It's happened again!

It looks small and like there is not much happening around the beach.
I can see Warren, who shaped my longboard, has chosen the gentle little waves in the corner to continue battling the pain after the reconstruction of the 2nd of his shoulders as he attempts to get back to riding waves after 4 years out of the water. I haven't ridden the longboard for quite awhile so I decide it is the ride for today and it will be nice to finally get some time out in the water with Warren. Warren is riding a board he recently shaped for himself that allows him to kneel so as he does not have to risk re-damaging his still recuperating shoulder by having to pop-up.
"How is the pain factor Warren?" I ask.
"Killing me. I wish I had taken the last wave in!" he replied.
It was a long wait before he finally managed to find something that would get him back onshore again so as he could get home and fill himself with drugs. So much so that I also gave up, and yet again lugged my 10' single fin back up the beach and returned with Standard and fins in hand. I decided to head around the bay, even though the wind is a bit more onshore, to where I have been enjoying a semi-reasonable bank for a couple of days now even though it does not look that flash today.
I get out there and find to my joy that there are some decent sized sets coming through that are sitting up far better than Pusies ( rhymes with Busies ) a little further around where there are a couple of other punters on stand up wave craft.
It was one of those days when one's initial expectations were exceeded and contained 2 highlights.
A most enjoyable short but fun fins out speed run across a nice big face. Not quite sure why I thought to do that but I think it has a little to do with the Standard being a shorter that the Tracker.
A couple of g-force creating carving turns on one wave that again I have not really found myself imbibing in before this session. Not quite as dynamic as James Sowell aka Mattitude in the pic above but most exhilarating and illuminating all the same.
I am finding more and more that when I get on a hard board it feels like some sort of primitive wave craft with no life in it and the process of popping up, however quick one achieves it, slows the board down and crucial time is lost to best place oneself on the wave. I just love the immediacy of the mats engagement with the wave and on a hard board, I just feel too disassociated with the wave as I am too far away from the face once I am up and it is just plain not as exciting. May as well just stay prone don't ya think?
So I am thinking that my stand up wave riding may be actually confined to a SUP from now on where again crucial time and speed is not lost as one is not radically changing ones position on the wave craft at the point of take off. I am willing to put up with the disassociative aspects of distance from the face as SUPing is just to good a whole body work out not to continue as an alternative to prone wave riding.

Test Solution!

The rider is Lonnie Carruthers who was the featured surfer in Woody Woodworth's first published photo's in an article titled: "Spotlight on a Rubber Duck" in the 1974 Volume 15, No. 1 edition of Surfer magazine known as the Santosha edition.
Well done to those of you who had a crack at it and in particular Okemah who got it all except who the rider was. I also have no idea what the location was either but somebody might know. PG?

More 4GF Standard

I had another session on the Standard in bigger waves this time and had a terrific time. I got a particularly exciting left and right that both stood up quite vertically and I purposely held the highline and the Standard just hung in like glue and then a quick straighten up and it shot blindingly fast out of harms way in front of the breaking wave. Brilliant!
Interestingly, I was also able to get long rides all the way to the beach in front of the white water and seemed to be able to easily maintain the glide with judicious squeezing and shifting. A very versatile mat and an essential addition to your 4GF quiver if you don't have one yet. As PG says, 25 years of development does count for a lot!

Ok Test time!

So you think you are a surf mat afficionado do you? Well, who is this and how did the taking of the pics come about. PG you are ineligible from this one! Oh damn! That might be a bit of a hint?

4GF Standard

I have had a Standard for awhile now, since I got PG to send me one in case I was unable to repair the Fatty, but have not really had the chance to ride at as I knew that it would need a solid wave as it is the smallest of my 5 mats. Anyway, today it was off shore with quite a bit of swell which was mainly closing out top to bottom so I though that finally here was an opportunity to give the Standard another crack. Unfortunately, even for a mat, the conditions were not ridable so I kicked up to the point where the masses were assembled and I know there is a working bank. Normally, when it is busy I avoid it preferring to go it alone elsewhere but I am willing to mix it if I am on a mat as I can take off deeper then anybody. Although, there was plenty of swell getting in 100 metres further around the bay it was a real waiting game at the point. I think I got there as there was a bit of a lull and I ended up giving up and going back to the close outs for awhile in the hope that the filling tide would help. It didn't and I spied a couple of sets were actually coming through at the point so back I kicked again and waited and waited.
At last a set came and I was perfectly positioned on the take off spot and got a ripping little ride on the Standard coming across in front of a short boarder trying to take off outside of me and flying along the face over the top of his daughter's softop as she headed back out and on down the line dodging and weaving through the flotsam, sorry holiday visitors. Man, this little mat flies when it gets going and seems to find the best place to be on the wave with ease. Very impressed, I enthusiastically headed back out to the line up for the next ride. I and another guy were waiting out the back for the bigger waves and we both took off on the next one even though I was some way inside of him and possible too far in, but fortunately he pulled out for some reason and I was stunned at how easily the little Standard caught up with the wave and placed me perfectly in the spot again for another terrific ride. Impressive work again.
The final wave was just a gem and I was the only taker this time and scoring what must have been one of the most perfect mat rides I have experienced on a small peeler. It must have looked good from inside as I saw one of the local surf school instructors eyeballing me all the way.
I will definitely be choosing to ride the Standard a little more often in the future.

West Aussie Surf Mat Riders?

Where are you and who are you? I know of two of you out there now, one in Kelmscott and another in Margaret River, but there must be more of you.
I was dawdling around in the surf yesterday bemoaning the fact that the sets seem to have dropped off when a guy on a surf ski paddled up to me.
"Geez!" He said "I have seen you out here a few times"
"Yep" I replied "I am out here most days"
He then surprised me by saying "I have a mate who has three of those and he was telling me about a pic he had seen of someone on a mat at Ocean Beach"
Well, I think my face must have lit up like a christmas tree with interest.
"Are you the guy with blog?" He asked
"Indeed, I am" I replied. "Who is your mate and where is he."
I think he said "His name is Eric and he lives in Kelmscott and he has been known to ride a surf ski too"
"Tell him to contact me. My email address is on the blog"
Of course I have discovered that it isn't as I do not have the Profile gadget installed so I am supplying it here now.

ramsnake53@gmail.com

So if you live in this wonderous state of ours and you own a surf mat please do contact me, if you wish, and let me know where you are, who you are, how you got into mat riding and what mat/mats you own!

All is strangely quiet..............

..................in the matting world of late! Like the quiet hissing of a slowly deflating mat after another session or am I imagining it?
Well, I'm still stoked and busy learning more about this noble and ancient craft practised by a few wise and inquisitive all over this planet of ours.

As I have mentioned before, I am getting much more comfortable with a low inflation mat and am getting a better idea of when I need to change the inflation level relative to the prevailing conditions.
In the picture you will note that the conditions are particularly benign so the rider is able to perform the "Flying Blind" move on a very softly inflated mat left entirely to it's own devices with no rider input.
I have discovered that the Neumatic has a marvellous ability to slowly lose air through it's valve over a period of time or a severe thrashing resulting in one riding at an even lower inflation without realising it and I like that.
Getting out the back!
If there is no particular channel and I am required to work my way out through the shore break I quite often breath a bit more air into the mat as I can more easily move around on it and arm paddle if necessary. Another trick I use for getting out the back, for broken waves particularly, is to hold the mat above the breaking wave with my right arm and slip just under the whitewater. This works really well as the outstretched arm will accommodate quite a mass of whitewater and even if it is a bit more the mat is fairly easy to drag through in any case. If the wave hasn't broken I am still using the duck dive which I have now pretty well perfected on a mat.
Interestingly, I took my mat around the bay to 1st reef where I have once previously had a session on the mat which was not particularly satisfactory as there is no defined channel and a pretty consistent onslaught of broken waves until one gets out the back.
The same thing occurred again and I found myself on the reef so I high tailed it out of there back around to Pusies (rhymes with bus) where I know I can punch through the whitewater as there is at least a bit of a hole.
The other day I had a particularly jet propelled take off on a wave and I still don't quite know how it happened but I shot straight up to speed seemingly instantaneously. It must just have been the way the wave broke and my positioning on it as it certainly wasn't intentional but I would like to know how to make it so?
So the journey continues and there is never ever a dull moment!

GG on Maui in 1967 in Slo-Mo

The silent look and learn version for your viewing pleasure! How well could he have ripped on a modern mat?

GG on Maui in 1967!

I have seen this footage elsewhere but not all in the one video. Enjoy!

Dale responds!

Following my last post, a series of emails arrived in my inbox from Dale and he is fine for me to share them with you.

Here is the 1st email that arrived ending with an image of about the most perfect wave I have ever seen that he had attached. Dale's comments are italicised and bold.






Hi Robin,

Re: "Back on the Neumatic today and........... "


".........learnt a whole lot more about how to ride a Neumatic and the
importance of keeping my bloody chin down near the mat!"

If your chin is down low, so will be your chest.  Low profile,
low center of gravity.

"Having been given a glimpse of the hyper speeds that very low
inflation provides I am determined to become completely comfortable
with it."

Level of inflation is primarily determined by the waves and surface
conditions.  Super low inflation is not always a good thing!  Most of
my mats (the free-breathers) operate better with a little more air,
rather than a lot less (for example, ask Warren Pfeiffer).  One of the
advantages of fine-tuning a custom design is to lessen the gap between
higher and lower inflations.  This allows the mat to have a quick,
intuitive response to both wave and rider. You will discover the
lowest inflation is not always the fastest.


"the other day I decided to take out the Neumatic as it is a bigger
mat and it tends to get into the wave a little easier."

Your Neu moves through the water easier because of design and
materials, not just length.  It's length is entirely appropriate for
your height and common waves, i.e. "reasonably solid and powerful down
here but not necessarily that hollow."


"I am slowly learning that the Neumatic is a different beast to my other mats."

Yes... that's an understatement.


"Once your are on it your are on it and shifting around especially at
very low inflations with the the grippy deck is challenging to say the
least."

Actually, your Neu has less deck traction than many of my other
designs.  It will smooth down with use... and by then you'll be
wanting more!   Some Neu only have the 2DB nylon finish, with no
Vulkem.  Personal preference should influence deck traction.


"This has made me suddenly realised that, being custom built, Dale has
kindly placed the decking grip on the mat as pretty exact indicator of
where on the mat I should place the noble bod."

That's correct.  With dialed-in custom equipment (especially
free-breathers), the need to slide around on deck while surfing is
minimized.


"So it is much more of a cruise around kicking mat rather than an arm
paddler which is what I usually resort to particularly on the way back
out after a ride on the 4GFs and the MT5."

Well, you can arm paddle all you want.  But it's a tremendous
advantage to develop efficient technique and  kicking power with a
good pair of swim fins.


"This then means that the take off procedure needs to change as I am
used to shifting back off the mat and using my right arm as well as
kicking to get myself moving and then hauling forward on to the mat to
pop onto the wave..."

Very low inflations make such movements more difficult.


"One keeps one's chin way down close to the deck which means that the
noble bod, arms and legs are aligned and this was the major new
discovery about mat riding yesterday."

Yes!  Relaxed, fluid alignment.  Don't be a stiffy!



"Finally realised the importance of the body surfing element of mat riding!"

Remember... as it says on my website: "...like jet-propelled bodysurfing"

All the best,

Dale

The second email again with an image of another beautiful wave attached


Hi Robin,

Speed is a function of control.  At it's best mat surfing is
gloriously evanescent... involving an ever-changing, subtle balance of
speed, control and timing.  Surf mats are true shape-shifters :-)


"Having been given a glimpse of the hyper speeds that very low
inflation provides I am determined to become completely comfortable with it."

Level of inflation is primarily determined by the waves and surface
conditions.  Super low inflation is not always a good thing!  Most of
my mats (the free-breathers) operate better with a little more air,
rather than a lot less (for example, ask Warren Pfeiffer).  One of the
advantages of fine-tuning a custom design is to lessen the gap between
higher and lower inflations.  This allows the mat to have a quick,
intuitive response to both wave and rider. You will discover the
lowest inflation is not always the fastest.

And finally the 3rd email


To clarify:

"It's an understatement about my mats being different beasts."

Not that you are a slow learner!

Being geographically distant from popular surfing and media zones is
an advantage in many respects.

My experiences as a surfer and artisan have been shaped by the freedom
of uncrowded waves and an inquisitive mind...  exploring various surf
craft as a means to discovering more fun.  One thousand miles from the
influence of Southern California, originating many years before the
internet.  An example:

http://vagabondsurf.com/TriplaneBodyboardsAgain.html

All the best,

Dale

Back on the Neumatic today and...........

.........learnt a whole lot more about how to ride a Neumatic and the importance of keeping my bloody chin down near the mat!

Having been given a glimpse of the hyper speeds that very low inflation provides I am determined to become completely comfortable with it. As the conditions were small and my calf muscles had been pretty severely strained after riding the tracker the other day I decided to take out the Neumatic as it is a bigger mat and it tends to get into the wave a little easier.

Anyway no buggaring around this time, the choice was super low inflation from the beginning of the session and deal with it you poncy prick! So I breathed into the mat, only until I could still fold it in half, marched backwards into the shorebreak and  very assertively grabbed it in my right hand about 2/3s away from the front and hauled myself on to it. So far so good!

I am slowly learning that the Neumatic is a different beast to my other mats. Once your are on it your are on it and shifting around especially at very low inflations with the the grippy deck is challenging to say the least. This has made me suddenly realise that, being custom built, Dale has kindly placed the decking grip on the mat as pretty exact indicator of where on the mat I should place the noble bod. Obvious, I know, but I'm still new to this mat riding lark.
So it is much more of a cruise around kicking mat rather than an arm paddler which is what I usually resort to particularly on the way back out after a ride on the 4GFs and the MT5.
This then means that the take off procedure needs to change as I am used to shifting back off the mat and using my right arm as well as kicking to get myself moving and then hauling forward on to the mat to pop onto the wave. I have discovered that even on the take off less is best with the Neumatic, kick like mad and let the mat sort itself out with perhaps a little squeeze to pump the back end of the mat up and away it goes provided...............? 
One keeps one's chin way down close to the deck which means that the noble bod, arms and legs are aligned and this was the major new discovery about mat riding yesterday. I've seen the all the mature mat riders, Kendog, Warren, George, PG etc etc doing this and now I finally get why. It allows the mat to do it's job more efficiently so I will now be working on maintaining that posture. 
Here are some of Dale's Swaylocks postings on this very matter.

"Do not ride in the common prone craft position: head and chest raised up, weight on elbows and abdomen." 
Yep got that one finally!

"Do ride with chest down on the mat, head and chin lowered, no weight on elbows. Aim for a balanced, forward position." 
Yes, yes, and yes!

"Use your inside hand/forearm, palm pressing down and back about 8" from the front corner. Feel your elbow near your hip. Try forming a body line with hand, arm, hip and thigh." 
Certainly going to be giving this a try!

And this last further expanded upon from another Swaylocks posting

"When I first began mat surfing in the 1970s, George told me one of the most effective ways to ride a (reduced inflation) surf mat was "low profile... forming a flexible body line" along the INSIDE rail: hand flat- palm pressing down on deck about 8" back from front, with forearm and elbow TUCKED IN against the ribcage just above the hip joint (see photo below). So the "flexible body line" along inside rail = palm + forearm + elbow + hip joint + thigh. (Important point my italicisation) Chest and abdomen often rest on deck, sometimes the rider's chin. Also, movement and position of an adult mat surfer's head (10+ lbs.) has considerable influence on performance, especially with modern ultralight surf mats weighing only 16-24 ounces." 
Finally realised the importance of the body surfing element of mat riding!

"Use your outside forearm/hand to wrap around the rail, holding the front edge and corner. When necessary, increase your mat`s internal pressure by pressing inward with your forearm and squeezing with hand." 
The forearm squeeze is something I have only recently discovered!

"Time a sudden increase in grip pressure at the same moment you`d drop down the face and roll over into a carving turn, as when weighting/pumping a surfboard. Accelerating out of that arc, try releasing your grip to allow the mat to flatten and skim across the wave face." 
I think I do this but I will be thinking about it more now!

"After much concentration and effort, one day you`ll relax, forget, and just let go... your mat, free to follow those invisible lines of energy... to surf (almost) by itself." 
How I am looking forward to that day!

Just about ready to give hard boards the flick and leave them to the chooks!

I am still working on reducing my inflation level. During this mornings session, on the Roundtail Tracker, I lowered it to about a 135 degree bend as any lower than that and the back end of the mat escaped from underneath me to easily as I was duck diving.
I am definitely becoming more comfortable with a softer mat now and after a few nondescript rides on the less the perfect waves coming through a really nice left sat up for me. Boy did letting the breath out of the mat pay off for this ride as the Tracker took off down and across the face at great speed and then I really felt it kick into another gear and it gained even more speed. Absolutely sensational! I don't know the number of times now that I have needed to reassess my understanding of what the mat riding experience really is and it has happened again! It is such an absorbing process as I am thinking about it all long after I have gotten out of the water and just amped to get back on the mat so as it can show me more of what it can do that I have yet to learn.
I am so close now to giving up riding a stand up board entirely as the number of times I have taken out a board and then come back in to get a mat is starting to get ridiculous.
It is after a session such as this that I can so identify with PG's Incredible Dreams article where he starts off talking about how difficult it is to explain to others what is about mat riding that is so captivating and entrancing. He refers to it as "Real-world magic"! The frustration I am feeling in not being able to share this is beautifully captured in the following sentence.
"The catch, of course, is that our personal brush with enchantment is rarely applicable to those who are not of like mind, body and spirit"
Mat riding has thoroughly rattled my mind, body and spirit and I am completely and utterly grateful to those who have made this possible and proud for having been open enough to accept this great gift and emerse myself in the awe and wonder that it provides.

Hips, hips, hips!

Boyd Kellner and George Greenough featuring in an interesting post.
I got a couple of high line rides today for the first time in a little while which means.......? It was a real swell with a bit of push and size!
I also think I have found the perfect blog title image.
A salute to the past showing a smiling Boyd Kellner appreciating GG's perfect mat riding technique on one of Dale Solomonson's Neumatics.
A wonderfully positioned body with just the inside fin in the water enabling the mat to already be so far away from the peak and gliding so easily on a barely broken wave beautifully set up for it to stand up on the inside for a little barrel possibly.
An image that captures much of what many of us enjoy about mat riding!

A mat riding alternative!

Although speed does not seem to be quite such a factor I think that paragliding must have some correlative aspects to mat riding. The perfect way in which the cushion of air above aids the rider to catch the wind, stay aloft and move around in wonderful sweeping turns. Usefully, when the conditions are crap for riding waves they are perfect for paragliding! Very tempting!

MT kicking in warp drive on a 10 micron mat at nearly 50 km/h!

A world record attempt coming soon!

A new 4th Gear Flyer prototype?

Our roving photo journalist risked life and limb to get this super exclusive shot of the new Freightliner UDT being tested at PG's secret testing facility. The canny amongst us will note that this exciting new concept considerably ups the mat riding experience as there is now room for two! Note also, that even after all these years, PG is still looking in great shape as as he discusses the mats performance with his trusty test pilot taking a well earned break after a gruelling test session.

Happy New Year all you mad matters!