Jamu Jamu - Something Orange for Indo!

Mariah Ernst is a name some might recognise. Mariah is a New York surfer, journalist and writer who tells me that she hates the cold. In fact, she hates the cold so much that she has fled the US Eastern Seaboard for Indonesia. Even then, she is so hostile to the cold that you can see her wearing rubber in the tropical paradise!

Maybe on the rubber… Hard to tell if she was pulling my leg on that one.

In any case, Mariah came with a clear idea in mind of what she wanted. “A mat that will hold well in steep Indo waves and in a colour that I can see easily when it’s washing around on the inside at Ulu’s.”

Roger that..

After weighing up the options, 2 tone orange was the go. With Mariah’s local being somewhat heavy, a Nouveau racer seemed the obvious choice. Positive elastic rocker to help the mat get off the bottom and respond rail to rail but nice and stable with restricted breathing. Mariah opted to name her new ride “Jamu Jamu” after her favourite local turmeric based beverage.

At the time of writing, Mariah is getting over some gnarly illness. On the mend and what better tonic than a new mat!

Jamu Jam sets sail in the morning so should be with Mariah by the end of the week.

Bon voyage!!!

Cheers

G

PS. Read more about Mariah here:

https://whalebonemag.com/ice-cream-headaches-writer-mariah-ernst/

Unexpected Addition to the Family!

Say hello to Inkblot.

This is an unexpected addition to the family.

The customer who originally ordered this mat was all good to go and then unfortunately ran in to some unforeseen expenses which meant they we unable to go forward. I had already dyed this deck and cut the panels.

As it turned out, the customer was very close to my size and the mat is a 70/70 free-breathing Rubber Bucky and I have been desperate to get one in my quiver but just haven’t had the free-time to build one so I made the decision to have her.

Don’t worry… I squeezed in an extra day of work on the Bank Holiday weekend to get her done so hasn’t slowed anything down production wise!

Anyway, with Inkblot and my Nouveau Racer, Unity I now pretty much have the perfect 2 mat quiver and am sorted for the next couple of years at least. I don’t tend to hang on to unused mats so I’m putting my blue and yellow mat named Michael Stripe up for sale for anyone who wants her - £145 GBP + shipping.

She’s was built in September 2016 and is in very good condition (the result of washing with 50 dunks after every session). I’ll top the grip up before she goes out.

Michael Stripe is an Ubercat (in case you hadn’t guessed) but being a 70/70 free-breather is much more of an all-rounder and goes well in pretty much all conditions. She is best suited to an experienced mat surfer or, if you are less experienced, more air and patience to get used to her floppiness will see you adjust!

Cheers, G.

Siobhan Heads to Hawaii

G-Mat 165 is a G-Mat Nouveau Racer heading off to hook up with Craig Jerome in Hawaii.

She is a 200/70 wheezer with free-rocker made to eat up decent waves with some push but with some scope built in to the bottom end to open her up in more average conditions too.

Craig has named his new mat Siobhan. Funnily enough, that’s what I was going to be called had I been a girl, so I have a natural soft-spot for this one.

Craig says there’s a bit of solid swell on the wat so looking forward to seeing how he and his new ride get on with that.

Have fun you two!!!

Cheers

G

Off to Cali!

Hello there!

I’m off to California for a couple of weeks from Saturday so keen to hook up with people and maybe sort a couple of matmeets over there.

The time I was there I got a session in with ASB in tiny Rincon.

And the meet at Cottons was such a blast!

UK Mat Surfer and mat builder Graeme Webster visits Southern California and hooks up with locals Bruce Cowan, Henry Hester, James Sowell, Don Rodgers, Mark Miller and David Song at Cottons, Trestles Beach.

Our itinerary for this trip is:

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WEEK 1:

Based in Carpinteria at Santa Miguel Campground from Sunday April 4th until Saturday 13th April.

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WEEK 2:

Based in San Onofre at San Mateo Campground from Saturday 13th April until Friday 19th April.

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Be good to to hook up for some sessions so give me a yell. Another matmeet would be great! Mike Janich is staying at the site over that week too! :)

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In other news, I’ll be sending out an email to take a couple of custom orders over the next couple of weeks to get started when I’m back so keen an eye out if you’re on the list and if you’re not, HERE’S THE LINK.

Cheers

G

His and Hers

I’ve finally got around to building a pair of mats that have been on the horizon for some time. These are G-Mats 163 (AKA “Bear”) and 164 (AKA “Bunski”) and have been built for husband and wife surfmat tag-team, Ben and Yoko Bennink.

Ben and Yoko run the wonderful Slidaholics website based in their homeland of Australia. They are both enormously experienced waterpeople with a good deal of experience riding all manner of craft, including mats.

Given that, it was a real pleasure to work with them around this collaboration. Ben and Yoko came knowing that they wanted mats that were fast and loose, with stacks of glide. Given that, a brace of free-breathing Rubber Buckies seemed to be the order of the day.

As you can tell from the picture of Bear and Bunski side-by-side, there is a bit of a difference in size between Ben and Yoko! As a result, there was a need to do some serious scaling in both directions but, job done.

Have fun you crazy kids!

Cheers

G

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March 7, 2019: FEEDBACK FROM BEN & YOKO:

I’m so stoked to get this message from Ben! THIS is why I do it:

“G-Mats Situation Report.

Yoko and i got to test the new G-mats this morning. We actually got really lucky, we scored somewhere with just the two of us, a place that's usually always packed. There was offshore / cross-shore devil wind on it. Hence the lack of crowd. But, pick the right one between gusts, and it was a good size, fast and reasonably hollow despite the bumps coming up the face.

Graeme, those "Rubber Bucky's" you scaled for us both are fucken insane.
Seriously, just fucking WOW. Bravo dude, fine workmanship. Worth the wait and every cent.

We found them to be,faster than the Ute model, and that's in tricky bumpy conditions! Which is pretty wild, the ute is damn fast too, but these are quicker.
Seriously can't wait to get them in something with a cleaner face. yes more slip, and much more sensitive than the Ute, but it's manageable, and a shit load of fun.

Can't report on crossovers at this stage, we were overtaking each other easily, but didn't risk the crossovers at that speed in the wind and bump, didn't want to hit a bump, get it wrong and knock each other out.
So mainly sharing speed runs, and swapping the lead. Made a couple of windy barrels as well.
Both hooting like kids on speed. Still smiling, and the last time I saw Yoko that stoked, was when I made a new noserider for her. BTW. That problem we had when I was on a G-mat, and she wasn't, where i kept out running her, problem solved :) Now she's as fast as me, or even faster.

G it's obvious you put a lot love and dedication into you're work. We both genuinely appreciate it.

Thanks Dude, from two very happy sliders. :)

Taking Custom Orders

Hello everyone!

I’m pleased to say that I am nearly at the end of my left over waiting list. As some might remember, my list got long to the point of being about 3-4 years and that was ridiculous! As a result, I had to cut it down to the longest waiters and I’m just working on the last two right now.

G-Mat 162 (AKA “Unity”) - After hours build for myself to take on my travels

So, how am I going to avoid another long waiting list? I’m glad you ask! I have set up a mailing list and will email when I’m ready to build a mat or two. It is a matter of first come-first-served so I’ll vary the times to suit different time zones.

There is a new page on the site imaginatively called “Ordering a Mat” where you can sign up;

https://customsurfmats.com/order/

As I say, I’m working on a couple of customs now and am then going to do some 5 Star Generals and Bodybags for MatSurfers.com (with a trip to Cali in the mix for my Birthday) so the first email will go out in late spring.

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support. I never cease to be blown away by the positive vibes I get from people!

Cheers

G

PS The mat pictured is named Unity. She is a Nouveau Racer built after hours for myself to take to Cali. 😎

Oink! Oink!

I introduce to you, ladies and gentlemen, a mat with an identity crisis! Not anything to do with the mat herself, but her name. 2 stuck out for her owner and both stuck out too prominently to be dismissed. As a result G-Mat 161 is named "Comrade Napoleon" AAKA "Miss Piggy"

This little piggy is built for Andrew Steven Buck and is a 70/70 G-Mat Ute. ASB is a master matter and as such he is after mats that are super sensitive and responsive. With that in mind, Napoleon (I’m not typing out all that again) is a free-breather with negative rocker.

70/70 construction with a lightweight Sikaflex EBT clear grip finish, Piggy (again… I’m not typing all that) is built to be super glidy, very sensitive, highly responsive and therefore…

FAST!!!

She heads off to hook up with ASB in Carpineria and I am gagging to see how she goes in those Rincon rights. Hopefully I’ll get to see her in action in the flesh in April (yes… April. Not the best time for Rincon eh?!)

I love building mats for Andrew. A true master of the art and a man with an deep knowledge not just of how to ride surfcraft but how they work. He has certainly played a huge role in making me both a better mat builder and mat surfer.

Here’s to you ASB!

Cheers

G

Bumblebee

No… not a Transformer, although mats are certainly transformative!

Bumblebee is a 200/70 Ute, built for Hawaiian mat surfer and bodysurfer, Kris Robinson.

Kris hangs about on the North Shore and was looking for a mat to get in to some solid, sizable surf but also with the bottom end to have fun on the junky days. A Ute was the perfect fit for that. Bumblebee’s internal venting is restricted because wheezers are more predictable on bumps and such.

As you can see, Kris has gone for black grip with black stripes to really pop on that acid dyed Sunshine Yellow finish. To get this finish with sharp pin lines, I used the same sealant (Sikaflex EBT) to add the stripes. This will also act like a stinger up the middle of the mat.

I’m really looking forward to hear about Kris and Bumblebee’s adventures on the North Shore.

Aloha!

G

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Cheers

G

Shoney Goes North

Well… Not that far north. This is “Shoney”, a custom G-Mat Ute built for Marianne Davies in North Devon.

Shoney, a gift for Marianne from her brother John, is now resident in North Devon, UK. It seems that there is a real growing interest in mat surfing up there. It’s been a while since I visited but I think it may be due. A mat meet on a certain point break would be something else over this winter.

Anyway, back to Shoney, she is a 200/70 wheezer which gives a less jelly-like experience. Also a good option in heavier waves.

Hope to see her in action!

Cheers

G

G-Mat 157 - Da Bolt!

Say hello to “Da Bolt”, a 200/70 Nouveau Racer built for Michael Kennedy.

Da Bolt is Michael’s tribute to one of mat surfing’s greats; the sorely missed Eric “Da Bolt” Bridges. I’ll let Michael’s words do the talking:

“A few years ago I was chatting with Eric Bridges here on FB. He was retiring and I was telling him how envious I was. His simple plan was to surf with his mates and fish for sambos. Such a simple plan that sounded like so much fun.

Life doesn't always turn out the way we plan. Losing Eric was devastating on many levels. It was like in my mind I was vicariously living his life...no work...play every day with your friends. There was hope as I plowed through another 50-60 hour work week. Eric was proof there was light at the end of the tunnel. Suffice to say the events that transpired shattered all of that.

So how do you pick up those shattered pieces and make them into something good again? Not really sure but my first thought when I began designing my new G-Mat was to pay tribute to Eric with it. Kind of like he's along for the ride in spirit. Its name is "Da Bolt". 

With much Aloha Eric.”

It’s been an honour o be able to play my part in this. Eric was a great guy!

So, “Da Bolt” will be heading off to Hawaii to team up with Michael. She is built with solid winter waves in mind so will be just the ticket for what looks like a winter of pretty big surf!

Cheers

G

#ericwouldgo

G-Mat 156 (AKA "Margaret")

Say howdo to Margaret. Margaret is a G-Mat Ute and she has just landed in the US of A (Costa Mesa to be precise) and Margaret is the new love interest of Brett Tweedy.

Brett is a Wedge guy, a lover of kneeboards (man after my own heart) and a fella  who has developed an interest in mats. Well... why wouldn't he?! Brett also take trips further up the coast and gets in to some less crowded point breaks, which is where Margaret can really come in to her own.

So, more on Margaret. She is a Ute with free rocker. We decided to build her as a free breather to open up on those long Cali rights. Grip is Sikaflex EBT 2/3 of Margaret's length with the front corners also gripped to help out with duckdives and the like. 200 denier yellow deck and 70d navy bottom and Hestered valve.

Swell is coming in apparently... Have fun Brett! Hope to hear some love stories.

Cheers

G

PS. A word on that navy 70d material. I love it. The denier of any material only tells you so much. The density of the weave and the amount of TPU all have an impact and this blue is light on both counts. It's reminiscent of the green material I had a while back which some might remember. It's not the easiest to work with but is soooooooooo pliable. :)

PPS. If you live in Costa Mesa and need your drains sorting, be sure to give Tweedy Plumbing & Restoration a call: https://tweedyplumbing.com/

Blue Raspberry

Ladies and Gents, Boys and Girls, please welcome Blue Raspberry into your local lineup! (If you're in Santa Cruz).

Blue Raspberry is a G-Mat Ute built for my good friend and accomplished mat rider, Jason MacMurray. She is a 70/70 construction with acid dyed deck with progressively faded striped starting with a deep burgundy tail dip. The whole mat is actually more burgundy than the shots let on. 

Design-wise, Blue Raspberry (named by Jason's daughters) has a Hestered valve (because Jason's face needs all the help it can get). She is a free-breather with negative elastic rocker. Rockers in mats are only visible at rock hard inflation but their effects are felt even at low inflation. Negative rocker is the fastest and in combination with the lightweight materials (and this 70d navy I have in stock right now is lovely on that front) and unrestricted air flow, Blue Raspberry is going to go like a greased shit off a hot shovel!

Blue Raspberry is en route right now so I'm looking forward to the ride report. I've set it before... Sometimes you build a mat that you really don't want to let go of... This is one of those times...

Have fun Jason!

G

PS For more on rockers, have a read HERE.

Prototype: Nouveau Racer - S Deck (or all that glitters...)

I've recently built a prototype based on an existing design called the Nouveau Racer which is a mat built for solid/big waves. I thought some might find it interesting to get an insight into some of the design and testing process that goes in to these funbags we call surfmats.

This model has a 1/16" inward cant on I-beams 1,2,4 and 5 giving an enhanced concave and a slightly more taught feel than vertical I'beams without affecting overall pliability. All my mats have canted I-beams bar one and this is the standard configuration for the Nouveau Racer. No news there.

This proto (which I've named the Nouveau Racer - S Deck) has the same configuration on the bottom but some heavy alterations on the deck. 

Look closely and you'll see the I-beams fanning out progressively towards the tail on the deck. On the bottom they're parallel.

This leads to a progressive increase in rail drop towards the tail...

And a deepening concave of just over 5/8" at the nose and 13/16" at the tail.

Nose Concave Depth

Tail Concave Depth

My hope was that the torsion in the I-Beam and dropping rail towards the tail would lead to a mat that would increase bite and stability at the tail, combined with lift. Put simply, I was hoping she'd goes quickly forwards and be disinclined to go sideways. Perfect for heavy surf. The original design already achieves this really well so if after testing it turned out that there is no benefit, or didn't work at all, nothing lost. 

Let's see...

Testing a prototype in sh*tty waves in North Cornwall.

So as you can see, she goes forward. Well, she was always going to. She's also fairly quick. BUT... Here's the main learning point. Changing the parallel structure doesn't do mats any favours. The nose has much more hold (always a risk) than the tail. Essentially, the mat feels almost like two mats welded together like some kind of inflatable cut 'n' shut! 

Verdict: 

But that's why we build prototypes.

The Nouveau Racer is a far superior mat. And here's the reason I think so. There is a key phrase that has stuck with me from my many, many hours of tutelage with Dale Solomonson: "straight lines can go curved but curved lines can't co straight". The point being, when you ride a mat the way mats are best ridden, it is the rider's behaviour and that of the wave that lead to the mat finding it's best shape. The job of the mat builder is essentially to provide a container to provide boundaries to the shape of the air inside it in as an effective but unobtrusive way as possible.

Straight and parallel lines allow this to happen. Over-cooking ruins the meal. But this is why we build prototypes. It's not until you get on it that you can really know. Mat builders putting the hours in is how we wind up with what we have in the water today.

Cheers

G

PS: On a cautionary note, the internet is full of builders of all kinds of craft offering whacky "innovations". People "pushing the envelope" etc. Just remember that all that glitters is not gold. Unless you know something has been tested and retested, don't blow your dough.

Blue Bottle

Meet "Blue Bottle", the second 70/70 Ubercat in a row that I've built. This time, with free rocker.

The deck is the last of my old roll of navy 70d. The I beams and bottom are a new roll which has a lighter PU laminate. That means more pliability! I had some green fabric a while back that some will remember fondly. This is reminiscent of that. Nice combo in Blue Bottle then!

Blue Bottle has been built for Australian Peter "Marsupial" Horton. Peter was keen to get a mat that had plenty of lift and would be fast and lively in decent waves, 

Good choice then! That said, I've been riding my Ubercat in all conditions for a few months now and she's going great!

The grip is white Puraflex 40 so Blue bottle really is going to be a light weight ride! Blue Bottle is still en route but I'm looking forward to hearing how she goes.

So then. A little more about Pete... Well, I'm not going to tell ya, but I've added a bit of reading below.

Cheers G

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.

more mat adventures with the 5 star surfmat from G-CUSTOM SURF MATS

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