My Name Is Prana G,

And I ride a mat...

Mat Rider's Bucket List...

What's yours?

Global Matters

As the guy who opened the original google account for this blog, it's really fun to watch the graphic at bottom of the page to see who has logged on. What if everyone asked to post, and got an invitation to be a Surfmatters blogger -- and actually posted? Wouldn't that be fun? I'd like to know how many lookers actually ride mats, and what your deeper thoughts are. So, everybody, let's hear from you in the form of a post. This is a friendly direct challenge to step up! Okay, please leave your email address in your comment if you want to post, so that we can send you your invitation you to be a Surfmatters author.

TK, JC, NP, Satoshi and Steph Weigh In...

(Fraudulently recreated scene of two mat riders...not representative of TK or JC or NP, or Satoshi or Stephenie either. Just some mat surfer dudes.)

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Hi Paul,

Rode the RT today in some hollow, shallow, shifty, glassy 4-6ft face waves at south Oceanside. I had a feeling the RT would do well in hollow waves...yep it sure does!

I got so many barrels my brain almost exploded. I have a question for you...

"Do you know a way to keep the muscles in in the face from cramping up?"

I smile so damn much when matting, my face hurts.

Peace,

T.K.

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Paul,

I see the light now. :)

I don't have a full report, but the Tracker really works!

I had some fun, smoking li'l waves (2-3 foot faces, high-tide) yesterday and today, with no one out...but a packed beach (thank you, blackball). I kept thinking, "It's like it's on a track." Didn't occur to me until later that "its called The Tracker, you moron."

The combination of the in-between size and longer center pontoon/tail shape really works with the hybrid materials. It does seem to "cut" through turns more like it has a fin on it.

Thanks, J.C.

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And, Satoshi O. renamed the Tracker! I like "Trucker Roundtail!" So "Early 70's San Francisco!" :)



Hi PG,

I got your Trucker Roundtail. I and my wife used it few times.

My wife says it seems to have a turbojet. When to take off, beginning to glide, abruptly the speed become up! I think so, too.

Can you understand what I want to say?

I love the Trucker Roundtail.

Aloha,

Satoshi O.

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Hi Paul

So I have had two chances to try the tracker roundtail...and it is a blast. I tried on my own at the beach break in Anahola last Tuesday and then with Marta Ambrose at Sands in Wailua area on Sunday.

At Anahola I had the mat over-inflated...which made it harder to get the idea of creating the rail with the squeeze...but good fun in crashing closeouts! About shoulder height, from what I could tell on the kids surfing the same waves...they suck out as they break so the drop gets bigger...I could not stay at the top on the take offs to get an angle left or right on what little part of the wave had a face before closing out...

With Marta, and after a lot of pointers two nights earlier from Ambrose Curry at their place about proper inflation and positioning and rail creating, releasing and riding flat...I had more success getting a direction of right and left...still slow on the steps to make the rail happen, which foot drags, etc...but great fun! It was mushy, about 2 feet, some 3 foot sets...lots of push though mushy .

So I am getting the idea, now it is getting the leg strength to kick and need to fix a bum shoulder from too many years of wear and tear...Marta helped me do a better kick and also she just is a mat enthusiast to the max! It is her preferred wave riding machine.

I think having a stronger kick will help me set up my arms and hands faster to set the rails and adjust the mat for speed...and moving on a bigger wave face..I am still paddling with my arms too.

Since I am new to the whole experience I could not tell the nuances of the roundtail's design, but it seems to me that it made it easier to turn into the wave direction...I would have to be a better surfer and also check another design. There are quite a few mat enthusiasts on Kauai who live here. Marta tells me they go out on bigger days...so yesterday's 2-3 was uncrowded and fun!

Last summer I met a tourist from Wyoming who was riding a red one that he got up in Canada...We were at Annihi Beach, just north of Kilihiwai. Similar to what the set up at sands was like yesterday, but each place as you know is unique...

Sorry no pictures, but will keep you posted...would be good to get some size once I get my timing down better.

Stephenie

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Hi Paul,

I penned this after my first experience on the Tracker RT:

Initial impression of the Tracker

Before I begin, I should preface this ’report’ with my relevant and limited experience. I am new to riding waves aboard a mat. I received my first mat from Paul Gross just over two months ago. Due to my small frame, that mat was a Fourth Gear Flyer ‘Standard’ model. Since receiving the Standard I have left all of my other surfcraft in the garage to collect dust. Unfortunately, the swell has not been abundant of late, mostly in the 1-3ft range. I’m lead to believe that the Standard doesn’t truly come into its own until the waves are in the 3ft + end of the scale. Regardless of this, I’ve had the greatest small wave fun of my life! With that said, I can only compare the Tracker model to these recent experiences.

The first difference I noticed was upon take-off, the Tracker took off about one second before the Standard would have. The difference was quite pronounced. The Tracker almost threw itself down the wave face.

Next, I realised after a couple of decent wall runs, this new mat was less inclined to ‘slide ass’ towards shore. When I really pushed it, it did break free but it was easily corrected with an inside fin dip. My guess is that the added length helps this.

This morning was my first session upon the Tracker. During this surf, I enjoyed the greatest ride that I’ve ever experienced in small waves, be it on a longboard or a fish or even bodysurfing. After quickly taking off in the pit, the mat began to ‘track’ across the face almost immediately as if it was guided by a railway road. Swiftly, I was onto a flatter shoulder section and ahead was yet another peak at a slightly different angle. As soon as I spotted this next section its lip began to feather and my ride looked as though it had reached its conclusion. Without any physical readjustment, I gazed at the spitting lip and hoped. As if by some display of telekinetic proficiency, the mat answered my prayers and the fast-moving peak was paused while the Tracker found the high-line and shifted up a gear. I felt like a Jedi, surfing with my mind rather than my physical body.

Incredible fun!

NP

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Best Day EVER At County Line!!!

R Kelly prone/knee riding a 9'8" roundtail hull.

Nice stalling move at :35!

Random Shots

Photos: Internet.

XXS Summer

Early summer has been fairly flat in Hawaii. However, there are some microwaves.

From the Files of Mr Dirk...

Hi Paul,

This seems seems apropos, somewhat like our totem friends the wave gliding pelicans.

Best,

Dirk

Hawaii Quiver

7'9", 3'6", 2'8".

From Tom K...

(Paraphrased from the "Shinden School of Samurai Swimming.")

Water is the source of wisdom; swimming is the mother of all the arts. Children should be introduced to the sea as early as possible. Rather than being strictly "taught" how to
float and swim, they should be unobtrusively guided at first in order to allow them to gradually acquaint themselves with the water.

Body and mind must remain flexible. A calm mind is the single most important element of successful training. A swimmer must avoid struggling against the water, against him or herself, or against others. A trainee must strive to harmonize him or herself with the waves, becoming one with the body of water, be it a pond, lake, river, or ocean. Ride the waves with your mind as well as your body.

There are four levels of mastery, symbolized by the four seasons.

In spring the raw summer, bursting with energy and eager to compete, needs discipline and hard physical training.

In summer, the experienced swimmer, now at his or her physical peak, should explore the full dimensions of the art.

In autumn, the mature swimmer can relax a bit, sporting more freely in the water, and reflect on past experiences.

By winter, a true swimmer has become a wise old master, beyond the limits of victory or defeat, in prefect harmony with the sky, sea, and shore.

Swimming teaches us how to live properly. There is no way a solitary swimmer can impose his or her selfish will on the water. Swimming against the current will ultimately result in disaster. Swim with the flow, without strain, resistance, confusion, or unnatural movement.

Diving fosters bravery.

Submerging, patience.

Floating, serenity.

Distance swimming, fortitude.

Racing, a fighting spirit.

Swimming in frigid water, perserverance.

A swimmer should practice in all manner of water -- seas, lakes, marshs, rivers, and ocean...and under all types of conditions -- currents, waves, muddy water, and whirlpools.


TK

Mat Surfing Is Not A Crime!

Paul,

Got my Tracker today. YEEHA! Hoping to baptize it tomorrow.

Here's some old 70's pic's from the days before mats were outlawed at Boomer. Stewart Reid is the surfer. Back in the day, we had two guys who were really good. The other guy was Ed Hoopes but alas I don't have any photos of him. I used to borrow their mats while body surfing Boomer in the wee hours before the Guards came on duty back in the 70's. They rode the mats that were like your Classic. Not the big ones with the yellow rubber ends.

Thanks,

Dean

Mr Dirk...

:)

Mat Touring In Japan...

Hi PG,

How are you?

Around here, it becoming warm. Lately we have no waves. So last Thursday I did "Mat Touring." It was really nice!!

When we haven't surf, we can enjoy to use the Mat. So I think Mat is nice partner! Do you think so?

I saw "Tracker Roundtail" on your website. It looks nice. I will order this one tomorrow.

Aloha, Satoshi

By All Means, Try This At Home...

The Basics

$5 shorts, flippers, mat. Am now hardened to the point where I can surf all day in trunks without canvas rash. Second hand Quicksilver shorts are best yet. pod PF2s give superb wave holding ability, and now that the retainer straps are tied extra short, they stay on through anything. 4GF Standard is magic in all conditions. Ah, simplicity...

Pranaglider, Going Left

Paul,

I thought I would send this shot along.

Me on the Fatty hoping that the inside section decides to swallow me.

The surf was not great but we got a break from the spring winds and the sun was out.

The spot is called Blackies, just north of Newport Beach pier.

More of a longboard spot not really as much push as I like for the mat but it was fun.

Several people very interested in the mat.

BTW there should be a matting shot on the Surfers Journal "Journal Entries" section shortly.

I hope you are well.

Bruce

From Tom S...

Paul-

Had a great 10 day visit with my son and his GF, they are living and working in Cabo Pulmo, Baja California. Located on the Sea of Cortez and a beautiful marine sanctuary, they are the resident dive masters and instructors. My wife and I got our open water cert. while visiting them.

Surf wasn't too bad either, a short 25 min dirt track to the N. and we were on top of some of the area's best point breaks. Had 3 days of 5-7 feet @16 sec. The go-to surfcraft was the FGF-Standard, never had the urge to take either of my resident boards out. Last session this past Friday I went out and surfed with a couple of guys camping nearby they bailed for breakfast on the beach while I had it solo.

Another guy slipped out through the lineup, moving like a lynx on a SUP. He took one or two waves inside of me and paddled further out on the point where I was and we said good mornings. He had a familiar looking face under the hat brim so I paddled over and shook hands. He introduced himself as Gerry Lopez, and we shared set waves for the next 45 minutes or so before I left him to enjoy it alone. The mat screamed on those long pointbreak lineups, very pleased with the volume of that design.

More later...

Tom

Sunday Morning Fatty

Less than a week ago, my mother passed away from a pneumonia. This was the second time I lost my mother. You see, I have had two. I was adopted and shortly after I was reunited with my biological mother, she was killed in a car accident. So this Mother's day, I was blessed to spend the morning all alone with the only mother l have left, doing what I love the very most; surfing. The conditions were windy and cold but there was warmth. I thought it was a nice touch, surfing in such a manner as matting. This is the first time I've really surfed a mat. Here's a humble little sequence of waves from today...


Sunday Morning Fatty from Vyusher La Kali on Vimeo.

From Kendog...2006

Tom T Visits Portugal...

Hi Paul;

Even though we didn't have a telephoto lens, I think this is a pretty good shot of a mat rider taking off deep and setting up for a fast ride.


It's me riding, too, and I'm pleased to see that I look like a serious surfer on my mat. As a mat surfing pioneer in Portugal, I was hoping to set a high standard.

The next day I was back at this reef, to find bigger but windier conditions. It was actually more fun because there were only three of us out, and my Fatty really worked well in the chop and bumps. Here's a shot from the cliff before I went out:


One wave I caught was a thick bumpy double-up. I started out riding the top of the wave, gliding effortlessly while looking for an opening into the lower, bowly part of this double-up. I found it, pushed the mat over the edge and free fell into a bottom turn. When I looked down the line I saw a kid just on the other side of the bowl paddling for the wave, but watching me. He paused as if uncertain as I aimed right at him, then pulled out letting me have the wave. I rode it all the way into the cove. When I got back to the outside he had a gigantic grin on his face. "Looks like FUN!" he said, and asked me what I was riding! He spoke enough English for me to tell him about surf mats. This young Portuguese surfer had never even heard of mats, but he was really stoked about what he had seen. I was smiling too.

There are a lot of waves in Portugal, lots of interesting reefs. I didn't get anything in the way of epic swells, but there were no crowds anywhere I found surf. When there wasn't a swell, it was flat.


Lisbon wasn't breaking, but I imagine the crowd factor there is insane. The city is insane.

Tom