High-Performance Custom Surfmats Hand Built in the UK
Pete D'Ewart is a connoisseur of surfmats so I'm always honoured when he has one built by me. The latest is a G-Mat Ute named "Surfadelic."
Surfadelic is a 200/70 build with elastic rocker. The grip panels are Sikaflex EBT to offer additional stability to the deck. Blue deck, navy bottom.
Just the ticket for winter in the Pacific North West.
Cheers
G
Stoked to get this clip shot by Dave Schauber.
I get so stoked seeing people riding mats that I've built. Nearly as good as actually surfing.
Check out Dave Schauber's Instagram account @surf_film_fish_moto
Cheers
G
I've been sent a lovely shot of ASB surfing his home break with Rincon compadre, Ross Bushnell.
Photo by Sean Johnson
Andrew swears blind he was invited to party! 😆
As you will notice, ASB is riding a fairly high vis mat. She is called Fluffy Sunshine and was really built as a fun project, but has since become his favourite mat.
Quack!
Andrew says:
"I'm all about the bright colored mat now. No
More "I didn't see you"
Sounds like the right move. I'm planning a trip over to SoCal in spring and was worried about getting waves at Rincon. I'm planning a trip to SoCal in the spring. Given my solitary surfing style and talent for finding empty waves, I've kinda lost the art of jostling so was worried about getting waves at Rincon, but with ASBs passion for partying I think I'll just hang inside and drop in on him!
Nice...
G
Say hello to G-Mat 94 (AKA "Skinny Girl"). She's a free-rockered, free-breathing grey and white, ghostly number headed off to David Lucas on the US West Coast.
As you can see, Skinny Girl is set up with a bungee. Having recently had the first pull through of a leash (all be it in heavy G-Land) I've experimented with reinforcing the eyelets so look forward to some feedback on that.
David also has a rather fetching cap on the way.
It was only after things were all wrapped up that it dawned on me that David owns Lucas Winery. Had I clocked that before I'd have asked for a booze barter!!!
So, off she goes. Have fun David.
Cheers
G
This is John Mann's (AKA Bagjuan) latest steed named "Salsa Brava." She's a 200/70 Chino racer with a subtle elastic rocker and is en route to the Pacific North West to hook up with John.
Salsa Brava has a bungee for attaching a leash which I have reinforced to deal better with the winter swells.
She should be with Baggie by the beginning of next week. Let's hope the surf plays ball.
Cheers
G
Here's a little something heading off to Chris Goodwin in San Diego. "The Onion" is a Chino racer with the scaling and materials set up for some solid winter surf and with the winter predicted, that's not a bat idea!
The Onion was given her name to celebrate the life and love of the ocean of Chris' good friend Scott Reeder who loved the fable of the Onion Beggar.
As I've said, The Onion has been built with winter in minds and with heavy woven black 200d deck and Sikaflex EBT grip and lower volume, this mat is perfectly set up for the juice. I'm looking forward to hearing how she goes.
Have fun Chris.
Cheers
G
As I lie here with infected sinuses, popping pain killers, antibiotics and nasal douches seriously in need of cheering up, a real treat landed in my inbox. Word from Mattitude on a heavy day at Huntington Beach on his Ute, Winston, back in early December:
G-Mat 84 (AKA "Winston")
"Got an incredible in and out barrel today on winston.
steely blue peaks offshore winds 75 degrees in water combo swell about 8+ faces on the sets very heavy wedging peaks looked like northshore or puerto escondido
first wave of session took off sideways and never made it to the bottomhad a brief instant where i knew it was going to come over hard then it happened threw out all around me and i was thinking oh what a view (reminded me of that almond lenox barrel but not quite as deep) but had expected tobe a tiny bit deeper
then the thing just unloadedand spit so hard i sawthe shape of my head in the spray as it blew out.
probably the best barrel i have ever gotten ona surf mat and one of the best i have gotten ever at hb.
the very next wave i got another deep barrel andgot out raced after a few seconds in the tunnel lookingat a surfer who was paddling out. ridingwinston inflations very similar tophilaes 180 + a big handfull on a top corner to make it (very slight) spring at 180so like190 or 200 butcant measure those since mat touches at 180."
Sounds amazing! No footage of that unfortunately but Chad Stickney has just put together a fun edit with Jamo and Winston in action, as well as Chad getting some sweet Wedge action on his Ubercat, Tsu.
Pretty stoked on that.
Cheers
G
Meet Jeremy Grosvenor's new mat, Celeste. Those who know of Jeremy will be aware that he is a fan of a brightly coloured surfmat and Celeste certainly fits that category.
Celeste is a Flying Carpet. I don't build too many of these but Jeremy was clear that he wanted one - 70/70, well vented and very loose and slippery. Perhaps a bit larger than other mats in his quiver but could be just the ticket for those East Coast, US waves.
For those who don't know of Jeremy, I would highly recommend reading his interview over on UK Mat Surfers. That's a good place to get a look at his eye catching Neumatics.I'm hopeful that Celeste will find a place in that esteemed quiver.
As you can see above ,Jeremy's local looks like it's rolling out the red carpet for Celeste's imminent arrival so I'm looking forward to a ride report.
Cheers
G
The latest mat to come out of the workshop is G-Mat 91 (AKA "Candy"). Candy is a Ute built for Matt Ayre, the man behind Polymath Surfcraft. Matt is a huge inspiration to me so I was stoked when he got in touch to talk about getting a mat.
Candy is a 200/70 Ute with elastic rocker. Matt surfs some good quality waves in his local area in the North East of England, but obviously has to also grovel in some ropy short period stuff at times so the versatility of the Ute seemed the obvious way to go. The rocker will help with turns and of course, Candy is red so that will add to the speed so all-in-all, I'm hopeful that Matt is going to be pleased with his mat.
I'm can't wait to see how Matt and Candy get along. Matt is a talented waterman who rides a wide array of craft so I'm confident that he will embrace the learning (and unlearning) needed to master mat riding. He plans to take Candy out in some decent waves so I am very excited to hear how they get on.
Stay tuned!
G
I'm sure people on the UK Atlantic coast have, like me, been enjoying the arrival of Autumn and the arrival of the first great swell.
The air has taken on something of an Autumnal feel though so I thought it was time to roll out my new Slynk custom wetsuit, lovingly crafted to fit my Balinese physique. (When I say Balinese I mean that I have the figure of Balin the dwarf off of Lord of the Rings).
My Slynk Wetty made me so happy my face inflated!
So a bit more about it. This suit is amazing. Back zip (because I see through the chest zip sham) 2mm and lined with aero zirconium (AZ). AZ is a fuzzy lining which makes the suit super warm. Combine that with a custom fit and you wind up with a wetsuit that's super-duper warm! You will have seen AZ on parts of many a wetsuit but this one is for mat surfing and bodysurfing so I've had the fuzz put everywhere apart from the knees.
My 3mm Slynk suit is so warm that this winter I'm planning to buy a hood and see how far through I can go. I suspect that I will ultimately need a 4mm with a hood (and yes, a chest zip) and that will be next on my list but you never know.
Oh, and not only does AZ make for a toasty suit, it also dries in about an hour, even when it's cold and damp. That is priceless in itself! Last night, I got out of the water at 7.30 pm. I hung my wettie in the back of the van overnight and when I put it on at 6.15 am today it was like climbing into a onesie. It took all my effort not to pump up a couple of mats and snuggle down for a kip!
Mmmmm...
Anyhoo, Slynk come to us from Joanne Bennett and she can be found via the Internet at:
I don't usually plug stuff on this blog from other companies but Jo is a kindred soul, creating quality custom surfing hardware so get on to her and get one!
Cheers
G
After some serious faffing about with various samples, I've finally managed to add caps to the G-Mat clothing range. I'm really happy with these caps and the quality of the print.
People buying mats can now also get flat and regular peaked Trucker Caps (pictured), cotton baseball caps and flat peaked rapper caps. As with the tees and hoodies, the caps come in any colour with any colour print.
Cheers
G
The latest mat out of the workshop is for Henry Hester. This is Henry's special take on an old model called the Glider. Henry's adaptation is the XR corners at the tale. There's more on the ordiginal mats built to this design HERE.
Henry's favourite mat is named "Stinkles" so it only seemed fit for him to name his new steed "Son of Stinkles." S.O.S. is a 200/70 set up, same as Stinkles with free rocker. The one change is that Henry has gone for more grip than previously and this time has gone for Sikaflex EBT, rather than 11FC+. The reason? Well, Henry has some significant travelling planned for this year, going to Hawaii and to NSW. Given that, he was keen to go with a mat with a more stable deck as an option for waves with some grunt.
I've knocked Henry up a double bag to keep his girls together on their travels. Sounds like the three of them have a pretty sweet adventure lined up.
Have fun Henry!
Cheers
G
Ladies and gents, boys and girls, this is the next instalment of weird surfmats for Andrew Stephen Buck, following hot on the heels of Pacmat.
G-Mat 89 (AKA "Fluffy Sunshine") is a free breathing 200/70 Ute with rocker.
You may also have noticed that she has a little artwork.
Fluffy Sunshine is a gift for ASB from his good lady, Olivia. Apparently she was quite insistent about this theme. Thankfully, Andrew seems to like it.
Whether or not the Rincon locals will get their heads around it is another question all together!
In any case, we can be sure that there will be no missing ASB in the lineup and, should be lose his grip, Fluffy Sunshine should be easy to see.
Cheers
G
Well kids, it's been a long time since I've built one of these. This is "Eye Beam", a 70/70 Flying Carpet built for UK Mat Surfers web guru, Bryn Dampney.
Bryn has a bit of a fetish for black and orange which we first saw when he had his first G-Mat, Bombina. With that in mind, Bryn has gone for pigmented grip on Eye Beam's outer pontoons. I've used Sikaflex 11FC+ so nice and pliable with grit added to help out with the durability and traction when worn down. I've also left plenty of the deck uncovered as Bryn has fine tunes, water chess in mind for this mat.
Bryn made the decision to go for a Flying Carpet with summer in mind. Of course, sod's law means that this El Nino summer seems to be sending us some munting swells (not that we're moaning) but there are still plenty of small shapely days and no shortage of wind slop, so I'm sure Bryn will find something to get Eye Beam going in.
Slippy-slidiness doesn't mean this gal will shy away from a little more anyhoo.
Can't wait to see how she goes.
Can't wait to have a go myself!
Cheers
G
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
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
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 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
Here's Dan Lawrence's new steed. Something a bit low key...
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!!!
GI 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
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
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