Pure Joy

Here’s a new mat for Josh Jacobs over in Hawaii named “Pure Joy”.  Josh has been after a new mat and managed to get in on this round, having been riding one of my mats for some time.

 Here’s what Josh had to say:

“How can I explain Mat surfing.. As someone that has been in the ocean for most of my life and have played with many different types of ocean crafts (bodyboards, surfboards both short and long, body surfing, paddle boarding, and a few others), mat surfing might be the only one that brings me back to the childhood joy that I experienced the first time I rode a wave. I really only got into it a few years ago watching one of my buddies ride his mat at a funky little wave on Maui, which is where I live. My buddy let me have a go on his mat and I was hooked after the first speedy free-flowing right that I ever had on one. After that I hit up my old friend from California [Jason MacMurray] who’s been riding your mats for sometime, and he so generously sent me one of his older mats to use. I love riding the mat in all types of waves, from reef breaks to A frame rights and lefts to longer island style point breaks. It’s always fun to see peoples reaction to how much fun I am having on such a different style of surf craft. I have surfed many times in my life, but I can honestly say that some of the sessions that stand out to me are the days that I rode my mat. I can’t wait to ride my new mat “AKA” Pure Joy.”

— Josh Jacobs

We talked about what Josh was after. The mat he had from Jason is a 70/70 free-breather Rubber Bucky. The mat is a bit under sized for Josh but still, that particular set up can be tricky in heavier and hollower waves. Josh was after something more stable to expand his matting options but still an all rounder.

With all that in mind, a Ute seemed the obvious choice. I have scaled around Josh’s existing mat (see G-Mat 83) and his body dimensions in combination as he feels happy riding it. We have gone for a 200d deck with restricted venting (wheezer) on the inside so Pure Joy will hold her shape and offer a more stable deck. Pretty nice quiver mate for his other mat named “Self-Pleasure” (Jason named it!). 

Looking forward to feedback from Josh on this build. Have fun mate!

 Cheers

 G

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FEEDBACK - 16 February, 2023

Wu Wei

Stealth is the order of the day sometimes. This is one of those times.

Dom Davenport has been on the list and trying hard to get in for a mat for some time so I was stoked when he did. A dedicated mat surfer who has fallen hook, line and sinker for these craft and I always love to build mats for those people. Here’s a word or two from Dom:

“I have been riding mats for about 10 years, having started with standup surfing in my 30s I saw someone riding a 4GF one day whilst living in California, flying along a point break like a pelican and I knew it was for me. Since then I have almost exclusively ridden mats, although I discovered the joys of the kneelo as a compliment, particularly the displacement hull as perfected by Paul Gross. Now living back in the UK, I spend my time heading to the reefs and hidden points of the Dorset coast.

There is a feeling when riding a mat that can’t be found with any other surf vehicle, a bag of air brings the opportunity for complete integration with the wave’s energy. The lack of substance in a mat stops you from forcing things or from trying and moves you to respond to the moment.

There are no bad days on a mat and the pure joy I’ve experienced surfing them has made my life better in so many ways. I’m excited to get my hands on one of G’s mats, the RB-JMC is an evolution of surf mat design that I couldn’t miss out on trying.”

— Dom Davenport

Dom has a trip to Morocco planned so with long points in mind a 70/70 neg rocker was the order of the day. Dom wanted a responsive mat and enjoys surfing lower inflations so the super-free-breather was the obvious choice for him.

Also, a low key colour scheme as you can see. Dom also went for a bungee as living in the South East of the UK these days, trips to artificial waves are often his only option and they insist on leashes. Horrible things but needs must.

As for the name, Dom has called his new mat “Wu Wei” meaning non-action or without force which sums up the approach to mat surfing. Responsiveness as opposed to reactivity.

So as I said, Wu Wei and Dom are off to hit the points of North Africa and I really hope we get some pics!

Have fun Dom.

Cheers

G

Nephele

Here's a new mat for Nilus Mattive built back in December called Nephele.

Nephele is a RB-JMC built with negative rocker and a super-free-breather so a very fast mat. As you will notice, Nephele has an acid dyed deck.

Nilus is a fine mat surfer from Santa Barbara, CA. I asked him about his journey into mats:

“My first real surf craft was a Morey Waimea Pro body board. In 2013, I returned to my prone roots and got my first mat, mostly thinking I’d use it for junkier days. Didn’t really pull it out a whole lot.

Fast forward to 2016, when my nine year old daughter Vela got into surfing. That gave me the opportunity to start messing with the mat more often.

Now she’s 15 with the long-term goal of qualifying for the world tour. We’re in the water most days, traveling quite a lot, and I always bring a mat with me. Have had the chance to ride one all over the place — Hawaii, Indo, Barbados, the Waco wave pool, etc.

My favorite is taking a mat out when conditions are too fast and hollow for me to surf standing up. Matting is also a great way to break the tension in a lineup or simply remind yourself what the essence of surfing really is. Whenever I bring one out — whether it’s CA or Kandui — people seem genuinely stoked to see me send it on a couple.”

— Nilus Mattive

Mats certainly do help remind everyone what this is really all about.

Nephele is nearly with Nilus so I'm looking forward to getting some feedback. Rincon has been on of late so fingers crossed the swell hangs about!

Have fun Nilus and please do send a pic of you in your Tee

Cheers

G

Turbinia Down-Under

Here’s a mat headed down under to mat surfer Mike Curran. Mike is a self-confect mat addict as you can see from what he had to say when we spoke about his journey into matting:

“I am 65 and nowadays a part time Marine Engineer.

I had my first mat/surfoplane rides at Torquay, Victoria way back when 10 years old when you hired them at the front of the Torquay lifesaving club. The thrill of catching a wave has never been lost.

Wind on to 5 years ago & after 45 years as a stand up surfer, (knees getting stiff) as an avid adventure motorcyclist, (Tiger 900) went way over to the NE coastal side of Tasmania to a little known remote area and took a RedBack Surf Mat so I could have a splash, fun and a laugh and ..actually caught some waves. (And still no idea how to use a mat). I was Immediately inspired!

Then In 5 years since has become absolutely hooked! I am now a regular Matter, and have improved a lot, and also helped immensely when he met through work connections the famous NSW, SCUMM. Since then I have matted around Victoria, NSW, even Long Island in New York, Mentawis, and recently South Central Atoll Maldives!

To add to my current mat quiver I needed a mat with more bite and turning ability to use in grungier waves. I’m ready to welcome my new G-Mat Ubercat. My aim is to eventually position on the inside of Stand-Up surfer and call them, for your wave…When you can do that you know ..you know how to surf a mat !

I have named my mat “Turbinia” which was the name given to the very first experimental & extremely fast ocean going steam turbine ship from 120 years ago.”

— Mike Curran

So then, on to Turbinia. She has a very specific place in Mike’s quiver being specialised to surfing hollow and gruntie waves. After some discussion we settled on the idea of an Ubercat. We went for free-breather venting to maximise responsiveness but combined with a 200/70 construction so a stable deck but responsive morphing characteristics on the go. We have also gone with a positive elastic rocker which I have tried to capture in the photo’s below. The camera never really shows this that well.

Turbinia is all black with grey/black Sikaflex EBT grip and white branding which pops nicely I think.

Mike has also gone for a classic G-Mat Apparel Tee. Thanks for the support Mike!

Have fun with your new ride Mike!

Cheers

G

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Feedback - 21st May, 2023

She’s had about 5 surfs. Main points In point form. 🤔

1. Seems to be much easier to bend and paddle through broken waves than my others.

2. Yes gripping better on the bottom turns and seems to point and turn easier than others.

3. Is faster!

4. Must have it more than 90 degs fold over for best inflation.

5. Loves a late drop.

6. Deck grip very good.

The Widow Maker V6

This mat is an Ubercat build for one of the English South Coast’s prone stalwarts, Mike Steele. Mike has been a body boarder for many years, seeking and charging some of the phenomenal hidden gems on the Jurassic Coast. Mike says:

“Got the bug when I was 10 when my dad bought me a polystyrene board for the summer and then progressed to the Mach 7-7 and was a devout Morey fan until they sold to Mattel. Grew up surfing Bournemouth Pier, then discovered the local reefs and was completely sold on boogin’. One of the spots was in an M.O.D. training range and we got arrested for trespass for walking back from the break after we had been told to get out by the range boat. In and out of court for two years and the day before judgement they dropped the charges. The whole thing was very underhand by the M.O.D., false evidence etc. Anyway, after that ordeal we decided to buy a boat so we would never have this problem again and we discovered a few spots that were literally made for bodyboarding. We had a few eventful boat trips in the surf, one in particular was witnessed on quite a big day, my mate driving hit a big wave too fast and we were apparently fully vertical and the ‘prop was 10ft clear of the water’. How we all survived is beyond me and hence we named the boat ‘The Widowmaker’. Most of our crew has their own boat now, mine is the Mk 5, and now the mat is the Mk 6. Re: board progression, had many boogs over the years, and I know the guy who imports NMD and VS and he is very pally with Nick Mezeritz so been getting customs with experimentary tails for about 10 years. Then saw Noah Lane in Ireland riding Guy Butcher wooden boards and went down that route, again experimenting with shapes with Guy. 3 boards in and started following the fringe element and saw some clips of fellas on mats going exponentially fast and have been trying to get my grubby mitts on one of yours for a couple of years. And now I have one!”

— Mike Steele

Mike and I spoke about the amount of adjustment needed to switch from a bodyboard/paipo to a mat. He is up for the challenge!

So on to the mat, WMV6 is a wheezy 200/70 Ubercat with positive elastic rocker so has good hold and is well set up for tight S-turn surfing on slabby waves and wedges. Mike has gone for the bungee leash option as a lot of the waves he surfs involve tricky swims if losing the mat. You will notice the 2-tone blue and white bottom skin and logo. This was based on a design Mike sent me and we’re pretty stoked on how it’s come out.

Widow Maker V6 is with Mike now and with a winter of south swells looking to be on the cards we’re pretty hopeful that they will get plenty of action!

Have fun Mike. Can’t wait to hear about your journey into matting!

Cheers

G

Z-Brah

A bit of a weekend project here building a mat for myself. It was flat and absolutely freezing cold so a warm workshop and podcasts seemed very appealing. I've had a big hole in my quiver for some time now with a Nouveau Racer named "Steady Eddie" and a RB-JMC Ultralight named "Featherweight Fordy" and nothing in between. Basically, if it was ether solidly overhead/heavy or upto shoulder high glass I was golden. The 80% in between I was having to work a lot more and poor FF had been taking a right pounding!

So then, on to this mat. It's called "Z-Brah" because the name makes me laugh and works however you pronounce "Z". Z-Brah is a 70/70 Ubercat. Standard free-breather with positive elastic rocker to get tight on the turns. I've also added a bungee for leash attachment for night surfs and wave pools so all in all... I'm covered! Weight off my mind to be honest!

I've actually finished another mat before this one for Mike Steele which I'll post dreckly.

We have waves at the mo so Z-Brah should see some action pretty soon.

Cheers

G

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UPDATE/FEEDBACK 06/03/2023

Well after all that I sold Z-Brah to Chris Cavey over in Santa Cruz. I ended up building my son and myself mats over Christmas and needed money for a trip so with heavy heart let Z-Brah go.

Here’s feedback from Chris. It’s good to see that the Ubercat does what it says on the tin.

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UPDATE - APRIL 2024

A little edit of Chris Cravey riding Z-Brah at the Kelly Slater wave pool.

Crumbs!

One for a test pilot here. James Tanner rides a mat really hard and really, really well so is the perfect person to test this design concept. This mat which he has named “Crumbs” (a name which came to him during the trance-like meditative state that is driving home after a day at work) is a 70/70 RB-JMC.

Crumbs is built to the usual favoured configuration for this model with negative elastic rocker and venting, but the latter has been ramped up. I have increased the venting to make this a super-free-breather sucking a menthol mint! It’s going to be interesting to hear how James goes. He rides with low air so I imagine he will find the ride to be super responsive.

I hope one of those Noosa cameras points in James’s direction once Crumbs gets down there.

Have fun James!

Cheers

G