Just off the answering machine yesterday afternoon, a familiar voice with an interesting SoCal/Aussie accent: "Dale… I had a great day on your mat the other day… an absolute… got a big wall, with Boyd and I on it together. I was just FLYING across the top of it… people on the beach said they COULD NOT BELIEVE THE SPEED!! There were people going, “My God! Let me have a look at that thing, how can it go that fast?!” Anyway, so the mats going really good!" (George Greenough) To say the least, George was stoked... hed shared that wave with Boyd Kellner (a very experienced, long-time 4th Gear Flyer mat surfer)… theyd been riding an outside peak last Sunday at Broken Head, NSW, which theyd both caught at the same time. Boyd was on his 4thGF, but George (on his Neu) literally left him in his wake… ending up with a 300 yard ride! Dale
On his “Neu”??? Left a 4GF in his wake? Right. I`ll believe that story over my dead ass.
George drops in on friends?
Perhaps George dropped in on his friend?
4th Gear Flyerman, Whether you choose to believe it, or not… no biggie to me. Ride what you like. No offense to Boyd Kellner, either… besides, hes already placed orders for 2 Neu mats. Ive been designing/building custom, performance-oriented surfmats since the 1970s. My initial experiments with mil-spec nylon and polyurethane materials resulted in sub-16 oz. mat designs in 1982. 4th Gear Flyer was originally (1983) George Greenough, Paul Gross and myself. But, its been 20 years… and the progression continues. — Rob, George said he and Boyd caught the wave at the same time. Both have been riding 4thGf`s for many years, have similar body weights, and both are highly skilled mat surfers. George said he was surprised by the velocity… and obviously, so were Boyd and several other witnesses. Dale
do you have a web site or some place i could have a look at your matts? i think id like to try one. thanks
To all I have personally surfed with both Boyd and George separately and together and at least two others all on mats,out together and the call is everyone on; we have sucessfully had 5 on one wave and all having fun there may be only one left at the end but fun had by all. I have ridden 4gf since 1984 and also have Neumatics and in my opinion the Neumatics have a definate horsepower advantage, combined with greater durability.
Rob, This afternoon we discussed at length the mat hes been evaluating. The previously mentioned wave was long, thick, flatter-faced and lumpy, around 7-8 feet. Looked like a closeout. George did not drop in on Boyd, and both immediately took a high line across the face. "It was critical... I decided not to hang back in the pocket... so I put the pedal to the floor, and let it go to see what would happen..." After racing the wave for 300 yards, and then heading to the beach, George said those "several witnesses" were actually about 80 people around a viewpoint. They were all a bit mystified, and wanted to see what George had been riding. None of them had ever seen anything travel across a wave that fast. Dale --- Hi Patrick, heres my URL: http://neumaticsurfcraft.homestead.com/NeumaticSurfcraftwebsite.html
I have ridden 4gf since 1984 and also have Neumatics and in my opinion the >Neumatics have a definate horsepower advantage, combined with greater >durability. Why do they go faster? The “definite horsepower advantage”?
Barry, An important part of what makes a high quality, low pressure surfmat involves a very thin, high strength to weight ratio bottom material thats also sensitive, supple, flexible and strong. Neumatics offer a blend of design, structure, materials and fabrication critical to achieving greater levels of speed and control... they also represent a significant departure from the early-mid 1980s 4th Gear Flyers. Although my basic ideas about building surfmats go back to the 1970s, theyre still evolving… I have much remaining to learn. All my surfmats are individually custom designed and handcrafted, based on the specs of each rider… built for a wide range of waves and surface conditions. Dale