Mr Bubble

Here's a mat for my good friend and mat surfing legend, Andrew Stephen Buck (AKA ASB or "Buck").

Andrew has played a huge part in the evolution of my designs over the years. The Rubber Bucky model was designed based on his feedback over a number of prototypes. Following this the design was further tweaked based on feedback from Jamie McClellan to create the RB-JMC, and this is what Andrew has been riding since.

You may have noticed as well that Andrew is a big fan of animal themed mats and this one is no exception. Andrew was keen to go with a crab this time around and this is the design we came up with. In consultation with his nieces, this mat was named Mr Bubble. Pretty much the perfect name for a mat!

As for all the technical jimbo-jambo, Mr Bubble is an RB-JMC super-free-breather with negative elastic rocker... About as fast and sensitive as possible. We have also gone with a low profile spring valve for Andrew to try, as well as a bungee for potential pool encounters.

Mr Bubble gets collected tomorrow and should be in Carpinteria before the end of the week so going well. Not that there's any surf by the looks of it but hey ho... The waves will be back.

Have fun Andrew.

Cheers

G

Bulgy the Whale

It's Bulgy the Whale Kids!

Surfmat supremo Andrew Stephen Buck is heading over to the UK and having only palmed off protos to him in recent times we agreed it was high time we did something just for him. People who have seen his previous mats (Fluffy Sunshine, Comrade Napoleon and Mick Dundee) will be aware of his penchant for animal pool toy themed mats.

With that all in mind Bulgy was born! Bulgy was an actual toy inflatable whale so the perfect name for this ride!

Bulgy (this one) is a 70/70 RB-JMC with negative rocker and super-free-breather venting. I stepped up the venting in the super-free at the beginning of the year and think Andrew will appreciate it. Bulgy has been painted with acid dye and then mouth, eyes, fins and blowhole stenciled. A time consuming build but I'm super pleased with the result.

You might also notice the bungee up front and be thinking "WTF?! Buck with a leash?!" Don't worry, no such nonsense. Andrew is coming over to the UK and we're meeting up at the Wave pool on July 4th of all dates! Hopefully someone will get some footage.

We're hoping we'll get some actual real waves whilst he's over. Maybe a flight down to Newquay airport is in order

Anyway... Bulgy is a thing now.

Have fun ASB

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

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

The Rincon Rental Raft

I'm getting this post up now because I won't have a chance between now and leaving for a pretty sweet holiday.

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This is the last custom mat built before my trip to SoCal. She is for ASB by way of rent, what with us parking an RV on his driveway for almost a week.  Given the fact that this is a gift, I've taken the liberty of naming her myself and so the Rincon Rental Raft has been born.

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"RRR" is a 200/70 free-breathing Ute with elastic rocker, a Hestered valve and a cracked patterned grip. I'm looking forward to seeing this gal get an outing in the flesh.

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So, last one until I get back. I'll be reading and replying to emails while I'm in the US and am hoping to get a few mat meets together.  

I have a brown baseball cap with an orange logo in my case and it will go free to the first person I meet over there who tells me face-to-face that they like brown, like orange and wear caps.

Cheers

G

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More from ASB and his Fluffy Sunshine

Stoked to get this clip shot by Dave Schauber.

I get so stoked seeing people riding mats that I've built. Nearly as good as actually surfing.

Check out Dave Schauber's Instagram account @surf_film_fish_moto

Cheers

G

ASB and Friends

I've been sent a lovely shot of ASB surfing his home break with Rincon compadre, Ross Bushnell. 

Photo by Sean Johnson 

Andrew swears blind he was invited to party! 😆

As you will notice, ASB is riding a fairly high vis mat. She is called Fluffy Sunshine and was really built as a fun project, but has since become his favourite mat. 

Quack! 

Andrew says:

"I'm all about the bright colored mat now. No

More "I didn't see you"

Sounds like the right move. I'm planning a trip over to SoCal in spring and was worried about getting waves at Rincon. I'm planning a trip to SoCal in the spring. Given my solitary surfing style and talent for finding empty waves, I've kinda lost the art of jostling so was worried about getting waves at Rincon, but with ASBs passion for partying I think I'll just hang inside and drop in on him!

Nice...  

G