Stinga

Been a little while but Ive been busy with a couple of prototype ideas, a couple of BodyBags and a wee trip away, but I have been cracking on with a couple of custom orders too.

Say hello to "Stinga," a G-Mat Ute lovingly hand crafted for Aussie mat surfer Dany Gruosso. Dany has been riding mats consistently for a while now and has well and truely got the bug. Dany says:

“Riding a surf mat is pure joy, and it’s the camaraderie within our unique brotherhood and sisterhood that makes it even better. I was introduced to mat riding by a local surf legend who turned to mats after being unable to surf on a board anymore. It took me a week or two to get the hang of steering the mat, but once I did, I was hooked. Since then, I’ve never stopped grinning on every wave I catch.

There’s something magical about mat riding—the speed, the connection with the energy of the wave, and the fact that no wave is too small to enjoy. The crew I ride with are all about those early sessions, hitting the water 20-30 minutes before first light. It forces you to tune into your other senses, creating an almost otherworldly experience on some mornings. Mat riding isn’t just about the waves; it’s about the stoke that comes from embracing every moment in the water with like-minded mates.”

— Dany Gruosso

That's a pretty perfect description and sounds like Dany and I favour the same super early sessions. Best part of the day.

So on to Stinga, she's a Ute as mentioned. We went back and forth on models before settling on the Ute. Dany opted for a wheezer to help stabilize the 70d deck. He's also gone for a free elastic rocker to make things super versatile. Stinga really is a perfect all-round lightweight mat.

As you might have noticed, there is a slight bleed on the G logo. AAAAAAARGH! I spoke to Dany about options and neither of us were keen on ditching the skin. I'd have used it somehow but its important to me to be as efficient as I can with these materials. We settled on a free tee. My wife Becky called the blem a birth mark which is a nice touch.

So Stinga is headed down-under and I'm excited ti hear how Dany finds her.

Have fun Dany.

Cheers

G

First Light

This is a G-Mat RB-JMC named "First Light" built for Aussie mat surfer and super-talented potter, Gus McDiarmid (see Pan Pottery).

Gus one of the crop of talented Noosa mat surfers. He is a tall fella and is also of a relatively streamlined build so we had to think carefully around scaling his mat to match his height; not be too wide for his frame but retaining an aspect ratio that allows the mat to still be an RB-JMC. In short, simply whacking a bit of extra length on isn't enough to achieve these things! Nonetheless, I'm very hopeful we got there in the end. There is only one way to find out of course!

Gus has spent a bit of time in South Devon, UK (where I now live) and it was at my South Coast local that he first got into mats. He said:

“Jim Newitt pulled a mat out and surfed the left corner of Chally in 2008. When I got back home to Australia, I ordered one straight away. It’s been ecstatic joy ever since.

There is so much to say about the mat, but ultimately it’s the feeling of pure joy and the fun I get when matting, that is what I love most about it. The Noosa mat crew is dynamic and most sessions are comedic. Five mats on a set wave is the highlight of this year!

Ben (Zubkevych) and I live on the same street and we like it to hit it early. The time we like to get in is 20 minutes before first light, hence the name.

Thanks G, and thanks for stretching this one out! Long live “First Light.”

— Gus McDiarmid

Long live indeed! First Light is a super-free-breather with an elastic neg rocker so built to go very fast. She is perfect for those long Noosa rights. Gus was inspired by James Tanner's mat named Crumbs colour-wise and I think it's a fine choice.

I'm really excited to hear how things work out with First Light. Have fun Gus!

Cheers

G

Loligo

Meet "Loligo". A G-Mat Ute built for Mark Garcia (not to be confused with Mark Sheridan Garcia who had a mat recently).

Mark has been riding mats for a long time and I'm proud to say that he has been riding mine for years now. I built Mark a Ute back in 2016 named Narwhal. More recently Mark has been surfing a 200/70 G-Mat RFT-M and has really settled into that size of mat so we agreed to scale his new ride around that.

Mark loves his RFT so has opted for a Ute (the mothrr of the RFT) to expand his quiver, rather than replace his mat. Mark wanted Loligo to give a different ride though, so with that in mind we went for a 70d deck and upped the internal venting to make Loligo a free-breather. We also went for a negative elastic rocker.

Loligo is named after a species of squid native to the waters around Mark's Californian home. A pretty apt name then on several levels!

Loligo should land with Mark any moment. Have fun Mark!

Cheers

G

Ellie 2

Here is"Ellie 2", a G-Mat Nouveau Racer built for Aussie matsurfer, Peter Abbott.

I agreed to squeeze Pete in for a mat a while back after his first mat from me, Ellie, fell victim to the seemingly increasing peril of talentless loggers getting in the way and either going belly up right in front of someone riding (if you're caught inside paddle for the wash and take what's coming to you) or letting riderless lumps plow through the line up because they "don't need a leash"!

Sorry for the rant but take responsibility for yourselves you f*cknubbins!

[exhale]

So... Onto Ellie 2. She's a 200/70 wheezer built to feel like a trustworthy r stable ide on critical waves. Pete surfs some bigger hollow surf and has found that the Nouveau Racer design fitted this perfectly. He was keen to go with a red deck again. The material I have now is different to the stuff I had before with this red being a deeper kind of cherry colour. It really is very nice. The original Ellie had a black bottom skin but having chatted with Pete we agreed on navy. It's much a little more malleable (a more apt word than "flex" which I've seen a bit lately) and therefore faster.

Other than that we haven't changed a thing.

Ellie 2 is en route right now and Pete has some travel planned so I'm looking forward to hearing about Ellie 2's adventures!

Have fun Pete fun Pete and watch out for the kooks!

Cheers

G

Arrakis

Meet “Arrakis”… New aquatic companion to the surfmat obsessed James Prangnell.

In case you hadn’t picked it up, James is obsessed with surfmats. You might have come across him on social media (@greatestthingsinceslicedbread7 on Instagram) oozing stoke and good vibes. I can appreciate his appreciation… I have been obsessed with mats myself for over 15 years.

James was an early customer of the G-Mat RFT range buying a 200/70 RFT-M during the early runs with the life-jacket valves and deck logo. He has a number of mats and loves his RFT so when he got in on the current run of custom mats he had a clear plan in mind to get an RB-JMC. He wanted his two G-Mats to match and asked me to copy the logo height (smaller than the standard G-Mat deck logo) and also the RFT Series font for the number… Check!

Arrakis is a 70/70 build with negative rocker and free-breather venting. James has opted to Hester the valve as well. Arrakis might look like James’s RFT but is very different. James plans to find some open faced waves to let his new ride fly!

So why Arrakis? James says:

“I had a bit of a think and I’ve come up with the name ‘Arrakis’.

It’s simple really, I like the word itself. I do love the word’s connection to spice, in the story of Dune, and also where the flow state my mind goes into when I am mat surfing. It doesn’t have to be that deep though. I just like ‘Arrakis’!”

— James Prangnell

Arrakis is currently en route to Oz to hook up with James. It’s been a joy collaborating on this build and I’m looking forward to hearing how things work out.

Have fun James!

Cheers

G

Lindsay

This is Lindsay, a mat built for Californian Mat surfer Cameron Weaver. Cam is the son of Longboarding maestro Robert “Wingnut” Weaver and is a highly accomplished waterman himself. He has been riding mats for some time in good point break waves and was keen to get a mat with good speed and hold. We had a few conversations and as is often the case with experienced mat riders, he chose the RB-JMC model with negative elastic rocker.

We had a few conversations around venting and after a bit of discussion concluded that a Free-Breather rather than a Super-Free-Breather would be the best option. Free-Breathers are very responsive but will hold their shape a little better than completely unrestricted mats and as some of the waves Cam surfs can have a little bump at times we felt that going down the middle would maximise the overall speed/hold balance.

When it came time for Cam to name his mat he went for “Lindsay” after the author of the essential book “Naval Architecture of Planing Hulls”. Such a perfect name! It inspired me to revisit this book that I had in PDF. When I have tried to find a hard copy of this I have always come up against a list of books over £100 GBP. As luck (or fate?) would have it, I asked Jeeves and the next thing you know a copy of the 3rd Edition was in the post to me for £15 GBP. Happy G!!!

Anyway, back to Cam. I asked him about his journey into mats and he said:

“Caught the mat bug the last couple years as a byproduct of trying to avoid the crowds around my local and finding ways to surf windows nobody else wants to….been surfing as long as I can remember, riding whatever I can get my hands on….lately smaller planing hulls have been on the menu, a custom mat was the next logical progression….”

— Cameron Weaver

I had a couple of conversations with Wingnut about mats as he wanted to surprise Cam by paying for Lindsay. Wingnut has tried mats a bit and is keen to join Cam in the water so I squeezed in a 200/70 5 Star General for him. For those unaware, this was my original stock mat and the predecessor to the RFT. I think the green deck, black grip and logo combo look pretty sweet! I bumped into Wingnut’s good friend Sam Bleakley recently and showed him Cam’s mat.

So Lindsay and the green 5 Star General are off to California as I type along with a Lilo Life hoodie.

Looking forward to hearing the ride report from team Weaver. Have fun fellas!

Cheers

G

Care Package

One for Derek Hynd, an emergency G-Mat RB-JMC. Since building a mat named 'Donald Campbell' for Derek a few months ago he hasn't been on a board and reckons he's had over a hundred sessions including a load of heavy freefall drops in big surf at The Pass. The deck material (not our main supplier) suffered a small TPU delamination. DC is currently heading back to G-Mat towers for some TLC and this mat named "Care Package" was shipped over a week ago so is due to land any second.

Derek is the ultimate test pilot surfing twice a day in whatever conditions and pushes his mat way beyond usual use so it's great to get this direct feedback.

Care Package is another 70/70 RB-JMC with negative elastic rocker and super-free-breather venting so a very fast mat. As mentioned the material is the same throughout and I've added a little more grip given the amount of water time Derek's mats get.

Have fun Derek!

Cheers

G