A HAAAAAAAAND-BAG?!

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A little while ago I knocked up a micro mat for bodysurfing, inspired by some home-builds by Glenn de Castro over in New Jersey.

I opted to call it The Bodybag (sounds a bit more butch than "the handbag"!).  I took her out in some OK surf. A bit sloppy but not bad. Here's a wave from that session.

My thoughts? Well to be honest, I don't think it has any real advantage over a kickboard or handplane. In fact, I had to pump her up pretty full to get her to go so I don't actually see any advantage over a board so in this instance I'd say it's not a design worth proceeding with but I thought I'd share it as it was a fun project.

The Bodybag is now in the possession of Sean Starkey over at Newport Wedge. If anywhere will get it going, that place will. I hope he enjoys it and a few people get a go.

I'm not planning to build more though.

G

UPDATE: 14 JULY, 2016

It seems there's a lot of interest in the Bodybag. Given that I may build some in the future as stock mats, but they would need to retail at around £80 GBP. Although they are small, they take the same time as welding and building a full size mat. I can weld 2 simultaneously though, hence the saving.

If the Wedge tests go well and the demand is there at that price then I'll do some.

G

AJ and Serenity hit the Small Time.

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I've just heard from AJ Goodwin and her Ute, Serenity. Although they've been hooked up for aa little while, hooking up with waves on this leg of their amazing world tour hasn't been so easy. Here's what AJ had to say:

Hi Graeme - I finally got "Serenity" wet yesterday. The waves weren't awesome and the water is darn cold here but the mat is perfect!

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Getting out through messy beach break was no problem, I could get up to speed with a quick paddle and kick to catch a wave and even on some pretty low power wind swell I got some serious speed. Had a blast until I got so bone cold I had to stop.
Next week we head to Japan... Will share when we hit the waves there. 

AJ

Great stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing/hearing about that! Phileas will be heading to Japan at some point so maybe AJ and her husband, Chris will get to hook up with her. 

Two surfmat adventures crossing paths. Sounds pretty good. 

G

G-Mat 114 (AKA "The Narwhal")

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This is Mark Garcia's new mat named, "The Narwhal".  When I was talking to Mark about his mat he said:

"When my girlfriend bought me my first mat just over a year ago, there was a popular AT&T commercial that had a catching tune about narwhals swimming in the ocean and causing a commotion because they’re so awesome. We have associated our matting sessions with the Narwhal ever since, which is why I thought it would cool to go with the Narwhal theme."

The challenge was getting the blotchy fade from black at the nose to white at the tail right. I've had a good go. Whether or not it is a good match might be up for some debate but Mark says he's happy.

Perhaps more Arctic Camo than Narwhal print but Mark did make the point the those two things are maybe one and the same.

The most tricky bit of the build was gripping right around the valve to get the black nose. Fiddly stuff!

So then, some technical jimbo jambo. The Narwhal is a 200/70 Ute. She is scaled to Mark so may feel like a little less mat than his current mats, a G-Mat 5 Star General and a 4GF Tracker Round Tail, but should fit him nicely. She is a free breather with free rocker and I expect her to be quick. The grip is Sikaflex EBT to offer some durability and stability to the deck.

As I said, this is going to be a lively and fast mat so I'm looking forward to hearing how Mark gets on with The Narwhal. Certainly a different experience to what he's ridden to date. 

Cheers

G

UPDATE: 28/04/2017

Word from Mark:

"The Narwhal is going great, absolutely love it. Great travel companion. Just got back from a week in Maui. The swell was small, long rights in warm water was like heaven.  Heading to Taiwan at the end of the month, hopefully my timing is good and we catch a bit of swell. it is either awesome or it is nothing. I'll try to get some pics from Taiwan to send along."

Sounds sweet! 

G

Off to Noo Yoik!!!

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Black is back with G-Mat 113 (AKA "Matte Black"). This low key number is a G-Mat Ute built for Tim Darwish. 

Tim is a New Yorker and surfs many of the local spots. Given that, he was after a good all-round mat to take on some of the less than perfect local conditions but with something in reserve for the solid days when they come around. The obvious choice was a Ute. 

Matte Black is a 200/70 Ute. She has free rocker and is a free breather. She is gripped with Puraflex 40  for a pliable but durable non-skid deck. 

I'm looking forward to hearing how she goes. Tim tells me that he is hoping for some waves around the middle of the week so fingers crossed...  

G  

Kessel Run - Something for the Govnah!

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Here's a new mat for Bryn Dampney, Editor of the UK Mat Surfers site. She's a 70/70 Ubercat built with a certain wedgy South Devon spot in mind. 

Bryn is something special at finding barrels and wanted something that would hold well but also have a tight turning circle to get back in the pocket without hacking speed. Given thatthat,  his new mat "Kessel Run" has an elastic rocker which will be a new experience for Bryn but hopefully a good one. 

Given the construction and the planned use, we figured that Kessel Run could do with having a little stability up top. Bryn is a fan of 70/70 mats so we went with Sikaflex EBT to add a little more structure through the middle, without effecting the pliability in the rails. 

Bryn Squeezing into a wee one in SE Cornwall 

Bryn Squeezing into a wee one in SE Cornwall 

I'm looking forward to seeing Bryn out on this mat. One great thing about building mats for people locally is that I get to have a go on them myself too!

Can't wait! 😆

Cheers  

G  

Word from Jesse Witthoft - Big Mat, Big Man, Big Smiles!

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I recently received word from Jesse Witthoft about his adventures with his Ubercat named the "Eggbeater."

Jesse surfs some interesting waves (finless due to his huge feet!) and has told me about a sneaky little micro-barrel in San Francisco. It sounded like fun so I was stoked when I heard from him telling me about the fun that he'd been having with Eggbeater.

Matsquatch spotted in San Francisco!

Jesse says:

"I rode a board once the other day for the first time. It was no fun so I got out got my mat and then I scored.   I've been experimenting with the go pro. Today I put it on top of a broom stick that was zip tied to a fishing rod holder. I put it on the bar on the inside point break that I told you about last time."
 

That looks like fun and a real testament to these floppy bags we love so much.

Thanks Jesse!

G

G-Mat 111 (AKA "Sea Shmoo")

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I seem to be building a lot of black mats of late. And this one is the second with flashes of green.

I like this mat.

"Sea Shmoo" is a 200/70 Ute heading over to Jesse Tuesday in San Francisco. she's free rockered and is set up to handle a wide range of conditions. As you can see, the increasingly popular nose grip is in full effect. Jesse was keen not to get separated from his mat in some some of those river moth spots.

(All sounds pretty sharky to me...)

Jesse surfs with Jesse Witthoft so I'm really stoked at the thought of a pair of G-Mats showing the techie's what's what.

UK matter, Dan Lawrence travels to SF a bit so perhaps we'll see a mat meet.

Anyway, Jesse is out of town at the moment so Sea Shmoo is waiting at his Tattoo Shop for his return.

Baited breath...

G