochrome. Colin actually went for dark grey, rather than black lettering which seems to disappear in the shots above but is actually visible.

Colin has gone for Sikaflex EBT grip to maximise traction. The more I use this stuff the more I dig it. It adds a bit of overall weight to the mat but that is negligible once you add a rider. The grip is so dependable.

Anyway, Colin has some boat trips planned so I can't wait to hear back from him on how she goes.

One last thing though, Colin actually named this mat Righty Tighty and I accidentally wrote "Tighty Righty" on the edgelap.

Tighty Righty... Sounds like Ron Paul's new underwear line, am I right!!!

Thankfully, Colin took it on the chin. DOH!!!

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UPDATE:

I forgot to post this at the time of WRITING, accidentally saving it as a draft,  so all of that above is a little out of date. Colin has been riding his mat a bit in good waves and has given me some feedback. He had been riding an extremely narrow mat so had some adjustment to make. Seems like he's made it. 

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Here's what Colin had to say:

"The mat has been great. We've had a few really good south swells recently, so I've been getting head high to double overhead surf quiet a bit.

I'm still adjusting to the width, but it's not an issue. The speed it generates is incredible, a new skill I'm working on is hitting the brakes to not completely outrun sections. I got one really good barrel on my last go out, so I'm getting it dialed in.

More later. "

Well, 'too fast' is fine by me.  We can always stall. 😆

Cheers  

G