Ursula

Say hello to “Ursula”, an RB-JMC built for the very talented Charlie May.

Charlie is one of those dolphin people. You know the ones… Those people that you stick on any surf craft and they just click into it instantly and look like they’ve been doing it for years. I’ve built mats for a number of those people over the years. It’s no wonder they get into mats really when you think about it.

Photo: Emma May

Photo: John Bostwick

Charlie lives in Central California a beautiful bit of the World with a geology reminiscent of North Cornwall. Tall cliffs, rocky reefs and points with a sprinkling of huge white sharks thrown in just to spice things up! With all that in mind, I’m guessing Ursula and Charlie are going to be having some really special adventures!

So back to Ursula. Charlie asked for purple grip and branding. We’ve pretty much got there. A bit more burgundy (don’t be fooled by the photo’s the camera has made the colour much more red than it is). She is a super-free breather to maximise morphability and glide. The deck elasticity will help further encouraging a tendency towards negative rocker as well so all-in-all… VROOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Ursula is currently sat in the workshop with the grip curing. Once she’s cooked the adventures can begin!

 Have fun Charlie!

Cheers

 G

Proto Too Take 2!

You might remember I built a 70/40 prototype mat for Andrew Stephen Buck named “The Bruise”. Well… it popped. ☹ Add to that the fact that James Tanner’s 70/40 proto mat named “Chinook” had a slight delamination at the back corner and I was thinking this material is just not up to the job.

The thing is… It feels great! At low inflation it is very quick and super sensitive. The learning has been that it’s certainly not for everyone, it’s tricky to get a handle on and feels much lighter than 70/70 even. It’s also not for every type of wave as the material is quite elastic so chop can be a challenge. But it is really fast.

 What’s more, James’s mat was repairable and since then, no other problems. Oh and my 70/40 mat, “Little Boy Blue” has been fine!

With all that in mind, I decided to revisit this. I thought about the material and wondered about technique. Thermal welding TPU coated nylon involves 3 elements: heat, dwell time and pressure. I’ve had a bit of a tinker and think dwell time might have been the issue with this stuff having a really narrow window between a weak weld and being over-cooked.

With that in mind, I have put together a rebuild for Mr Buck which he has named “Sporting Lady”. My first thoughts… cautiously optimistic. Let’s see though. It may still be that this material is too inconsistent to put out to customers but hopefully we’re there. This is why I build prototypes.

Cheers

 G

Waiting List

BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

Hello all.

I’m going to be changing up the system for ordering from the next run. I get a lot of people expressing their frustration with the current quickest to the draw system which I fully understand. Unfortunately, I don’t have more time to give to mat building and the previous waiting list I had really got out of hand!

I have been asking around several former customers and consensus has come to a new system which is hopefully halfway between the current system and the full-on waiting list. I will be running a limited waiting list of 10 people (that’s 5 cycles through the workshop as I build 2 at a go). I’m hoping this will give people a bit more time to order.

I’ll be doing this by sending 2 emails out in 24 hours with 5 slots each so that people in different time zones get a go. I’ll then work through the first order received from each email together, then the second, then third, etc. Once finished I’ll take on another 10 mats.

This is likely to still see some people miss out unfortunately (that can’t be helped) but I’m hopeful that more people getting a mat and less frequent frustration for those who don’t will make things better for everyone.

Thanks

G

Little Wing II

Little Wing II... A 70/70, free-rockered, free-breathing, acid dyed, Ubercat heading to Claude Ricord. Tribute to his hero. ❤️

Cosmic Chancho

Meet G-Mat 226 (AKA “Cosmic Chancho”). Cosmic Chancho is a 70/70 RB-JMC built for Californian, Dylan Zapata. He has a neg rocker and is a super-free-breather and will be perfect for the waves Dylan surfs.

Dylan says:

“So I live 30 mins north of rincon. In the land of right point breaks. I work at a surf board fin shop [you know which one] but I am secretly all about friction free glide! Me and a couple co workers are really into matting and get the chance to chat with George Geenough from time to time about mats! I surf frequently but have really been getting into matting and have found my self going to the beach always with a mat in hand 👍”

— Dylan Zapata

Sounds idyllic to me Dylan and I’m pleased and honoured to play a part in your journey into the finless realm.

Have fun mate.

Cheers

G

Ginebra - Blazing the Tail

Say hello to "Ginebra", a 70/70 G-Mat RB-JMC with super-free venting and neg rocker built for Gonzalo Sanchez. Gonzalo is a mat surfing pioneer in Southern Spain. He says:

"I am a guy born in a small town on the coast known as the island. I have spent my life on the beach. And I work as a diver and fisherman.

It is in the south of Spain, I work along this coast that is just in front of Morocco. I always liked surfing, starting with bodyboard corks, then with one-keel boards, and for a few years I have been focused on surfing without fins and mats, the best.

In winter we have good waves, and if not, then the boat from my town to Morocco takes only 30 minutes. Portugal is 3 hours away by car.

I'm the only one on these shores who surfs with Mat, haha I am very grateful G, since I have the RFT, I get in and out of the water very happily, now with this new mat I am going to fly!"

What a place to live! I'm really stoked to have been able to build a mat for Gonzalo. Now he has a loaner too so perhaps we'll see a few more matsurfers down there!

Have fun!

Cheers

G

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FEEDBACK - 6th APRIL, 2022

Son of Bruce

I would like to introduce you to Son of Bruce, a mat for Mike Janich.

Mike and his wife Kathy are friends with my wife Becky, our son Joe (Webbo) and me so I was super-stoked when the opportunity came up for my to build Mike a new mat. It’s taken a while to get this mat done with one thing and another but here we are, and Mike and I are both pretty pleased with her.

 G-Mat 223 (AKA “Son of Bruce”) is an RB-JMC. Mike likes a more stable mat so we have gone with a 200/70 configuration and free-breather venting. Mike also opted for free elastic rocker. 

As you can see, Son of Bruce is quite distinctive. Mike wanted to honour the Spitfire/Flying Tiger planes of WWII. We took time planning this with acid dye work on the bottom in a pale grey (it looks white in the pics but it isn’t) and then forest green/brown camouflage on the deck to match the spitfire. The tricky bit was the mouth. This was stenciled in black and white. The original also has a red tongue and lips but honestly, we decided to quit whilst we were ahead as the black and white really pops! Finally the grip consists of three white stripes as a nod towards the wings and then a clear strip up the middle to show off the camo pattern.

Son of Bruce will be heading off to Mike once the grip has cured. This has been a really interesting project to get stuck into and it’s been an honour to build a mat for Mike.

Have fun Mike!

 Cheers

 G

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FEEDBACK - 28 FEBRUARY 2022