G-Mat 103 (AKA "Serenity")

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been working on a mat for AJ Goodwin. AJ is currently travelling around SE Asia with her husband Chris and has been riding mats for sometime, but struggled to find a good fit, being quite petite.

The obvious beauty of custom mats of course is that they fit. AJ was looking for an all rounder so a Ute was the obvious choice and Serenity was born.  Serenity has a 200 denier deck gripped with grey Sikaflex EBT and 70d I-beams and bottom skin. She is a free-breather and has a positive elastic rocker. 

From what I gather, AJ and Serenity should rendezvous in South Korea. I've tried to talk AJ in to taking a trip to the north to try some of those spots on Google Earth but she's having none of it!

Hope to see some pics in the future.

Cheers

G

Adventures

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I'm had emails from a couple of people off travelling with their G-Mats of late.

First up is Chris Goodwin who is taking a trip with his mat, The Onion. Chris and how wife, AJ are currently in Taiwan.  

 Here's what he had to say:

Hi Graeme, 

I wanted to send you a few pics of The Onion's first time getting wet in Taiwan.  This was at a rivermouth/jetty spot called Fulong Beach in the north east.  It is about an hour and a half by train from Taipei.     We had a ton of fun.  

Chris 

Only a small day but I'm guessing winter is a pretty good time to be in that part of the World so fingers crossed that Chris, AJ and the Onion come across some more solid surf. 

As it happens, I'm currently building a mat for AJ. More on that dreckly.  

Next up is US East Coast legend, Jeremy Grosvenor. 

Jeremy has just been making the most of the wonder that is the Icelandic coast with his low key Flying Carpet named Celeste. 

Word is that Jeremy might head over to my neck of the woods next year so I'll be happy to get him into some local delicacies. For now though, he's making do with a trip to Hawaii. Let's hope we get to see some pics of that too. 

He might even get to hook up with Phileas again!  

Cheers  

G

5 Star General

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G-MATS @ UK MAT SURFERS!!!

I've been a bit busy building some mats for UK Mat Surfers. I designed a mat a year ago called the 5 Star General. Something of an all-rounder, which UKMS now have in their store. 4 mats, all built by me. 

The original prototype was tested by the now infamous Matsquatch.

Luckily, that mat was rescued from the hands of that beast and now lives with Demi and Chris from ApproachingLines.com.

I'm very happy with this mat. It is a little different to the spec of  a full custom with a more restricted air flow to suit  a wide range of riders.  It goes great in all sorts of conditions.  

To get hold of one or to read more check the UKMS Store:

http://www.ukmatsurfers.com/warehouse/g-mat-5-star-general-surfmat

£175 plus shipping ain't bad if I do say so myself.

G

Introducing the Nouveau Racer - Haven't We Been Here Before?!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to formally announce the Nouveau Racer. As you can probably tell, this design has been born out of the Chino Racer to be, well, what the Chino Racer was meant to be!

What happened was this; I designed the Chino Racer with good sized waves in mind and as a mat, it loves a good wave, giving natural hold and stability. The thing is, the feedback from the owners was that they couldn't believe the range of waves their mats were going in. Even a couple of foot would get the Chino Racer flying, as long as there was a bit of shape to it. Of course these mats were also eating up good sized waves but there turned out to be a point where it just felt like a bit too much mat!

The Nouveau Racer was born out of this. The I-beams are the same height as a Chino Racer but every thing else is pulled in giving a comparatively smaller mat with more depth to its length and beam, as well as a slightly enhanced concave. What we have then is lift and hold in a fast, manoeuvrable mat.

The original re-workings went to Bob Booth in North Cornwall and Henry Marfleet. Henry took his to G-Land and rode her in some pretty heavy conditions so it it safe to say that this design is tested! The latest is built for Jamie McClellan for his impending trip to the US West Coast. She is called the Black Mat. I'm not sure what inspired the name.

Henry Marfleet, G-Land

Jamie McClellan's "Black Mat"

I've updated all the mat information on the site to include the Nouveau Racer. Keep in mind of course, these are custom mats so are still each scaled to the individual rider.

Any questions, just ask in the comments below.

Cheers

G

Centurion and Something Else a bit Sexy!

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Well, I've hit the century with G-Mat 100!

This is one of two mats heading off to Oz. The other is G-Mat 97.  Aussie mat wonder, Warren Pfeiffer, was keen to try out some negative rocker and that is what has gone into the mix for G-Mat 97 (AKA "Doppleganger).

Doppleganger is a 70/70 Rubber Bucky. As I say, she has a negative rocker and has pigmented grip in glorious forest green to match the bottom skin. She also has the Hestered valve welded in which is a development that I'm pretty pleased with. Extra work but worth it. I'm pretty sure Warren will enjoy this set up. Not the easiest ride but is set up for lots of glide and speed.

G-Mat 100 (AKA "Centurion") is a 70/70 Flying Carpet in sexy black on black with a blue bottom skin. Flat rocker to get her moving and the valve welded in again. The jungle pattern looks interesting with the back on black I think.

Both of these mats also have a new sealant which has tested very well recently. Puraflex 40 has all of the pliability of Sikaflex 11FC+ but seems to be more durable. It'll be exciting to hear how this holds up in the long term.

So then, 2016 sees me hit the century. I'm pretty pleased with that.

Onward...

G

PS Don't be confused by the numbering. I number mats in order that they are designed, not built!

ASB at Home - Full Movie

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I'm stoked to have been able to put this little edit together.  

The first couple of waves were shot by Dave Schauber. Andrew is riding a Ute named "Fluffy Sunshine" which is pictured below.

The last wave was shot by Chris Keet. ASB is riding a Rubber Bucky named "Pacmat."

These two were really fun to do the artwork on and I'm really happy to see them in full flight. You can read about Fluffy Sunshine HERE and Pacmat HERE.

Thanks to Andrew for making my mats look beautiful. 

Cheers

G

PS You can download a copy of the video HERE.