Dirt McGirt

Ladies and Gents I'm pleased to introduce G-Mat 152 (AKA "Dirt McGirt" is a free-breathing 70/70 G-Mat Ubercat built for Jamie McClellan. 

She has an elastic rocker and is gripped with Sikaflex EBT. Jamie lives in a land of solid, heavy waves so she's a good fit and that grip offered that bit of stability without adversely affecting the pliability.

Hestered valve to protect Jamie's beautiful face. 

As you can see, the Ubercat's deep concave will give a stack of lift, working will to support the slim-Jim plan shape. 

Looking like a run of Atlantic swells this summer so hopefully Dirt McGirt will get plenty of action.  

Always a pleasure building mats for Jamie and it's been a pleasure to build this mat. 😁 

Sometimes you build one that's just that bit too hard to let go.

Have fun Mr McClellan!

Cheers

G

5 Star General News

Quick update as I realised that UK Mat Surfers have been telling all the news about the 5 Star Generals and I'd forgotten to share it on here.

I'm doing the 5SG in both 70/70 Free-Breather and 200/70 Wheezer models now. I'm also doing them in three sizes, Small (fits riders from 5'4" to 5'8"), Medium (fits riders from 5'9" to 6'1") and Large (fits riders from 6'2" to 6'6"). 

You can get them in the UK Mat Surfers online store.

I'll be building these every couple of months or so in between custom mats. If you want one I'd suggest getting on the UKMS Mailing List.

Cheers

G

G-Mat 151 (AKA "Grenadine")

This is G-Mat 151 (AKA "Grenadine"). She's a G-Mat Ute built for Tony Ryan over in San Diego.

Tony has a bit of a thing for Surfcraft with a bit of a bubble gum feel and Grenadine is no exception. The fade from black, through grey and into pink looks good and emerged up from the black bottom too.

Grenadine is built with a 200/70 construction. The internal venting is slightly restricted so she is a little wheezy to help keep her shape. The grip is clear Sikaflex EBT which really pops the colours.

Grenadine will be setting sail shortly so should make it in time to be able to get in to some of this decent run of swell that Southern California has been getting.

Ride reports to follow.

Have fun Tony! 

G

Bumbarreler - Getting Deeper...

Say hello to my 150th custom mat!!!

This is a 200/70 G-Mat Ute named Bumbarreler by her owner, ex-pat Maddie Gordon. 

Maddie hails from the sarf eas' of the England but has given up her life as an Essex Girl to move to the US West Coast. Specifically, Santa Barbara. 

(Disclaimer, G-Mat Surfmats has no idea whether Maddie is actually from Essex, has ever lived in Essex or has ever visited Essex).

So, why Bumbarreler? Well, Maddie seems to have the bum-barrel really nailed down and felt that the name might spur her on to going deeper. 

mADDIE GETTING A bUM bARREL AT HOME. pHOTO BY wILL aDLER

Bumbarreler will be setting sail for the US dreckly and will be Maddie before the end of the week. Loks like some decent surf over there at the moment so it shouldn't be long at all before we see some head barrels from Maddie!

Also, people might not be aware but Maddie is a super talented artist. Take a look at her work via her Etsy shop here:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/maddiegordonart

Cheers

G

Important G-Mat News

Hello again all.

Another update on the waiting list. Unfortunately, the complexities in my life are ongoing and it doesn't really look practical to keep building custom mats commercially, at least for the foreseeable future. Given that, I will need to wrap up the waiting list and won't be taking new custom orders for the time being. I am going to build mats for the 10 longest waiters on the list.

Beyond this I will be focusing on building the 5 Star General and Bodybags for UK Mat Surfers. I can just work on them as and when I have time and they are MUCH quicker to build using templates and also saving time on collaboration and design from scratch.

My plan is to build these in 3 scaled sizes to cover riders between 5' 7" and up to 6' 4" which covers most people and means people can get a perfect fit.

The 5SG is basically a Ute with a teeny bit more length to extend the bottom end of it's range. I am really proud of it. It's fast with great hold and covers pretty much all conditions. I sold the last one I owned and have missed her ever since! The construction is exactly the same as with custom mats. Ask Adam "King Waka"  Williams from Scumm if you want more info on them.

http://kingwakaskorner.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/officer-on-deck.html

In time I'll build them in 200/70 and 70/70 construction. I'll be doing some different colours too.

If you want to get a 5 Star General then get on the UK Mat Surfers mailing list:

https://www.ukmatsurfers.com/mailing-list/

I'm really sorry for any disappointment caused to anyone missing out on a custom mat. Hopefully a time will come where I have the space to get back to doing them commercially, but with my day to day work being stretched between employed work and self-employment plus needing to make time for increased family demands that's not practical right now.

Cheers

G

Boogie Woogie!

Say hello to G-Mar 149 AKA "Boogie Woogie". Boogie Woogie is a G-Mat Chino Racer built for Vincent Ulmann. Vincent is lucky enough to live in South West France, close to Biarritz. 

Lucky Vincent!

Sooo... He was after a mat that would see him right in most size waves but with a penchant for hollow waves with power (remember where he lives!). Given that, we agreed that a Chino Racer would be a good fit. 

Vincent has gone for a 200/70 build with free rocker, a Hestered valve, and leash bungee fitting.

In addition, he has opted to go with restricted venting (ie. Boogie Woogie is a "wheezer") to keep things stable.

She set sail today so should be there early next week. The Western Coast of Europe is full of waves right now so hopefully Vincent will be able to get into some soon!

Cheers

G

Waiting List News

Hello all. 

First off, I want to wish everyone a happy new year. 

Secondly, I have a bit of news. I need to close the waiting list for  custom mats for a while so won't be able to take new orders.

People who have been waiting for a custom mat for a long time will already be aware but the waiting time for a Custom G-Mat is currently around 2 years! This is due to having a various and increased demands on my time plus just having a really long list! (and needing to resist the urge to sacrifice needed down time) 

I'm blown away by the demand but it is a long wait by anyone's standards and I can't give any clear time scales to people waiting. As a result, I am going to have to close the waiting list whilst I catch up.

Once I get the waiting list back under control then I can work out where I am and how to manage things. Maybe a first-come-first-served set-up. Anyway, that's something to think about down the line.

I will still be building 5 Star Generals and Bodybags for UK Mat Surfers periodically so you can still get hold of G-Mats.

Thanks for all the support and have a great 2018!

Cheers

G