Ho'onalu

Here is a mat for Kevin Warren which he has named Ho’onalu. Kevin says “It is one of the Hawaiian words for meditation. It means literally - 'to make like or be like a wave’”.

Kevin has a really interesting story about his journey into mats and his amazing career:

“I’m 63 and grew up San Diego North county and started surfing at age 10 learning at Swamis, Cardiff and Seaside reefs as well as Del Mar and Blacks beach. Started going to Baja in my teens driving down to the legendary point breaks of the seven sisters. I also flew Hang Gliders in my teens as well soaring the cliffs in La Jolla above Blacks and in the mountains of the San Diego backcountry. ( I built a hang glider out of bamboo and plastic in 1972 for a 6th grade science fair project )

In my 20’s with my love of aviation I received all my flight ratings as I wanted to become an airline pilot. Once I was a commercial pilot I started taking friends on exploratory flights into Baja looking for remote unridden point breaks. We found many and I got good at landing on beaches and islands where there were no roads. Nobody was doing anything like this so I started a company called Baja AIrventures that offered all-inclusive packages flying surfers into spots like Isla Natividad, Seven Sisters and Scorpion Bay as well as many spots I will not name. I’ll never forget taking Tom Carroll and Mike Stewart on a photo shoot for surfer magazine in the early 90’s. I had never really seen what a body boarder could do and Mike blew me away. ( as did Tom but Mike rode deeper in the barrel )

I’ve windsurfed, kite boarded, body surfed and hand planed as well as I started recently wing foiling. My surf buddy showed up with a 4th gear Flyer surf mat and let me try it about 6 years ago. I was hooked. Felt like a kid again. Pretty pure form of surfing. I’ve done some dual sport motorcycle trips into Baja with my surf mat and traveled and matted in Spain’s Basque coast. Perfect travel wave vehicle. Fits in my carry on. Not really possible with anything else. I still own Baja AIrventures which is now Baja Spirit. www.bajaspirit.com ) 34 years later.”

— Kevin Warren

With pointbreaks in mind Kevin came with a clear idea of what he wanted in the form of a 70/70 RB-JMC with negative elastic rocker. Having considered internal venting options, he has opted for a standard free-breather which allows an easy flow of air within the mat to maximise speed at lower inflations. Kevin was keen on the white mat/brown grip that Steve Halpin and Maddie Gordon have had previously. With the black logo and a black “Ho’onalu” motif added to the rail its a mat I really like the look of. If this wasn’t too small for me, Ho’onalu is a mat I’d like to hang on to!

Ho’onalu is heading over to hook up with Kevin in California. I look forward to hearing about their road trips!

Have fun Kevin.

Cheers

G

More Green & Blue - Synapse

Here we have a G-Mat RB-JMC named Synapse built for Californian, Rob Belli. Rob is a very fine mat surfer who you may well have seen sharing waves with mat art master Jared Katz.

I asked Rob to tell me a bit about his journey into mat surfing. Here’s what he said:

“I got into mats about 2008 (I think, I can’t quite remember) when I ordered a mat from a shop called Wetsand in Ventura,CA. They were selling mats called Neumatics made by some guy named Dale Solmonson haha. So I ordered one but around that time Dale had some health problems and didn’t get the mat till about a year later. In the meantime I think I got a 4th Gear with denim on it for grip. But as everyone knows once you get a good wave on a mat you realize there is nothing on earth like it. What’s funny is once I got Dale’s mat it smelled so bad from the grip (even after riding it for a while) I stupidly sold it for 100.

I picked to name my mat Synapse from my experience riding mats in choppy onshore conditions. I was amazed at the feeling I experienced at the micro adjustments the mat was making to the bumps and chops at high speed and going faster and faster down the line. It was like the mat had a brain that was taking input and translating to speed.”

— Robert Belli

Synapse is a 70/70 super-free-breather with neg rocker. Rob was inspired by a mat I sent to Oz for colours although the clear grip and black logo give a different feel. As you see, Synapse has a bungee for a leash on really windy days as Rob travels to some breezy places with long swims and is keen not to lose his mat!

I'm really looking forward to feedback on this.

Have fun Rob!

Cheers

G

Green & Blue

A quick post here about a mat heading down-under. As you can see there is a different valve on this mat.

This mat is a 70/70 RB-JMC super-free-breather named “Green and Blue”. It is heading down to Byron Bay, Australia to hang out with an experienced mat rider who has a G-Mat already and gives really good feedback. Part of this was that they wanted a smaller and/or softer valve. That’s not an easy ask but I managed to ger a TPU version of a pool toy type valve which seems to hit the mark.

These can come in colours if I buy an absolute stack of them! I’m yet to decide what I think on that front though. They really do look a little pool toyish! They can be made in black apparently which would look better and might be a good opion for the BodyBag mini mats. I’m interested to hear people’s thoughts on that.

Anyway, I am looking forward to hearing feedback on the mat and the valve. Personally I really do like my usual mini-boston valves but it’s always good to have options. I certainly plan to put one into a BodyBag mini mat soon to try. The lightweight, smaller design could be perfect for that.

Anyway lets’s see. I’ve been trying out a few design ideas of late with a mat due to go out to Andrew Buck for testing.

More of that soon though. .

Cheers

G

Ellie

Say hello to “Ellie”, a Nouveau Racer built for Aussie matter Peter Abbott. Peter has been riding a mat for around 12 years having been inspired, like many of us, by the Innermost Limits of Pure Fun.

Peter lives in Northern NSW, a place with excellent waves. He has every day covered with his existing quiver, but wanted a mat for those days where things really get cooking and the local spots really light up. With that in mind we felt that a Nouveau Racer tailored to Peter was the order of the day.

Given the conditions Ellie is aimed at we went for a wheezer with a 200d deck. Ellie has free elastic rocker to offer plenty of flexibility. Peter opted for a red deck and black bottom with black grip. I have to say, I dig this look!

So why Ellie? Ellie was Peter’s old red cattle dog who loved the beach and the water. What a perfect name. I am really honoured to have been able to create the tribute to what sounds like a really special girl.

Have fun Peter. I can’t wait to hear how you and Ellie go down there.

Cheers

G

FEEDBACK - 20th Jan 2024

Mimosa

This is Mimosa, a mat built for Welshman Huw Beynon. Huw has been a mat surfer for some time and has been riding a stock G-Mat and pretty well at that. Living on the Gower in South Wales, Huw has some great mat waves on hand so when he got his deposit in for a custom mat I was over the moon!

Mimosa is definitely a step up from Huw's current ride being a 70/70 super-free-breather so much more sensitive and responsive than the 200/70 wheezer RFT that he currently rides. We discussed elastic rocker options and Huw opted for free rocker, given the wide range of conditions he will be surfing. With some very peaky waves in the mix, Huw felt a mat that would respond to hard cutbacks was handy whilst flattening nicely for the points. The bungee has also been added to cover nipping over the Severn to jump in the wave pool.

Huw has also gone for pigmented grip and logo. They say blue and green should never be seen. Well... I beg to differ.

The only downside is my spelling of Beynon! Sorry Huw... As a fellow Celt I feel suitably ashamed. Huw seemed to find my balls up funny though so all's well that ends well.

I'm going to get to surf with Huw and Mimosa in April at The Wave on Bristol. Can't wait to see them in action!

Cheers

G

Unburdened & Becoming

Here's is a mat for Mark "Tom" Underwood that I built during a week off in February.

Tom has been after a mat for a while and with the upcoming Wave meet coming up on April 16th (still a slot or two available by the way. Advanced level, 11am on the right) he was keen to get a mat with a bungee set-up for a leash. Also handy for long-swim avoidance on some of the sketchier reefs on big days. Tom is a big fan of the 70/70 neg rocker RB-JMC having been riding one exclusively for some time. He's a fine mat surfer (fine everything surfer to be honest) and really does fit the performance of the RB-JMC.

Tom has called his mat Unburdened and Becoming saying:

“It’s a song lyric line by Bon iver. A band that me sons all went to see live. It resonates with me. It’s positive and life affirming, like matting.”

— Mark Underwood

Tom has been out and about with Unburdened and Becoming in his local area of South Devon and South East Cornwall on the seemingly endless run of swell we're having. With this cold snap the Arctic camo grip is pretty appropriate!

Have fun Tom!

Cheers

G

Warchild

Here's a mat for Joe McEachern over in New England on the East Coast of the US of A. Those with eagle eyes might spot that Joe got in on the last round of builds and I was pretty surprised to see his deposit roll in. What are the odds?! Well it turned out he was stood at the beach with Ryan Kleinert when the email dropped and Ryan clocked it! Joe jumped in on the act and there you go. If only he'd been quicker. I could've shipped his and Ryan's mats together!

Anyway, Joe's first mat, Red Rider was a 200/70 wheezy Ute which he has been having a blast on. He wanted to move things on this time and "Warchild" was conceived. A 70/70 RB-JMC free-breather cut with neg elastic rocker. Perfect stable mate for Red Rider and I reckon a mat that will open things up for Joe.

Joe tells me Warchild is from the movie Pointbreak. (I watched it about a million years ago and thought it was rubbish so don't recall... Deal with it! )

So Warchild is off to the US East Coast. A pretty healthy mat scene growing over there you know. Great to see!

Have fun Joe!

Cheers

G