G-Mat 134 - Making America Inflate Again!

Meet "Glory", a G-Mat Nouveau Racer heading off to Santa Cruz. Glory is the new steed of Alan Whitsett, a mat surfer with a penchant for big and heavy waves.  Alan asked for a pretty distinctive design which, after a little collaboration, we hit bang on. 

Here's what Alan had to say about the design:

"I'm probably the happiest when I'm in the water and my humor and humanity is reflected most...it seems to me that the world needs to see that America still has goodness in it...the abstract use of the star images rather than rigid rows is whimsical...I want to be the ambassador that makes people laugh and smile, to focus on our commonalities rather than our differences." The name "Glory", ha...well it's kind of complicated...a bit personal and a bit political keeping in mind the current regime in Washington."

"My first waves were ridden on a mat in 1958...I was four. When I first paddled out last year on my 4th Gear Flyer at Steamer Lane...and caught that first wave...I remembered how glorious I felt as a four year old...sliding across the water, laughing, giggling, wanting more. The mat for me is a "new-found Glory", a "coming home" if you will. The flag design came after that realization...it just made sense to combine my sense of glory with our flag "Old Glory"

So there you have it. Pretty distinctive mat for a pretty distinctive fella. Glory is a 200/70 set-up built as a free-breather with free elastic rocker and gripped with Puraflex 40. Down the line speed is the go! 

Alan is heading off on a trip to San Jose del Cabo early next month so a Nouveau Racer seems a pretty good pick if things are firing over there. I'm sure Alan will turn a few heads! Hopefully we'll get some stories and pics.

Cheers

G

Bleddy Kernow bound, innum!?

Yes... She is. Although to an ex-pat Aussie who now resides in Newquay in Cornwall.

G-Mat 133 (AKA "Tilda") is a 200/70 G-Mat Ute built for Bill Topham. Bill wanted a stable and predictable feel to his mat so we settled on building Tilda as a wheezer. We've also gone for quite a heavy coating of Sikaflex EBT in grey as grip to help to stabilise the deck. 

Tilda has a free rocker so she is a real all rounder.

Bill has also gone for a rather fetching long sleeve tee. Nice to see G-Mat Custom Surfmats getting to exposure in "Surf City"! ;)

The thing I like most about building mats for people in the UK is the fact that I get to see them in action. I hope to get to surf with Bill at some point. I surf a few spots around Newquay and it's always a pleasure to see experienced wave riders take up the bag of love.

Cheers

G

G-Mat 131

MASSIVE MAT ALERT... MASSIVE MAT ALERT...

This is Warren Pfeiffer's new mat named "Limp Biscuit". Pretty good pun that.

Limp Biscuit is a 70/70 Rubber Bucky with negative rocker. Unsurprisingly, Warren has gone for a free-breather. She is based on Warren's current favourite ride named "Doppleganger".

There is a bit of experimentation here with every dimension across the mat being blown out a little but with I-beam heights being left. Also, a little more length.

What this means is that Doppleganger has more volume. Also, all of the contours are exaggerated so the stagger is increased, the corners a little squarer and the concave a little deeper. All in all, more lift and less grab at the corners means Limp Buiscuit has the potential to fly!

Certainly not a mat for your average matter, but Warren is far from your average matter.

A real experiment this one and has a lot to live up to following Doppleganger but lets see how she fares.

Cheers

G

Grip News

A little update on grip. First off, I've stopped using Sikaflex 11FC+. It's a good sealant and for people in the parts of the world where it's all you can get it's a good option for top-ups but my move to Puraflex 40 means it has become redundant.

Now on to other news. I mentioned a while back that UK DIY chain Screwfix were stocking Sikaflex EBT+. Good news for UK mat surfers because I personally think this is the best sealant for top-ups, whatever your base sealant. I don't know if Scewfix will export but if anyone outside the UK wants to have a go then here is the link:

http://www.screwfix.com/search?search=Sika+Sikaflex+EBT

You'll see that Screwfix are also stocking a wide range of colour too so EBT grip jobs are now available in black, white, grey, beige, brown and clear. Great news!

I'm really please with both of these sealants. They offer good grip, are resilient but not more resilient than a wetsuit (something has to give) and are both VoC free so reduce the environmental impact significantly.

G-Mat Nouveau Racer with Sikaflex EBT+ Clear Grip

Grip jobs can also be pigmented for those looking for other colours too of course.

Any questions please feel free to ask.

Cheers

G

Och Aye! It's Wee Jock McAye!

This is G-Mat 130 (AKA "Jock McAye"), a Nouveau Racer making her way north to the classy reefs and slabs of the Scottish North Coast.

Jock has been built for Steve Griffin, an ex-pat Welshman who it seems has a taste for heavy surf.

I love building mats for people like Steve. He is one of those highly experienced surfers who have given mats a go and really made the commitment to learn the art. In with both fins if you like!

So a bit more on Jock McAye. She is a 200/70 construction with positive rocker to help add a surety to turns in the pocket. Being built with glassy waves in mind, Steve has gone for a free-breather to enhance the sensitivity and responsiveness.

Steve has also opted for a Hestered valve to help to protect his boyish good looks (or that's what he said anyway). The grip is Puraflex 40 and the front corners have been covered to give that extra bit of security during duckdives, punchouts and maulings.

Steve has also gone for a cap and sweatshirt. Getting the design for these nailed nearly took as long planning the mat! Hopefully we'll get to see Steve modelling his new outfit.

I'm really looking forward to hearing about Steve's adventures with Jock McAye. This project has been a real pleasure.

Cheers

G

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Update: 14/08/2017

Update from Steve:

Jock McAye flies! Doing the job he was designed for in head and a half clean faces. Truly amazing. I'm a very happy man. Two barrels, on one wave and making it out onto the shoulder, I think you could say holding a line. 😁

Thanks Graeme!

Great to hear. That's why I do this. 😊

Bodybagged

Great video from Ozzie Adam Williams (AKA "King Waka") 

I recently did a couple of these for UK Mat  Surfers which went really quickly. More to come down the line. 

Cheers

 G

Bodybags go Fancy!

People may have noticed that a small batch of Bodybags went through to the UK Mat Surfers store recently.

Anyway, they have had a bit of an upgrade. Firstly, I went for some colours other than plain black. These two both had orange decks and one had a black bottom and the other navy. 

The other change is the addition to a bit of grip to the front corners to help to hold on to the mat. The original proto's had canvas decks but 200d decks seem to go better. However, they do get a bit slippery so this grip should fix that.  

Given the change, I am happy to add grip for anyone who had one of the last batch for free [customer pays shipping both ways], or I can coach people through the process of adding grip and will cover the cost of the sealant to do it.

More Bodybags will be along... The best way to get an early heads up if you missed out is to get on the UKMS Mailing List.

Cheers

G