The Green Hornet

It’s always fun sending mats to the hotbed of modern matsurfing that is the area around Sant Barbara. That stretch of coast with seemingly endless pointbreaks and a community of open-minded and talented surfers is the perfect combo for these things called mats. One of said Santra Barbarans is Jim Griswold. Jim is a friend of Kerry Burns who recently had a mat from me. Jim was looking for a mat to handle fast breaking hollow waves. After a bit of chit-chat, we opted for a 200/70 Nouveau Racer… A Green one!

Given the type of waves Jim is riding we setteld on building The Green Hornet as a wheezer. This restricts the airflow which meansd that, even at low inflation, the mat will keep its shape so be more predictable and handle any bumps more easily.

The colour and been added via a “bucket dye” process where the completed mat is acid dyed in a bucket. This gives an interesting mottled effect do the Green Hornet looks a little like she’s been built out of some kind of radioactive marble!

The Green Hornet will be hitting the Central Cali coast soon so if you’re around that way, keep your eyes peeled for a streak of green.

Have fun Jim!

Cheers

G

All Aboard the Love Boat

All aboard the Love Boat!

Romance is in the air, love is all around, etc, etc...

This mat has been built for Katelynn Pierce. Katelynn and Matt Pierce married earlier this year and Matt got in with an order saying that Katelynn was after a mat for their honeymoon in January. Perfect timing!

Katelynn is a fairly new mat rider and has only ridden Matt's which are WAY too big for her so job number one was to scale her mat to fit. The rest of the brief was a mat that will be versatile and dependable. With this in mind a Ute was the obvious choice.

The Love Boat is a 200/70 wheezer with free rocker. The grip is proper romantic (hence her name) in pigmented heart shaped patches and the logo is a festival of purple-pink glitter that the photo's don't do justice too. Oh...

And the Love Boat has a Heatered valve.

So, The Love Boat sets sail on Christmas Eve to SoCal and then on to Baja mid January for the Pierce's honeymoon trip.

Here's to you and a long and happy life together Kate and Matt!

Cheers

G

Ding Monkey!

A little while back, I built a mat named Jamu Jamu for Mariah Ernst.

https://customsurfmats.com/blog/2019/6/30/jamu-jamu-something-orange-for-indo

Mariah lives for the most part in Indo and on a heavy day lost her mat which got dragged across the reef on the inside with terrible consequences. A huge tear on the bottom, a smaller tear elsewhere on the bottom and then a slit in the deck.

We really thought it was curtains for Jamu Jamu... Mariah sent her over anyway for me to take a look at.

Anyway, it took some planning and a lot of prep, as the damage to the bottom skin wasn't tidy cuts but jagged rips. However, I managed to weld panels of 70d white material into the inside of the mat to stitch her back together. The only job then was a small pinhole at the tail fixed with a Stormsure patch.

Jamu Jamu has been left fully inflated for 7 hours and no leaks so looks like job done. She might not be the prettiest she's ever been but the contours are true so hopefully all good. It's not ideal to have areas of double thickness material on the bottom but it's better than a huge hole!

Let's see how she goes. Mariah is off for a trip mid Jan so we will find out if our surgical intervention has worked.

Fingers crossed! Glad to see you and Jamu Jamu reunited Mariah!

Cheers

G

Let Them Hate Me... So Long as They Fear Me...

That’s right. This mat is named Caligula. She’s the latest build for Andrew Stphen Buck.

Caligula came about through discussion about a mat I built for Jamie McClellan a little while back named Wheezy Jefferson.

ASB was interested by Jamie’s ride reports of levitationesque glide and 5th gear speed runs and the statemet “hands down the best mat I’ve ever ridden” and decided to give this modified Ruber Bucky (which I am calling the Rubber Bucky - JMC) a go.

Caligula has is a very light weight 70/70 mat with very light weave bottom skin and I-beams. She is also extremely well vented so is a complete free-breather and also has a neagative rocker to really maximise the speed. This will be further maximised by the squared back corners.Squarer corners release more easily so offer less hold but more speed.

I’d definitely say this design is for highly skilled mat surfers.

Caligula and ASB have had waves. After the first session word came through….

“Take a bow Graeme. Caligula is World Class”.

That’ll do.

Cheers

G

Clone to the Bone!

Meet G-Mat 174 (AKA “Dolly”). She is a G-Mat Nouveau Racer, built for James Harvey, down in St Ives, West Cornwall, UK.

So why Dolly? Well, on a recent stay down West I hooked up with Jamo for a couple of very fun surfs. I was riding Unity, my Nouveau Racer on the first day in low tide, hollow, fast breaking waves. James had a crack on her and his feedback was that she was “…the best mat I’ve ridden”. We had been talking about building James a mat for some time and when he got in on ordering one this time around he immediately said “just copy your Nouveau Racer. I want the same dims, materials… everything!”

So there we go… Clone time. Clone to the Bone. Clone Alone. ET Clone Home. Clone Armatrading. Papa was a Rolling Clone. You get the gist... So Dolly is the perfect name for her as Dolly was the first cloned animal:

https://dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk/facts/the-life-of-dolly/index.html

So what did I clone? A 200/70 Nouveau Racer, free rocker, wheezer with full length grip including the front corners. Not an exact clone as the grip is clear Sikaflex EBT for durability and the logo is smaller, closer to the tail and orange so perhaps more of a non-identical twin.

All those qualities make Dolly the perfect mat for Jamo. He primarily surfs Porthmeor which for those who don’t know it is a fast and heavy beach break so a mat that gets in quick and has a load of hold is just the ticket.

Enjoy Jamo!

Cheers

G

Colin's New Companion

Meet TREAL, a modified Ute built for Colin McCrindle in Santa Barbara. Colin is a very evperienced mat rider who I’ve built a number of mats for over the years:

https://customsurfmats.com/blog/tag/Colin+McCrindle

Colin has an eye for nature and a lust for finding out of the way quality wave around the Santa Barbara Central Cali coast. Just take a look at his Instagram account… Amazing!

https://www.instagram.com/colinmccrindle/

Give him a follow!

Anyway, TREAL is a 200/70 build and very well vented so the internal airflo is lomost completly unrestricted. The corners are squarer than normal too with a lightly stretched plan shape. Add to that the I-beams and bottom skin being made with a very light weave 70d navy taffeta and lighter TPU coating and we are looking at a mat that is going to be very fast.

TTREAL is on the way so Cali right now. The tracking says that wild fires are causing hold ups but HOPEFULLY she’ll be with colin before the weekend.

I’m excited to hear about their travels to quiet coves and reefs.

Have fun Colin!!!

Cheers

G

ANALOG

ANAGLOG (yes the caps are deliberate) is a Rubber bucky built for Pete D’Ewart. Pete has had a few mats off me now, being the first person to pay for a mat off me way back. Pete knows all about mats having been a mat surfer for a looooooong time. He’s a big fan of the Rubber Bucky and has the skills to make this model really go.

ANAGLOG is a 200/70 free-breather with free-rocker. The 200d fabric is a fairly open weave, as is the navy 70d bottom skin so a light, fast mat. Pete is a fan of simple panels of grip (like on a 5 Star General). We’ve gone with clear EBT which give plenty of traction and the un pigmented sealant is more durable.

Pete lives in the Pacific North West so some long chilly walls will be just perfect for this mat.

Have fun Pete

Cheers

G

It's Opposite Day!

It’s been a bit slowed down of late with some family stuff going on but I’m back with a mat for Jamie McClellan. This mat, which Jamie has named Wheezy Jefferson iis built by way of wages for Jamie’s work for MatSurfers.com.

Jamie is one of those mat riders that has a special talent. He’s put in the hard hours and surrendered himself to the craft and is, as a result, able to work with very lightweight and plable mats to manage the drift and tap in to that sought after quality of surfmats…

SPEED!

Weezy then is something of an ironic name because Weezy Jeffereson is the very opposite of being wheezy. This mat is a free-breather with I-beams with crescent cut ends and 5 breather holes. What that means is that the internal venting is completely unrestricted.

Weezy Jefferson is bult withnegative rocker, very light weave 70d bottom skin and I-beams and a slightly denser (but still very light) 70d deck. She also has slightly squarer than normal back corners wihich further relaease hold in the tail. The grip is also applied thinly as Jamie is more than able to top it up if needed.

All in all, this is an incredibly lightweight and pliable surfmat that will go like a greased turd off a hot shovel!

At the time of writing this post, Jamie and his family are hunkering down to ride our Hurricane Dorian so Weezy Jefferson is still sat in G-Mat Towers and will go out once things calm down. In the meantime, take care of yourself McClellans.

Cheers

G

Akamata!!!

My good friend Ian Wraith AKA “Piskian” is an ex-pat Cornishman living in Japan. Ian lives on a beautiful, quiet (by Japanese standards) tropical island with his wife and two children. Ian is also a pretty great mat rider.

Anyway, Ian was lined up for a mat and we managed to line his mat up with his visit, and so it was that Akamata was born…

Akamata is a Nouveau Racer so designed with more solid waves in mind. There is a particular point break on the Island that is very reminiscent of a certain North Cornish point with long lefts of a shallow boulder bottom. The difference is, you have a huge paddle just to get to the inside! With this in mind, Ian took the pragmatic decision to break form and go for a bungee leash fitting.

This isn’t to always have a leash, just to have the option when those huge typhoon swells come in. These leash fittings have developed over time and the nose flange is now HEAVILY reinforced. The leash fits to the middle loop so the mat concertinas to absorb the energy and the bungee is elastic. All of this combines to give a fitting that can take on the job, although it is still best to hang on to your mat!

The deck it 200d nylon dyed Fire Red with an added experimental tattoo (that didn’t show well so that is why we experiment).

The bottom material is an open weave 70d that goes juuuuust lovely! Restricted breather to help Akamata to hold her shape in big surf and to handle surface chop at speed.

Ian has given her a go and reports:

Just rode Akamata in head-high double-up dry tubes. Flies! Like a magic carpet. Turns fast, glides like a beuton. Grip is perfect!

Stoked!

On that grip, it’s clear Sikaflex EBT but I have modified how I texture it and the feedback (including my own experience) is that it’s spot on!

I’m glad I’ve been able to build Ian a mat. It’s been a while and this is just right for what he will get over the winter.

It was great to get Ian over although it was a flying visit. We were lucky enough to get a couple of sessions in too. A shame it was so small as we have an intuition on party waves but still great fun surfing with Mark “Tom” Underwood one day and my son, Webbo, the next.

Here’s a few party waves from 2016 anyho…

Great morning that!

Cheers

G

PS Follow Ian on Instagram @piskian.

Expanding the Quiver with Nancy

Here we have a 200/70 G-Mat Rubber Bucky named Nancy, built for Sean Stansfield.

People may well remember Sean. For those who don’t have long memories, Sean was the first person to host Phileas when she set off on her travels:

https://customsurfmats.com/phileas/tag/Sean+Stansfield

That was a while ago now!

Sean has previously had another couple of mats from me named Gladys and Dorothy:

https://customsurfmats.com/blog/2015/5/11/just-what-the-dr-ordered

The last 2 mats were a 70/70 Ute and a 200/70 Chino Racer. When Sean dropped me his order form he was pretty clear on hat her wanted. A Rubber Bucky and a fast one!

No problemo!

We mulled over the options and decided on a stable deck so went for 200 denier material, but focusing on the speed, we thought about venting (free-breather) and rocker (negative).

The rest was simple. Sean likes his mats low key and monochrome so all black with white grip was where we wound up. SIkaflex EBT Grip 3/4 length with front corners…

Nancy IS going to be fast…

Personally, I love the Rubber Bucky. The glide and the ease for the tail to break free make this a a design that absolutely epitomises the essence of the modern surfmat. It also means that for the uninitiated, there is a drift that can initially be a little disconcerting (we all love dropping the tail though right?)

I really stoked to have been able to build another mat for Sean. He’s a connoisseur of the craft of riding these craft.

Enjoy mate!

Cheers

G

The Mat with No Name

There was once a guy named Kerry. Kerry Burns to be exact.

Kerry once watched a movie named The Man with No Name and Kerry had a dream of a brown mat with white patterned grip to be something like that poncho... Something like it.

Of course, that grip needed to do the job of... erm... gripping! So we had to get creative. But with the deck looking so fancy, the big white expanse of the bottom looked like a big white bottom. It needed filling (please do know that these buns are accidental).

That's where Bryn came in.

Bryn Dampney is a super talented artist. Graphic Designer by profession, kneeboard shaper by passion and all-round waterman in the ocean. And I mean ALL round. We approached Bryn with the general theme - "It needs to look kinda Mexican?"

Bryn did the rest.... Amazing!!!

So Kerry is about to hook up with his Mat With No Name. A 200/70 wheezy Ubercat that is going to fly on those points around SB. If you're over there, keep an eye out for them!

Been a LOT of fun this one. Thanks to Kerry for the opportunity and thanks to Bryn for his genius.

Cheers
G

PS For those who score custom mats, Bryn is available to add art to them.

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!

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