http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e6-djfp3BM
This 11+ minute vid. could upset your world surf view! Just giving you fair warning!! There are some here that might want to give it a pass. Over Inflated?
rogelio
Roger, I knew you were kidding but had the thought that some might not. Still scraping my eyeballs off the screen and my jaw off the floor. Nice vicarious thrill.
He’s flying along!!.
“Over inflated” is just aesthetic preference, yes? Less air maybe faster but more drift and less control in given situation while more are more control, more carve. Best balance for the conditions is what works for you. I’d say Mr. T. has pretty much figured out his own inflation level! Mighty fine surfing that’s for sure!!!
He does a great job communicating what’s rad about how those things surf. Check out the last ride at around 10:30! If you think it looks fast, imagine what he’s seeing with his face right against the wave face.
The fantastic thing is that surf mats seem to have a life of their own; sometimes it feels like you’re just along for the ride. In this video, I’m seeing those stoking, screaming speed runs across the open face that are just so surprising and bitchen’, AND those crazed, bucking bounce rides that make you wonder what you did differently that time? I’m just baffled yet STOKED at these crazy surf toys, and that newness and gromness is pretty neat after almost 40 years of surfing.
Try it!!!
I was trying to be cute with the "Over inflated"......talkin bout egos that might not be able to handle surfing at this pure, simple but elegant level. Yea, Mr. T. is dialed in for sure!
roger
Sorry but I just don’t see much other worldly magic going on there. Fact is lots of people like to lay head first on their belly and go strait as fast as they can. To each his own I guess. Maybe when I’m so old I can no longer stand up I’ll try one… maybe.
quite slick.
although access to this greenough on maui 1967
equally got my head with no muzack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SnHlsDA5nM&feature=related
then I watched 9 minutes youtube of chaSING DORA…
…ambrose…
then I watched #2 9minutes
then i watched 7minutes of # 3
then after a couple product placement
full screens of bile and rip
and third time world champ talk
and slayer I could only
watch seven minutes
then shifted to # 4
the same drone got to me
so I shifted to mickey dora
night at the la press club
I watched about 1 minute
and 30 and had to ditch.
I cant wait till I go surfin
tomorrow
I hope nobody’s out.
…ambrose…
except maybe you roger.
thanx
…
Best mat surfing Ive ever seen.
GG was the mat icon of his day but Marks taken it beyond that level. Lots more manouvers, more performance.
Finally some awesome mat footage !!
Ultimats, true! Mark is amazing on that thing. Must also give credit for MT’s riding to Dale Solomonson who though uncredited, designed the mats Mark is having built in China or somewhere. They are exponentially superior to the mats GG was riding back then, based on over 30 years of careful experimentation and documentation w/ both design parameters and materials. History and all that…
http://ukmatsurfers.org/Inflatable_Dreams.pdf
Surfer’s Journal surf mat article…written by Paul Gross
I like the read on the 2nd page (page29)
roger
Roger, great article thanks, it shows to me that the evolution in surfmat design was spurred on not just by the people but by the availability of new materials. The advances in new materials allowed the designs to develop and that allowed the personalities to grow with the technology. Would GG have accomplished the same with the slow old canvas mats? And Dales composite Triplanes made of many modern materials?
As Dr Strange says of the modern mat..."They are exponentially superior to the mats GG was riding back then, based on over 30 years of careful experimentation and documentation w/ both design parameters and materials."... Maybe theres an opportunity for another round of surfmat evolution incorporating tech from modern surfboard making and other industries?
Mix it up with semi rigid internal bladders, multiple inflation zones, vac-bagging assembly, cnc shaped deck contours ? Theres a world of new tech born since the mid 80's that could give birth to a new evolution of mats,
so, you’ve never tried it?
GG was doing stuff like that years ago on old canvas mats-turns, tube rides,etc.
He was but if you watch back to back videos you can see that he was pulling things off more by the skin of his teeth, wrestling w/ the limits of the equipment available. Much more bounce and slip, more wing and prayer stuff. No footage I know of but would love to see GG riding good waves today on today’s equipment. I think he could likely show us a thing or two about a thing or two!
I’ve been nuts about mat riding since my first day on my 4GF. I think what I loved beyond the sheer surfability of it the was an aspect of realigning my surfing synapses toward what feels like egoless, dolphin-like play! Other world magic!
Am I ever going to ride my fishes again?
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