I have spoken to a guy who has researched Ernest Smithers, who developed the surfoplane in 1933. He is wanting to record his knowledge about Smithers. Does anyone know anyone researching surfmats (I know there are lots of anyone’s in that sentence)? Alternatively I might help with getting an article published. Seems a shame not to preserve this knowledge.
Bob
Well - Seems like a no brainer, but you may want to try to get a hold of Dale Solomonson.
Go to the source, contact George Greenough or Paul Gross, I believe Gross is a Swaylocks user. Or you can find him on his page at 4th gear flyer mats.
Those riding them “back when” were doing the best they could (which was pretty good) on canvas covered, rubber, heavy, mats. Dale reverse engineered one, started redesigning them and improving them, experimenting w/ different materials etc making quantum leaps forward in performace capabilites of the mats. That was 30 or 35 years ago and he has never stopped refining and improving them!
There is a whole, largely untold history of the development of the modern surfmat, but really, I would say that Dale Solomonson is the father of the modern surfmat. Warning: It may not be easy or pretty to get to the truth of the story as there seems to be heaps of personal politics and several “sides” to the story…
I have lots of research on paipo/bellyboards - this is my primary interest: http://home.brisnet.com.au/~bgreen/bgpage/
This question was really just to help a guy out by linking him up with someone who might be interested to document what he has to say.
regards
Bob
He might just post his info right here, send it to Surfmatters.com (Paul Gross's site) or the UK surf mat site. Any of them might find an appreciative audience.
The Surf-O-Plane is a very durable but heavy surf mat with a thick rubber coating and molded handles. Not sure if they are still available?