MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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It's about that time of year and I'm getting ready to undo all my hard work losing weight so just a quick one to say MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Love to all
G
BLOG
Here Come the Vikings!
/Ladies and Gents, meet G-Mat 125 (AKA "Oselvar") She is a 200/70 G-Mat Ubercat heading to David Hoke on the East Coast of the US. Oselvar has a positive rocker to help with turns and Sikaflex EBT grip wrapped around the nose to help Dave to hang on in heavy surf.
About the name, Dave told me:
"I am naming the mat "Oselvar" after the Norwegian wood boats that are fast, agile and bend. My Grandfather was an off the boat Norski (Fritz Heede). I keep in touch with my cousins.
When I visited last year I got to mat in Hoddevik at Midnight and then go spear fishing.
I got to row a vintage wood boat in Fjaerland. It was used by a minister who rowed among his congregations in the 1920s."
Mat surfing a Norwegian fjord sounds amazing. Spearfishing in Norway?! F*ck that!!!
So where are Dave and Oselvar planning to surf. Dave lives in Pennsylvania and doesn't see much in the way of surf at home. The answer is... Costa Rica. Big, peaky reef waves a long way from dry land to be precise.
This explains the rocker and the nose grip and Dave's choice of a low volume mat. His Viking ancestry probably explains his attitude to surfing though, I cant wait to hear about this trip!
Cheers
G
The Madgoose!
/This mat is a 200/70 G-Mat Ubercat named "The Madgoose". She is the new friend of Hawaiian mat surfer, Dave Monasevitch over on Kauai. You may remeber Dave from his adventures with Phileas.
You'll see in the following 2 shots that Ubercats have pronounced rail hooks and a deep concave up the middle of the bottom. The canting that achieves this also offers an enhanced sense of structure.
As you can see here, The Madgoose sports an elastic rocker to work with the stretched out profile and aid turns, particularly off the bottom in heavy Hawaiian surf.
Dave has also gone for some grip on the front corners. Given the waves he has in mind, who can blame him. Here's his first bit of feedback:
"Aloha G!
Got to try it today, 2-4’ Hawaiian surf. Occasional breakers to 3rd & 4th reef. 1st wave was a late drop, and I didn’t feel back of the mat soon enough to stay in the pocket and trim the face. It didn’t slide out in the flats though :-D Once I negotiated the forward-aft through the drop, I felt the open highly evolved form of your Smooth Hold design. But what is the most unique and enjoyable aspect, so far, is it’s ability to climb; even a steep feathering face, and get over the top and out the back.. It was sizable, and kind of a thrill. Thankfully, do to that hold/climb ability, I managed to stay outside long enough to catch a few good waves…That’s impressive. I caught an insider and the next clean up sets drove me in past the second reef and then the first reef. The constant hammering to get so far back out to the breakers, indicated that I was done for the day. Didn’t lose her in all that energy, though! Good fun!!! Hope there’s a few waves left tomorrow. :-D
Many Thanks You da Mat man!,
Dave"
Talented mat rider... Good waves... Pleasure to build... Have fun Dave!
G
Mat Professor??? Fetch me my Mortarboard!
/I recently had some fun doing this article with Mat Arney at Surf Simply.
Many thanks to the photographers who donated shots and also to those who offered shots that weren't used. There were just so many thanks to the huge generosity in our community that they couldn't all be used.
Cheers
G
Deep Brain Stimulation
/
Ahoy ladies and gents, this is DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) a 70/70 Rubber Bucky built for Pete D'Ewart in Washington State in the US of A.
I always enjoy building mats for Pete. He is a real connoisseur and this is his fourth custom G-Mat. You can see the others here:
Pete was actually my first ever customer so it is always a pleasure to build a mat for him.
So back to DBS. As mentioned, she is a Rubber Bucky. 70/70 free breather with a free rocker. Being a Rubber Bucky there is a deep concave up the middle which provides good lift, with the mat being designed to ride on the wide inside pontoon in trim.
The bottom skin and I-beams are made from the very last scraps of the beautiful green 70 denier fabric from my role so Pete is in for a quick sensitive ride. I can already hear the cries of anguish from those who have fallen in love with the green fabric. Please rest assured that I will get some more when I can.
It looks like the run of good swell continues for the US West coast so Pete should be getting plenty. DBS is more minded towards subtle sensitive low inflation glides than keeping life together in hectic conditions but she will certainly have a prime spot in Pete's quiver, I'm sure.
Cheers
G
UPDATE - 03/12/16
Word from Pete:
"DBS, double bag and T landed today. G-121is a beauty, another fine design realized with obvious attention to detail. Can't wait to get it wet. In the meantime, I've inflated DBS well beyond riding hardness to admire the contours indoors. Thanks. Your mats more often disappear when I'm on a wave, full body flying."
Happy so far it seems.
G
Not So Iron-Clad
/This is a USS Monitor, a G-Mat Rubber bucky built for Carpinterian, Matt Herman.
Matt surfs the waves in the Santa Barbara region, which means points... Lots of points! The locals are also very open to exploring different ways to ride waves so it's a pretty great place to be a mat rider!
This mat has been named after the Iron Clad war ship. Monitor was a high performance, marine craft too, but that's where the similarities stop as G-Mat 122 isn't armour plated! She does have a 200 denier deck with Sikaflex EBT grip though to offer some stability (comparitively).
The original USS Monitor
The Rubber Bucky design was developed with a lot of testing at Rincon so it kinda feels apt whenever I ship one over there. We know the design goes well in those waves!
It sounds like the US Pacific post is doing well for itself at the moment too so she should get her maiden voyage pretty soon!
Cheers
G
UPDATE - 24/11/16
Stokes to hear from mat that Ironclad it going well for him. Matt says:
Literally just got out of water now- the mat is all speed. The negative rocker just pulls you over the face of the steepest drops supper late, giving me tons of speed but also keeping me in the pocket.
Thanks to @tate_larrick for permission to share the shot of Matt at Rincon.
G
PHOTO: Tate Larrick
SPAM!!!
/
Hello there.
If you get an email from Zorpia saying that you have a message from me, please ignore it. It's spam.
I got sent a message from someone asking about mats. When you click the link in the email it takes you to the site and I did have a genuine message, but it emails everyone in my address book.
Sorry for the hassle.
Cheers
G
El Gnaranja!!!
/Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, I would like to introduce you to "El Gnaranja", a G-Mat Ute built for a true giant of Californian mat surfing (in every sense of the word).
Matt Pierce is a very talented mat rider. You may be familiar with his image popping up on the site every now and then in the banners. I have a lot of time for Matt. He is a very knowledgeable, and a really good guy with an eye for hand built surf craft.
Matt rides mats at super low inflation so El Gnaranja is a free breather to make the mat super responsive. On paper, she is a small mat for Matt's 6' 7" frame, but Matt has grown up on mats that are small for him an we settled on these dims after a lot of collaborative head scratching.
In addition to the free-breathing innards, El Gnaranja has a free elastic rocker, meaning that fore/aft elasticity is in place on both top and bottom skins. All-in-all she should be a fast mat.
The grip is Sikaflex EBT so nice and durable offering some added stability.
California seems set for some good swell this Autumn and winter so El Gnaranja should get plenty of water time. With Matt recently moving back to Orange County he should get her in the water a ton!
Have fun Matt!
G
G-Mat 220 - Getting Manly
/This is G-Mat 220 (AKA "Bening"). She's the new steed of Manly Beach Surf Lifesaving Club's General Manager, Marc Manion.
Bening is a G-Mat Ute. 200/70 construction with a deck valve and leash attachment. Marc was after some stability so she has a Sikaflex EBT grip job. The internal venting is also restricted. Being a "wheezer" means that Bening will be more predictable in terms of holding her shape. Marc is a bigger fella so the increased stability balances our against the extra volume.
The leash attachment is there as a back up to the matter's death grip as Marc takes trips to Indonesia. I'm really looking forward to seeing that! I hope Marc and Bening have a lot of fun!
Cheers
G
G-Mat 119 - WUNDERBAR!!!
/It's been quite a while since I dyed a mat and, if I'm honest, it's a job I hate doing, but the results tend to make it worth while. That's certainly how I feel about Ian Wraith's new Rubber Bucky named "Wunderbar".
Wunderbar is built with high speed glide in mind. She is a 70/70 with negative rocker and a Hestered valve. Ian lives to ride at super-low inflation so Wunderbar is set up as a free-breather to maximise speed.
As mentioned up top, Wunderbar has been dyed VERY green. I think this is set of nicely with the black of the Puraflex 40 grip and the black logo. Ian has gone for grip around the front corners, including the edge-lap to help with keeping hang of Wunderbar in gloves this winter.
I'm looking forward to handing this gal over to Ian. I'm also looking forward to getting a quick go!
Cheers
G
Anuket - Heading to Wales
/This is G-Mat 118 (AKA "Anuket"), built for super-talented prone riding Welshman, Keith Usher.
Anuket is a 200/70 G-Mat Ubercat with elastic rocker. The grip is Puraflex 40, pigmented light blue on a royal blue deck with white livery and black bottom skin. As you can see, Keith has gone for a leash attachment as well.
Keith has had Anuket out for her maiden voyage on the day of writing. He seems pretty please with her getting over flat spots and plenty of hold at low inflation. These were soft waves so not really where this type of mat really gets to open up.
Today Keith didn't wear a leash. The leash isn't intended for every day waves. It's there because Keith takes on waves like these!
G-Land
Aileens
Leashes are always only a back up on mats but sometimes, keeping hold just isn't an option and a swim around the inside at Aileen's doesn't sound a ton of fun!
Keith has another G-Land trip planned soon. The spot where he first tried a mat! I can not wait to see how Anuket and Keith get on.
Cheers
G
Chris & AJ's Adventure Continues
/Word from Chris Goodwin that all is well in Japan. In fact, it seems that all is very good in Japan, bar one mishap.
Shot by AJ Goodwin
Here's what Chris had to say:
Hi Graeme -
The Onion has seen some Japanese typhoon swells and done really well. I attached some stills and a gif which is of one wave. We were doing stills not video this time. This is at a break called Motel Shita near a town called Nachi in Wakayama prefecture, Japan
The bad news is two days later I peeled the Onion on some rocks and now will attempt a repair with what I hope is the right kind of Japanese glue. We will see how that goes.
Chris
Hmmmmm... Done a proper job there. 😲
I've given Chris soideas for repairs so hopefully we'll see the Onion back in action soon.
G
UPDATE ON 2nd SEPT, 2016
Repair is all done. Great job!
Chris says:
I didn't mention but the local elders here thought I was crazy going out on the mat. They thought it was hilarious in a good way and enjoyed watching me surf the big stuff and get demolished by a few.
Chris Goodwin - Opening minds around the world. 😊
G
G-Mat Ute for Sale
/My lad, Webbo is looking to sell his Ute named "The Camo Carrot." You can read all about it here:
http://customsurfmats.com/blog/2015/3/20/happy-birthday-webbo
Camo Carrot would suit a rider around 5'3". She would also be a good option for someone who enjoys riding mini-mats in heavy waves.
She ehas been ridden under 10 times, with Webbo growing at a rate you wouldn't believe, so is in virtually new condition. Comes complete with her original bag.
Webbo is after a new wettie for Autumn so it's after a quick sale. As a result, you can get this gal for a ridiculous £110 GBP (plus shipping & PayPal fees if unable to collect).
Email me at surfmatbuilder@gmail.com if interested.
Cheers
G
5 Star General Down-Under
/So, those connoisseurs of inflatable fun on the South Coast of Oz (otherwise known as SCUMM) have got hold of a G-Mat 5 Star General and, as you would expect, have put her through her paces already!
Enjoy the videos. 😊
G
I'm suitably stoked on these. Looks like the fellas down there are having a blast!
G
5 Star Generals at UK Mat Surfers
/I've just built a batch of 5 Star Generals for UK Mat Surfers. These are a stock model that I've put out there for people on a budget, or those who want to try G-Mat before taking a punt on a Custom mat.
Very good mat I think. They are wheezers, which isn't my default with custom builds (although I'll do it if asked of course). Free elastic rocker and gripped with Sikaflex 11FC.
You don't get a bag and Custom is still the better option to my mind but these are a good ride for most matters in most conditions.
Get 'em while they're there:
http://www.ukmatsurfers.com/warehouse/g-mat-5-star-general-surfmat
G
Two New Friends for Colin
/Say hello to a couple of lovely ladies set to head off to their new home with Santa Barbara based Colin McCrindle. Colin is an accomplished mat surfer who is lucky enough to work on boats around that part of the world meaning he gets to surf some pretty special and secluded spots.
Colin already owns a G-Mat which is essentially a hybrid of these two so expanding the quiver seemed a good call.
So then, on to the mats. The first is G-Mat 116, a 200/70 free-rockered, free-breathing Ute called "Lefty Loosey". She offers the all-round experience and is perfect for those long walled up points.
Next is G-Mat 117, a free-breathing 200/70 Ubercat with rocker. As a quiver option, "Harvester" will handle hollow and peaky pits well, offering plenty of hold and tuning on a sixpence (or whatever the US equivalent might be... A dime?)
Both mats have a 3/4 length grip job and are gripped with Sikaflex EBT. It will be interesting to hear how Colin goes with these in some of his mysto spots. I've seen some photo's (don't ask, I can't share) and he gets into some really good quality waves. Personally, I love hearing how mats lat I've designed and built go in these conditions.
Stay tuned!
Cheers
G
Bottom shot of G-Mat 117 showing the Ubercat rail hooks and deep concave and rocker curve.
A HAAAAAAAAND-BAG?!
/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.
/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!
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")
/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!!!
/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