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Hey Paul,
The GS-UDT and the Fatty have been treating me incredibly well - so well, in fact that I almost never ride my boards anymore! It's been a gradual learning curve, but so, so fun. I'm still figuring out how to climb the face of the wave on the mat - your last surfmatters post about "banking while trimming" was super helpful.
Anyway, one of my very best friends on the East Coast just got married, and as a wedding gift, I'd like to order two mats - one for him, and one for his new bride. They live in Connecticut, and they tend to surf in NY and the Dominican Republic. I was thinking of getting them a Classic (for her, very petit) and a TRT (for him, about 185lbs and fit).
Thanks again for all the smiles!
Cheers, Tremor
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Paul
hijacked the tracker rt from the office at last looks great thanks for doing the hot wax
Got the mat in the water today on some nice big surf.rode great love the glide and was easy to turn rode it firm down to floppy and it just jammed.
not really any solid idea on that yet i paddled it out almost flat to get through the sets by doing the fold hold through the wash. I blew it up when i made it out firm caught a wave about 6-8 foot and smoked down the line. It held real good but did feal the tail side a bit but my fins were out.deflated more air to about a low 7 that's favorite for my fatty and standard and the mat just took off again held the line did a few nice long turns . Tell you Paul i will keep playing with it but i like the half way mark.
Daniel
ps alot of the shots come out blury cause your mats r so damm fast.
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Hey Paul,
Had the standard out in a range of conditions already:
Got a feel for the mat at half inflation in waves at my home break (2ft and clean). After this session learned the importance of dragging my fins in the water and somewhat learnt how to make it out the back (surprisingly difficult). Good Session.
Then went to the east coast and enjoyed a range of waves on themorning of the 26th (3ft clean but soft) confirmed what the users guide said about body position, midday (3ft onshore muck lots of flat sections) noticed how fast the mat could potentially go over flat section with an experienced rider. AWESOME SESSION.
Back home more 2ft waves with the ocasional 3-3.5ft sets, first pull in (did not make) and on another managed to scoot around a section usually impossible on my paipo.
Back to east coast complete mush attempted to ride mat, waves to avearage (waves breaking onto other unbroken waves IMPOSSIBLE to catch) rode shorebreak got scared by all the debris washing in with howling onshore winds. Bummer Session.
Back home solid 5-6ft howling offshore have mat inflated so I can fold in half, jump into rip, out back after a few small ones on the head. Out back shitting bricks clearly underestimated size (mind in overdrive: F**k I've NEVER riden my mat this low before - in hindsight should have inflated it, it's only the hardcore local surfers) one surfer says "does that even have a rail" even though shitting bricks reply proudly "if you squeze the outside rail it does." Almost kick into a couple, but can't push myself over the edge. 7ft clean-up set arrives, try to duck dive (haven't got that fully sussed yet), get RAG-DOLLED manage to hold on to mat. Getting wasted, but I am strangley calm (probably lasted less than 15 seconds, felt like ages though), break surface - everything went better than expected - pop up further in pfssssttt strange sound bung popped out with pressure, panicking about it filling with water, i put it back in. Catch one small one in on magic towel inflation levels, walk up hill tail between my legs. Watch from hill as my dad struggles to get out on his tabletop paipo, see guys snap boards. Approached by another grom, around my age "going out?" "I've been," I tell him "on that?" "yep had great session, didn't catch anything but learnt a couple of things." - Never let go of my mat. See him walk back up after 10 mins - usually charges. Get home - At least i gave it a go. alright session.
Thanks again for the mat, already felt like i've learnt heaps and I have had a couple of awesome sessions on it. Excellent craftsmanship by the way mat is great and looks great.
Michael
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Hi Paul,
The mat arrived earlier this week. I have yet to try it (problem of being land locked) but I am checking the forecasts every day in the hope of freeing myself.
Thanks once again for all your help.
Kind regards, Tristan
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Hello Paul,
just wanted to send you greetings from 41 St in Capitola - chilly, glassy waves and a small crowd. I finally managed to enjoy a long ride on that wave.
A great way to start the new year.
Hope you are well. Tom
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Hi Paul
I'm going to be in California between 18-26 of this month January, kind-of on business. I'm staying with friends in Seal Beach, I'm bringing my TRT & Standard, wettie & flippers, I'm gona get wet! :))
I was in SoCal 30years ago, surfed a bit then, based in Huntington beach, but I'm sure its super crowded now, any suggestions of a good break not too far from where I'm staying & is there some mat folk I might contact? my buddy has board surfing friends down in Carlsbad & Laguna Niguel, so I guess we'll be headed south from L.A.
I'd like to thank you personally for making the surf craft that's given me so much fun in the last 4 years.
So Thank you :))
Peace Peter
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Hey Yous,
Well here I am landlocked in Brisbane, QLD since NZ authorities sent me on another year long go round. Not to worry
Okay, to carry the main idea forward, I am way ultra super-stoked on the progression of SURFMATTERS into a nerdy tech blog!!! YES. This is the bread and butter I was hoping to see flourish in the early days of blind posting of total drivel. Lo and behold -- tech talk is occurring and the ridiculous reaching posts are paying off. Way cool dudes and all the ultimate best wishes! Yee hah!!!
pd
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Hey Paul
Just got back from a weekend in Santa Barbara. I am so lucky to have a fiancee who wanted to take me up there for my birthday, so I could surf (and so we could eat and drink well too!!).
Brought the surf mats along even though the "swell of the winter" was in the water. As you know, Santa Barbara is a fickle fickle beast. Got out Friday night on our way up, and it was biggish, but messy and not fully connecting all the way. Still fun to feel some energy, but I've had much better days there.
Next morning, wake up in our hotel across from the harbor, so I take a walk, and find it kind of breaking even with the 6 foot high tide. Go back, have breakfast and wait for the tide to drop. Head back out with my vespa roundtail on the dropping tide. Waves were small, knee high ish, but peeling pretty far down the spit. I surfed for about an hour and a half with only a couple groms, and caugt a ton of waves from behind the rocks, some going more than halfway down the spit. I feel like I'm finally clicking with the mat. I've gotten much better at taking off behind the mat and then pulling up onto it, which makes it so much easier. Plus it lets you in super early and outside, definitely can compete with longboarders now. Even snagged a couple little warping tubes and had one of the groms hooting as he watched me pull in and fly right at him!
Next morning, surfed a junky wave in Ventura County. Waves were backing off, breaking, not breaking, just kind of weird. So I grabbed the UDT. Proceeded to catch some really fun waves, taking off way outside of the surfers, and riding them a good 75-100 yards, well past where even the SUPper was taking them to. The look on everyone's faces was priceless as I'd come flying from outside of them and bank into a bottom turn and then shoot down the line like a rocket.
Why more people up there aren't on mats is beyond me. So many less than perfect waves up there that are perfectly suited for mats.
Thanks again Paul!!
Brett
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Hi Paul,
The 5GF is here already. I haven't opened the box yet, I'm going to savor the anticipation for a bit : )
Best, Dirk
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Hi Paul,
OK, that didn't last very long! I opened and inflated it, and now I'm drooling all over it. If I were 20 years younger, I'd consider registering surfmats.xxx right now!
But seriously, if I can tell anything from just the feel of the dry mat, I say there's no doubt that I could make this model go. Narrower than any other that I've been on, I can sense how this would operate on a steep wall. I thought of Jalama right away.
Best, Dirk
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Hey Paul,
Diggin' the latest Surfmatters entry!.....it is all about the flanges!
Thanks for all the Big Wed. posts....I was just a junior in high school when all that was going down.
Take care, JJ
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Tatum just called and said the mat showed up today. How the fuck did you do that?
I order something from Virginia and it takes three weeks to show up. You're on the other side of the damn country and somehow you can get a package here in less than 48 hours.
No wonder the 4GF's are magic, you've got the wikiwiki don't you.
Stoked to get home and unbox, hopefully get to ride it once or twice before we leave for PR
Thanks again Paul, Jamie
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Hello, Paul,
Good morning!
Oh, so stoked! What a beautiful morning . . . with clean, glassy waist to chest high waves. I had a magical little soul session on the Vespa Roundtail at a fun reef as the tide was coming up today. A couple of exciting double ups too! The Vespa was flying through the inside, I love the Vespa Roundtail in small waves. When the surf picks up we look forward to giving the 5GF more testing.
Thanks so much for the amazing, fun wave riding craft that you make.
Aloha, Cher
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Hey Paul
Been riding the Fatty and it works great for me. Mostly waist high waves, haven't got to 3rd gear but still having fun.
Thanks, RR
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paul,
finally got out on the fatty in 3-4 ft point break for my first time, what a trip! yes, a learning curve, but the fun of discovery is amazing, especially in playing with the air pressure, every time I got to the shoulder or a flat, i thought the program was over, but not! still had enough speed and momentum along with maneuverability to carve back and almost skate over the surface, i can only hope my discovery will be as great on my 2nd go out, so much to learn (and i was worried about going back on a board,)
thanks for the fun and the longterm discovery, a funny side note, since i had been ill, and it was my first time out with the fatty and really didn't know when I might get out again, every time I rode a wave, I fooled with the air pressure just a little bit, starting with a (soft) full mat, my friends were looking at me yelling "does that damn thing have a leak already?" , I was not going to explain to them what I was doing since they thought I was nuts to be on a mat anyway, but, they all watched very carefully and saw me smile a lot,
Michael
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in Utah for x dance film festival, return to Oz on Tuesday. agaiin thank you and aloha jack
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Hi Paul.
The Vespa arrived yesterday. Stoked! Will take it out for a test drive this afternoon.
not sure where i'm gonna surf just yet. will definitely let you know if i'll be surfing at the pier. looks like really small, but glassy conditions today.
can't wait. showed the mat to one of my buddies, will allison (he's a local shaper and former US champ) and he was SUPER stoked on it. he said, he figured i might actually very well start a little trend locally with your mats.
talk/type to you soon
Mark
Thanks again for the quick response on this. Much appreciated!
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Couldn't even imagine better service than that, you're the man!
JS
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i got some fun waves on your mat this evening! had some equipment issues with my fins but the mat worked perfectly. can't wait to get out tomorrow--and then our next big swell. I already had two locals comment (stoked!) on the mat.
MA
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Hey Paul,
got the mat mate!!
Was absolutely chomping at the bit to get out there this arv and can definitely feel the 5GF is a winner already. Felt really nice off the bottom on the bigger, bumpier sets at the Pass. Definitely feels like a mat for bigger, more powerful surf that's for sure.
Super keen to give it a run in some bigger stuff this coming week. Will keep you informed and thanks again!!!
cheers, Evan
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surfed the 5GF a bunch of times this weekend. GG was out and there were bumpy, stormy wedges with a fair bit of punch to them and the 5GF handled it all with ease. Cutbacks were a breeze, and like I read on a previous ride report, they definitely feel like they have a fin attached. No sliding out no matter how hard I pushed it. Have found a good level of pressure, which is super low and what I am normally used to riding on other mats.
Can't wait to get it into some sizeable tubes, I think the thing will come into a whole other level in those sort of conditions.
Will get some photos happening soon.....
Evan
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thanks paul
mats arrived on the 19th
but i did not pick them up till today
been up with boyd and gg
could not get back with the rain and floods and stuff
will try the standard soon
looks nice
Warren
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Hi Paul,
last March I received 3 surfmats from you. A lot has happened since then.
Living in Sweden I don't get the chance to use the mat that often, mostly due to lack of waves. However, last year I have been in the water twice as much because of the surfmats ability to deal with bad conditions. Mostly I was surfing alone and I had a blast.
At the end of last year I started shooting videos. Check out my site on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/tici/videos
There are two surf videos and both feature some mat riding. In both it's the last wave and the one that was the most fun.
I hope you like it.
Kind regards, Tim
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Hey Paul.
Just had to write and let you know that I had a GREAT session on the mat last Friday. The waves have been pretty crap since then but we had good chest high peelers for part of the day and I took the Vespa out. Had a blast from the very start. But man, what a work out. I'm totally in shape for surfing, just not mat surfing! Nice humbling for me. And tons of fun.
Straight up hoot. Will keep you posted. Thanks again,
MA
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Hi Paul,
So I've had my Vespa RT since September. I've had a couple fun waves on it before today, but for the most part, I've either ridden something else since then, or conditions have been less than stellar. So today I pull up at the local beach break, and the waves were really clean, but only long board worthy. 1-3' Slow and mushy, breaking way outside, and then slowly reforming on the inside. I didn't bring my long board, and I didn't want to ride it anyway, so I grabbed my Vespa RT, and holy hell, what an eye opener! I was grabbing waves from way outside, connecting the dots and and getting through the flats to the inside shore break, and having the time of my life for a couple of hours. I got some of the longest beach break rides I've ever had. The Vespa glides like some 12' thing Skip Frye might shape. This all happened 9 hours ago and I'm still giggling like an idiot. Thank you!
Cheers,
Dave
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PG,
Thanks for the post, some really interesting info in there.
I've just returned from a couple of weeks in Sri Lanka and I want to tell you that I predominantly grabbed The Standard for all kinds of different waves during the holiday. Last time I was there I used either a UDT or a Contrail and I'm now convinced that the smallest mat (The Standard) is The Goods for me most of the time. Who would've thunk it? Small guy = small mat...hmmm, weird!
NS Pye
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paul hiya ,
got matts at chrisse on time , thanks, it was great to ride some fresh ones.
UDT hasnt got a real run yet but will do soon.
Thanks again, scott
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Hello Paul,
the 5GF arrived 6.00pm today
Thankyou .
No swell here at present but hopefully will get in the water soon to give it a go .
The prototype findings sound interesting.
We are going up the coast in a couple of weeks so will give you some feed back if we get some decent surf.
Thanks again
Cheers Eric
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Hi Paul,
It's a glorious day today, hot, glassy, and pumping. I had to drive a bunch of school kids to a field trip activity at Hendry's Beach a.k.a. The Pit, so I halfway resigned myself to missing it. However, the schedule allowed me to spend about an hour in the big thumping beach break conditions with overhead sets, so I decided to christen the 5GF.
I got 6 strong rides, and my first impression is that it works great. I'm about 205 in my 3/2 wetsuit, and I was afraid that I might be too heavy. But there was a lot of juice, fast-moving swells, and the mat was as comfortable and solid as could be. Paddling out and duck-dives were easy, as expected, but take-offs were no problem at all. I did a couple of no-paddle, kicking-only take-offs right under the lip, and hooked into an immediate high tight line -- perfect hold and plenty of driving speed. The big sliver peaks that I picked off didn't allow me to really accelerate thru the gears per se, but I rode the last one all the way to the beach and strung together a couple of inside sections just to feel it weight/unweight -- very zippy. It felt especially tight after spending a lot of time on the Vespa and the Tracker -- mellower rides that I love, but not appropriate for this kind of punch.
You know I'm a devoted Standard rider in full-bore waves, but I'm really excited about this 5GF. Can't wait to try it again!
Best, Dirk
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Wow! Great service! Thank you so much!
Cameron
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WOW!!! This kind of customer service is the reason I told the girl in the surf shop today, that I was going to order Made in America!!! Californian even!!!! Robert's gonna order one for me now.
Thanks, Catherine
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Thanks Paul, that was incredibly fast! looks really cool- I had never seen one in person before!
I will keep you posted on my experiences, it is winter still on the East Coast so I may wait a bit, 45 degree water is tough when you are trying to learn new skills.
Thank you again.
Jim
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Hi Paul,
Mats arrived this morning in perfect order and I was so excited I had to go straight out to test the fatty. The surf was tiny 1 foot and I had doubts that I would even be able to catch a wave. Oh how wrong I was, this mat blew my mind from the get go, so easy to catch waves, loose and fast. I had so much fun caught 30 waves and came in stoked, and thats in surf I normally wouldnt even consider riding the mal in.
I added a sequence of my very first wave on the fatty that my wife was good enough to capture as she knew how excited I was.
Thanks again Paul Im truly stoked with the mats and I cant wait to get the standard in some decent waves and I'll let you know how mind blowing I know its going to be.
Regards, Brett.
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Hey Paul,
I hope you are well.
Looks like I have a trip to Singapore coming up in a month and I've been 'torn' between going to the East coast of Malaysia by ferry and taxi (way off the beaten track, high probability of supping only due to lack of waves but less strenuouss than...) or buying a ticket to Bali for 48 hrs and getting a tiny shot of 'Indo'.
Point is... your random picking of my pic today ain't makin' it easier - or is it a 'sign'?....
Been out of the water too long.
Tom
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