Howzit Brose, That’s B.O.B.'s place isn’t it, think he charges about $40 a night but it’s been a while since I stopped by and talked with him. He’s got a pretty good set up there with a common kitchen area for cooking and being basiacally right on the ocean it’s a good deal for surfers. Need to stop by next time I’m in Kapaa and talk story with Brian. Another good thing for any one who stays there is that Biran is a chiroprator and will straighten them out( pun) if needed.Aloha,Kokua
dudlyPerk - que paso - was looking at the B&W pic with GG gripping crunching the rails and carving a turn. I’d actually seen it before but at quick glance it looked like he was merely bottom turning and going right. when I looked good at this pic - could it be he’s going left and carving full cutback? I kinda see tracks over his his as if he was going left on that wave -pretty radical cutback, if that’s infact what it is.
amigo, i’d never thought about it that way, i just kinda assumed he was just in a bottom turn and going right, but after close study, i think you are probably right. seems he could very well be going left and hittin a full cuttie. i wonder what he did next, hit the lip? full on accel down the line? took flight and saved Lois? and i wonder if there is a phone booth at the beach where he changes…
ok now dig the kenny hughes flick
his outside findip is locking the line with out over tracking and lookie that outside chamber tipped down to adheere the mat-to-face
shazaaaaammmmmmmm…
Ambrose,
I’ve asked Kenny about that shot. It was taken many years ago in the Santa Barbara area. He said he enjoys touching the wave face, even drags a hand once in a while, but not for hold or tracking… “Remember that photo was just a moment in time…”
Photo by Greg Huglin dolphinfoto.com/
That’s Boyd Kellner of NSW Australia. Longtime friend of George Greenough, expert mat surfer, ex-kneeboarder of flexible spoon and edge board fame.
hey all them dolphins are fin dipping too!
laying the fin into the mat wake
lets your leg rest while you dont need to kick
still photograpy is like that
although it’s sometimes 1/1000 of a moment
in time.alowing the analytical some food for thought,
or might that be candy?
if only the nex moment included a wave such as that…
…ambrose…
“All the photos are of straight line trimming.”
the greg huglin photo site thadt dale reveaked has got my head
the stills yea the stills
but the vid clipz wholly cow breath steer man
the one I think its # 5 is beyond!!!
the two wave riders,look close they invert! they do a cut back[cuttie]
that defies contemporary science in surfing!
INVERTED!!! the roll over on their backs!
that means they are foiling in air!
whow lowly our science and perception
we engage jet pumps to …
after the butlarian Jihad when all machines are over thrown we will be forced to deal with natural forces with understanding
and finesse rather than juicing the electronic ignition
and twisting off another
1600 rpms
to ramp up the
military industrial congressional complex
the dolphins are …whow gee willikers or… glorioski sandy …
…ambrose…
daddy warbucks dont surf
Ive seen Kenny surf that spot , hes a true master of the mat . Nice guy to surf with to .Always neet to see him fly by in 4th gear with that grin on his face.
I did some experimenting with my mat at a beachbreak yesterday - small 2-3 ft. when dale posted that GG quote - the key to catching those unbroken waves “good fins - variable airpressure - trim” it got me thinking. i’d been intending to practise kicking into waves from way off the back of the mat - and yes, I do get in much easier - but, the trick is to pull up into position once you’ve caught the waves -easier said than done - but with practice it’s becoming easier.
well getting back to the ‘early in’ - i was ‘castigating’ a friend who also rides a mat about the postion he’s in on the mat when kicking in. in the course of converation he then mentions that when he’s kicking in he crushes the front of the mat pushing more air to the back of the mat. So i tried it, and infact once I’d start to catch the wave, crushing the front seemed to put more air under my stomach/chest, which then seems to allow a better trim, and then slide in sooner. (front comes down - back comes up- less pushing water - i’m also kind of tugging the front down)
i need to try it in bigger waves, where the unbroken bump is much bigger - but i think i’m onto sumpin.
I have over crushed over pulled
on a bigger wave and …
pearled up to my bycuspids
…shocking and humbling…
every time I over do I realise
that less is more and I need more.
…ambrose…
if ypu put your ear
to the mat can you hear
while you’re in the water
people talkin in coolangatta?
Ambrose: you and Dale and have brought a grin to my otherwise sullen ‘monday morning face’.
Do any of you guys currently riding mats adjust your air pressure during the ride itself? i remember reading that GG’s mats would go flat on him about halfway through a ride and that’s how he figured out that lower air pressure works.
just curious as to whether you adjusted before paddling out, while paddling out, or on the wave.
A good pre-surf estimate of air volume is when the mat easily folds across its width to about 90 degrees. Once in water, the air (the temperature of your breath) in mat cools and the pressure changes a bit. Ride a few waves, then slightly inflate or deflate as needed. Small changes in air volume can make big differences in performance.
A general rule is use more air for larger, powerful waves, and less air for flatter, weaker waves. Increased air pressure translates to more control, decreased air pressures results in more speed. Part of the fun is in discovering the right balance for a particular day’s waves.
The more experience a rider has, the less air they need in their mats because they’ve learned how to “fine-tune” while surfing. Mats operated at very low air pressures, aka “magic towel” levels, can be quickly firmed up by the rider’s use of hand grip squeezing and/or inward force from the outside forearm.
Though surf mats are fairly soft/supple at low pressures, that doesn’t mean they’re limited to passive response. Their original shape (plus internal pressure and buoyancy distribution) are influenced by a variety of sources: downward pressure from the rider’s body, downward pressure from the rider’s hands, lateral squeezing and releasing pressure from hands and arms, upward pressure from the wave face, twisting/torquing pressure, and pressure from the centrifical force of hard turns.
Also, some of a mat’s handling characteristics result from an automatic response to the wave… “Damn! What happened… how did it do that?”
As a mat runs across a wave its primary contact area is usually only a section along the inside rail leading back to a wider spot around the inside rear corner. This contact area is forced downward (and obscured) by the rider’s body, and upward by the wave face… responding unseen from the beach and in photos. But the remainder
of the mat (visible from shore and in photos) appears to be at maximum inflation.
At such times, the bottom rear area tapers down thinner and is very flexible, actively conforming to the wave face, while the frontal area of the mat is much fuller/rounder and firmer, taking on its original shape. Skilled riders know when (and where on a wave) to time an increase and/or decrease in the air pressure - and shape of the mat.
Because of their design, light weight, and supple construction, slight changes in bottom/rail shape can have significant effect (especially at higher speeds)… as changes in body position - a slight roll from one side to another, or movements of the rider’s head, shoulders, chest, abdomen, hips, legs, swim fins. Mat surfing is about many things functioning in synergy to achieve a desired performance.
After a while you get a “feel” for how much air you need inside the surfmat. It’s the same intuitive feeling you have when you check the waves and choose the correct board for that days conditions. You sort of know before you go. I usually fine tune the mat’s inflation level while paddling out. After riding a few waves, you’re pretty much dialed in. Continually re-shaping the surfmat by squeezing its corners and rails provides more than enough control without having to actually purge air while riding a wave.
I have taken some late freefall drops on the surfmat that caused the inflation plug to pop out. Prior to taking off I’m already at minimum inflation level. As the thin layer of air separating my body from water’s surface quickly disappears, the mat looses it’s tuned responsive feel. Eventually it turns into bodysurfing with a towel under your belly. Note that my Neumatic has the older valve plug design. I haven’t experienced this with Dale’s newer “Breather Valve”.
Thank you both for the very insightful responses. i’m trying to contain the excitement and anticipation of receiving the mat, and you guys aren’t helping any!!! no, seriously, both of your responses are quite helpful in mental preparation for riding this type of craft.
J
Damn you guys!
Now I want a mat…
That’s just vindictive.
“…quite helpful in the mental preparation for riding this type of craft.”
I’m not too sure any words will really do the job. For me, humbling, frustrating, intoxicating and tantilizing were words I used a lot during my first several sessions. What helped me most was to start over-inflated (a few huffs past magic towel) and then work your way back. It was an easier transition from riding a foam cored device to something as alien as a mat.
I’m grinning right now just thinking about the first few waves I rode and that first experience of aliveness a mat transmits…Oh yeah, be sure to download the Beatle’s Tomorrow Never Knows so you can play it on the way to the beach. It’s the perfect tune-up song for bagging: “Turn off your mind and surrender to the void…”
Thanks for the tip,Lee. They are hard to ride. They are hard to get onboard. It’s cool how you can change the buoyancy so easily between waves. Mike