Jun 28, 2011

Long Mat

For catching ANY wave....



10 comments:

Growling Gecko said...

And here is one for when you would enjoy some company as you catch any wave!
http://magictowelride.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-4th-gear-flyer-prototype.html

Piskian said...

That was my first mat-80" Li-lo with pillow section cut off.I'm 68" high so couldn't put my fins in water once I was on wave.Still fun though!

This is not Ian said...

I want!!! Remember I telling you about this!

Vyusher La Kali said...

Haha, that's why I posted...

Mateo said...

theres a mat-rider in hawaii that builds his own 5' mats for big waves and long paddle outs!...

Anonymous said...

Hey Mateo, you have a point there!

Have been thinking about the distribution of volume of modern mats several times in bigger surf while in it. (Duckdiving sucks!!)
Longer length at same volume would get more to the "towel-effect", (The RTs have added length) I presume, but then I´m just a dumb-user.

PG - any comments?

T

Piskian said...

I now have a huge following in Kazakhstan,apparently.Is good...I know this.

Paul Gross said...

T,

Persoanlly, I think a "longer and narrower" aspect ratio is more desirable for mats...with the proviso that there are practical limits.

IMO, really long mats (say, 4feet and over) are harder to control in hollow waves for most mat riders, because when you pull yourself up on the mat after take off, your legs and fins are no longer in the water.

There's a lot of experimenting left to do on mats, but any conclusions have to be tempered with the reality that each mat rider has different tastes and priorities, so there are no hard and fast resolutions.

pranaglider said...

"It's not how long you make it, it's how you make it long" (I get all my cutting edge design ideas from late 60's cigarette commercials.) That said I'd like to try one!

Miguel said...

what's really fun is using a kickboard for bodyboarding!