Kamoenahoʻokalakupua

Hello all and a happy bit between Christmas and New Year to you all.

Here is the latest RB-JMC to go out of the workshop for Anthony Olayon over in Hawaii. This is the first of 2 for Anthony although we have agreed a few months between the 2 so that he can get the feel for this mat, a 70/70 super-free-breather with free rocker named Kamoenahoʻokalakupua which translates roughly ot Magic Towel.

Anthony and I were discussing his mat surfing exploits. He has one of my AirPlanes (stay tuned on them and the RFT's by the way... honest!) as well as a collection of other modern mats and was keen to get onto the RB-JMC. Here's a bit more about Anthony:

“I come from a bodyboard background surfing the imperfectly perfect slabby waves of Hawai’i island. Bought my first mat around ten years ago. Was hesitant to ride for fear of losing the mat and it washing up the lava lined shoreline...and honestly never quite figured out the mat riding technique a hundred percent. Fast forward to 2018. Volcanic eruptions covered our home surfing spots. That was pretty depressing as the waves lost were what a lot of us built our lives around...uncrowded waves and a tight knit crew. I lost motivation to surf and bodyboard for a good year and a half or so. Eventually started dusting off the mat and really got hooked on it and figured out how to properly ride over the last couple years. The past two years I’ve ridden the mat far more often than the bodyboard and other surf craft. Just love the speed you get on the mat and the weird comments people give you when they first see you.”

— Anthony Olayon

Sounds like the perfect time to get on this mat then!

Kamoenahoʻokalakupua sets sail tomorrow, despite being built before Christmas. We just didn't want to take the risk of shipping with over-stretched couriers.

Have fun Anthony!

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FEEDBACK - 8th JANUARY, 2022

Jason Stanson - 2 of 2

2 of 2 for Jason Stanson is a mat named "Pink Panter". This slinky pinky is the quiver mate to Ghost Rider, Jason's RB-JMC and is built with a mind to surfing the OC beaches and hollow wedges.

Pink Panter is a G-Mat Ubercat. With her positive elastic rocker and narrow beam, as well as deep concave and rail hooks, Pink Panter will transition from rail to rail easily with hold and drive through tight radius turns. She is also a free-breather to keep things responsive.

I recently built a similar mat for a very notable mat surfer who fedback that "it comes off the bottom real well and when the wave has some power it really goes". Just the ticket then eh Jason?

Pink Panter and Ghost Rider are on route so I'm hoping to get word of their adventures in the not too distant future.

Have fun Jason.

Cheers

G

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FEEDBACK - 7th JANUARY, 2022

Jason Stanson - 1 of 2

1 of 2 for Jason Standon is an RB-JMC named "Ghost Rider". Jason has been stoked on mats for some time, riding one of my stock mats, the G-Mat RFT. He has been on my mailer for ages having narrowly missed out on several occasions he got in really quickly this time!

Jason splits his time between Ventura and Newport so splits his time between points and beach breaks. Ghost Rider will love both, but especially the points.

This mat is a 70/70 super-free-breather with negative elastic rocker and a lightweight ClearFix grip job. Bar the logo, she's as white as a... Well, a ghost!

Stay tuned for the other mat in this couple.

Cheers

G

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FEEDBACK FROM JASON - 6th JAN 2022

Proto Too...

The 70/40 experiment continues...

This is a G-Mat RB-JMC built for Andrew Stephen Buck.

"Buck" needs no introduction for most mat surfers being an inspirational mat rider. If you're not familiar with him, however, he's that guy what went viral a while back burning off longboarders at Rincon. .

So onto the mat and this one is built to the same spec as my own original proto. It's important to control for as many factors as possible when testing new materials and design characteristics so feedback from one of the world's very best is going to be most meaningful if we're taking about the same mat.

So... "The Bruise" as he has called this mat (black and blue), has a 70d deck and 40d I-beams and bottom skin. She is built with a negative rocker and is a super-free-breather.

I am extraordinarily excited about this mat going to Andrew. Considering the speeds I have been getting on mine, I'm almost scared that ASB will go back in time! Let's see.

Cheers

G

Mat LeBlanc

The latest build and this is a G-Mat RB-JMC built for Steve Halpin.

Stevo is a busy fella. He runs Karma Surf Shop in Newquay, Cornwall, UK. He is also the driving force behind the amazing Real Surfing Magazine along with his wife, Helen. More recently, Steve had been bitten by the bug of ditching the fibreglass and getting a little more horizontal. That has included riding mats.

Anyone who follows the @fringesurfing Instagram page will know that Stevo has got pretty obsessed with exploring new ways to ride waves, taking the time to learn the nuanced elements of mat riding. What's more, Steve is keen to share his exploits. He's been very supportive of my own endeavours too so I was stoked to be able to build him a custom mat.

So on to the mat then and it was clearly time for Steve to step things up. With this in mind we went for a 70/70 RB-JMC. This mat is built entirely from white material and with Helen's maiden name being LeBlanc, it was obvious what this mat was going to be named!

"Mat LeBlanc" is a free-breather with free rocker. You'll notice the interesting grip pattern. Stevo was keen for an easy slide up onto the mat so the inside section of the outer pontoons and the central pontonn are clear quite a way up. However there is grip under the chest and the strips out towards the tail keep Stevo in place.

Early days but initial rumblings from Steve are positive. I have high hopes for where he goes with Mat LeBlanc.

Have fun meht!

Cheers

G

Wedding Bells!

So here we have a mat named "Shirley" built for Rob Bailey @bailey_9_

Rob had been asking about a mat for a while and managed to get in on my mailer just in the nick of time. For what? For his wedding! I was stoked to hear from Rob that he was getting hitched and that this mat was a wedding present to himself.

Perfect!

We were finalising finishing touches late in the day before but I'm sure Rob's mind was on the task at hand. 😂

Shirley is named after Rob's gran and, like her, is pretty slick. As a first mat, Rob and I agreed that a 200/70 Ute was the sensible option. She is set up as a wheezer to help keep her shape and allow for experiments with inflation.

Rob is hoping to get Shirley in the water soon. Looking forward to hearing how they go.

Congratulations again Rob!

Cheers

G

R and D - 70/40 Construction

For some time I've been interested in finding lighter fabrics than 70 denier material. Back in the day, Dale Solomonson (Neumatic) built a few mats out of 30d Taffeta. There are a few mats still kicking around made from this mythical fabric, but not many. Rare as hen's teeth, this weight of fabric is hard to find in anything other than Ripstop. And ripstop sucks for mats.

Fast forward and I've got to know talented newby mat builder Zac Garfield over at Valley Pool Toys pretty well. Zac managed to source some 40d Taffeta and was good enough to share where from.

Fast forward a little more and I've built the first of a few mats to see how this fabric is. Like Zac, I found that this material is really not easy to work with. No surprise there though.

As I've said in previous posts, it is tempting to get excited about something new and immediately put it out into the market but you need to know how it works in terms of performance, quality and durability before putting it out there. I am excited about this though.

Having ridden this 70/40 (70 denier deck and 40d I-beams and bottom) prototype named "Little Boy Blue" 3 times in varying conditions, it seems to be holding up well and it is super-duper light! Initially I wondered if this mat was more sensitive but no faster but I have tested in comparison with Night Rider (my 70/70 RB-JMC) built to the same dims. I have swapped with other surfers between the two mats and have to say it is quicker too. That means that Little Boy Blue is quicker than the mat that is quicker than any mat I'd ridden before it.

Before people get excited though, there are a few things to keep in mind. Testing isn't done yet. This mat needs at least 10 surfs to test durability as a bare minimum. I also need to get this under the bellies of better mat surfers than me. Also, if this works out then this configuration would only suit experienced mat surfers who comfortably ride 70/70 as a go to mat. It would be easy for someone to buy the 'idea' of this only to find that its not at all suitable for them. It's not about competition or anything just important to make sure people have the right mat.

Cheers

G