As always, there is safety in numbers… but for the few who stick their necks out once in awhile, progression in any field would come to a standstill. Those of us who have been around awhile can certainly remember the initial take by the masses on developments like shortboards, leashes, trifins, etc…
As always, there is safety in numbers… but for the few who stick their > necks out once in awhile, progression in any field would come to a > standstill. Those of us who have been around awhile can certainly remember > the initial take by the masses on developments like shortboards, leashes, > trifins, etc… Ahem. Those things sure brought a lot of sceptics. One Bonta on a 12 foot longboard might redefine the earlier posted definition of “speed bumps”.
you
re the funny ones. surfing is a democracy. mob rule. look at the mags > and vids. they dont lie. sure theres always going to be freaks on the > fringe. got to have them for laughs. the exceptions that prove the rule. > the strong survive the weak complain about it to each other. rippas like > us do have tunnel vision and proud of the view! but old folks like you are > nothing more than speed bumps on our way over the shoulder. lay the smack > down baby!! Ready!!Septic. You spell septic, “S E P T I C” … Smack that!! Newbs has faith in you. I think what’s gonna come around, on a roundhouse, is someone with your favorite Greenough 11" flex fin, banking off the bridge of your nose, slicing your beloved Kelly Slater computer clone into two pieces, and then laugh, again, and again, all the way to the beach. Which piece of your crap shall we flush first,next, … oxyMORON …[blush] …have fun
Not only are you young, but you have no education either! Surfing is not a > democracy it is anarchy (if you don’t know how to use a dictionary it > means “everyone for themselves, no rules”). If you think the > “…mags and vids…dont lie”, then you have no idea what an > editor or advertising are. If it weren’t for the freaks and exceptions, > you’d be riding a 14-foot long redwood paddleboard wearing a wool sweater > (actually, you wouldn’t be surfing at all because it was popularized by > the freaks and exceptions in the 40’s and 50’s). No one here complains > about 6’2" thrusters (in fact, I’ve probably shaped and ridden more > of 'em than you’ve ever owned). Do you actually think that Slater, Irons, > Garcia, Mallory, or even Archy think like you? I know I’m wasting my > breath…you’ll come around…they always do! those are just symptoms of a bigger problem. i have the cure. make it illegal for anyone over 30 to surf. hehehehheh. most are pretty close to D.O.A. anyway. an idea whose time has finally come…! i
ll consider trying a displacement hull before i get too decrepid. but sorry old dudes- youll never catch me on one of those air mats!!!
those are just symptoms of a bigger problem. i have the cure. make it > illegal for anyone over 30 to surf. hehehehheh. most are pretty close to > D.O.A. anyway. an idea whose time has finally > come…! i
ll consider trying a displacement > hull before i get too decrepid. but sorry old dudes- youll never catch me > on one of those air mats!!! Sceptic, take a deep breath and count to ten (twenty, in your case, the air is thin up there). just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean that you have to beat others down because they do. What’s even more important is that you have no experience with it to talk about it. All you know is what you know and that, simply stated, is that you’ve never been on anything other than a short board. Great ! Good for you ! You seem to have a lot of enthousiasm for riding them (there’s nothing wrong with that). But why don’t you take some of that energy and put it to good use and realize that you don’t know everything - and then listen to what the others (yes, there are more people out there than you) have to say. You just might learn something that could be of use to you. Maybe, you’ll pick up a new way of enjoying the water. If not, sit down, shut up and slap on another mass production sticker and run with the pack.
If not, sit down, shut up and slap on another mass production sticker and > run with the pack. sounds like fun to me! there`s more to it than that? this is getting way too heavy.
Who is this Mat guy? Why wont you let him ride the surf?
yeah so what
s your point? current shortboard thruster design and riding > are light years ahead of everything else, long, short or inflatable. surf > mats offer high performance? thats like saying bodysurfing is somehow > more “intimate” or “pure” than other kinds of surfing. > face it- they`re both oxyMORONS, dude. In the direction that they’re going, current thrusters and surfers are definitely “ahead” of the older designs and riders. They’re standing on the shoulders of giants, of course, and a time will come when today’s high performance stick will look primitive. If you doubt that, then just stay healthy and keep surfing for a few more decades. If you’re an inquisitive person who’s logged enough serious time in the water, you start to explore the phase-space of possibility out there, maybe hooking into the wind or diving down to the reef, testing and trying different vessels and equipment. You leave your home break and see what else the world holds. You go a different direction and expand your identity and the way that you relate to the ocean. I began exploring at a relatively young age and I’ve tried everything that I could, so when I started riding Dale Solomonson’s Neumatic Surfcraft a couple of years ago it didn’t feel like I was missing out on some other experience. It turns out that the surfmat is perfect to get away from the pack, and that’s more important to me than the pecking order of the competition ladder or testing my prowess against boys in the lineup. My general worldview is anarchic and contemplative by nature, so I just get bored when someone claims to be light-years ahead. I’m not opposed to any wave vehicle, really. Ride whatever is appropriate. Waves and people come in such variety it seems only logical that vessels would vary just as much. When you board an airline for a surftrip, the duffer with the golf clubs is light-years ahead of the sucker with the surfboards. Clubs fly free but boards have to pay. On the other hand, my fins and mat are in my carry-on for a 4-day-weekend jaunt. Minutes after disembarking I’m on the back of my cousin’s motorcycle and we’re heading for Point Lonely. Within the hour I’m in the water and pulling happily into the first of many long walls, so for me the question of performance is not really worth asking.
Within the hour I’m in the water and pulling happily into the first of many long walls, so for me the question of performance is not really worth asking. Dirk- Please explain. You
re serious??? You do real turns like on a surfboard, or drag feet and hands?? Can you trim out and make a walled up wave on them? I can understand what you said about portability, but not performance. I guess then you dont care about performance? So whats the point? So you travel to a sweet uncrowded point break with your inflatable surf mat and then what? Dont you need performance in good waves? What am I missing here? One more thing- what exactly do you feel on a decent ride?? Why not use a boogie? WHY, WHY, WHY??? Apologies for all the questions.
Dirk->>> Please explain. You
re serious??? You do real turns like on a surfboard, > or drag feet and hands?? Can you trim out and make a walled up wave on > them? I can understand what you said about portability, but not > performance. I guess then you dont care about performance? So whats the > point? So you travel to a sweet uncrowded point break with your inflatable > surf mat and then what? Dont you need performance in good waves? What am > I missing here? One more thing- what exactly do you feel on a decent > ride?? Why not use a boogie? WHY, WHY, WHY??? Apologies for all the > questions. Jay J-it’s unfortunate you never got to see Mr. Greenough surf his mats.If so, all of your ?,except what it feels like, would have been answered.There are a cuople of videos with a few sequences of him mat riding,mostly small stuff, that might tune you in to mats a bit.(too bad there is no footage of him in the big stuff he would rip in)
Jay J-it’s unfortunate you never got to see Mr. Greenough surf his mats.If > so, all of your ?,except what it feels like, would have been > answered.There are a cuople of videos with a few sequences of him mat > riding,mostly small stuff, that might tune you in to mats a bit.(too bad > there is no footage of him in the big stuff he would rip in) Matt what are those videos you
re talking about? Why do you know about surf mats? Do you ride them too? Have you seen any mat surfing in real life? So do they really work? Ive heard a little about Mr. Greenough. He was a great surfer and inventor a long time ago? Its hard to find anyone who`ll answer questions! Thanks in advance.
In response to Jay J.–>>> Please explain. Youre serious??? Jay J. -- I wish I had more time to respond in depth, or we could sit around drinking beers and swapping lies in person. I hope that I'll find time to write later on.>>>You do real turns like on a surfboard, > or drag feet and hands?? Real turns, but I don't corner like a hard board. I roll into a turn like an airplane, and it's a lot more subtle than on a board with an edgy rail. My arms are up on the mat but my feet are dragging. I steer a little with my fins but when I speed up I try to put my feet together and lay one swim fin on top of the other to close up the form and lessen the drag. Sometimes my feet lift out when I'm speeding over the top of an arc.>>>Can you trim out and make a walled up wave on > them? I can understand what you said about portability, but not > performance. The mats like walls. They go fast. They work better for me in long waves.>>>I guess then you dont care about performance? So whats the > point? So you travel to a sweet uncrowded point break with your inflatable > surf mat and then what? Dont you need performance in good waves? What am > I missing here? The mats work in a wide variety of conditions. I’m still exploring. Better (younger) men than I are going to push that limit. I think that it’s simply unexplored territory, which makes it interesting. To me it seems like a new medium. At first, everybody will try to compare it to what they know already and use it that way. Over time, people will draw out the inherent properties of the new medium itself and develop skills in the new domain. I’m interested in the distinction between natural and cultural attributes in surfing. The natural attributes are the functional essences, what it takes to simply catch a wave and ride it through its changes until the energy is spent. The cultural attributes include all of the showboat stunts and maneuvers that young men perform to signal “I’m better than you are” to one another. The cultural side of the equation is rapidly and fervidly inventive on land and in the water. The natural side progresses more slowly because it’s more difficult to innovate there.>>>One more thing- what exactly do you feel on a decent > ride?? Here’s where I wish I had more time to write, because I’ve got some personal theories forming. The basic feeling that excites me is speed. On most boards I rise and fall and connect the parabolas with a series of turns. The apogee and perigee are slower points. But a good mat ride doesn’t speed up and slow down the same way–the craft will rise and fall as you steer through the sections, but the run speed seems more constant. Dale talks about “neutral handling.” I didn’t understand the term for a while. But part of the mat riding strategy is to back off and let the craft find its own best line. I got to thinking about downhill skiing with my first wife in the Alps in the early 80s. She’s Austrian, practically born on skis, and she taught me to downhill. She was wickedly fast and always minimized her turns and almost never left the snow to catch air–a super clean efficiency. When I applied that same thinking to mat riding I began to get the feel. We’ve all watched the sea birds ride the waves, right? The pelicans will stall a bit and parachute down to within inches of the surface before letting off the brakes and trimming out. Have you seen how much they accellerate then? Once they’re hooked in they don’t squander their advantage by cranking hard turns or bustin’ mad air, instead they stay very still and quiet, maybe rolling a few degrees one way or another until the wave naturally plays out. That’s when they finally break form, veer up and start flapping. The albatross is even more efficient in the open ocean where you can see them glide for tens and hundreds of miles without a flap. So the feeling that I pursue is more of an accellerating glide than pumping and thrusting.>>>Why not use a boogie? I dunno. They’re fun sometimes, but relative to the shapeshifting mats they seem like a transitional technology. If I were to go rigid I would get back on a surfboard. That’s just me, plenty of people have a blast on boogies.>>>WHY, WHY, WHY??? There is no why, Grasshopper, there only is. You must get beyond why. Seriously, though, I’m no authority. Lots of cats are hip to the mats. I’m reporting my own limited experience and looking forward to gaining more. It feeds my curiousity.>>>Apologies for all the > questions. Thanks for asking them.
Matt what are those videos you
re talking about? Why do you know about > surf mats? Do you ride them too? Have you seen any mat surfing in real > life? So do they really work? Ive heard a little about Mr. Greenough. He > was a great surfer and inventor a long time ago? Its hard to find anyone > wholl answer questions! Thanks in advance. Jay J., Ill let some of my customers’ emails answer a few of your questions… youre welcome to "read between the lines": "...we have been doing some work on our house and my old surfing buddy came up with (what Lou's Grandmother would call a young buck) one of his crew from Huntington Beach. The waves were flat when they showed up, and I could tell this guy thought I was a real kook when I pulled out my mat telling him the swell was coming up and the bigger the better for my mat. Rich looked at me almost hurt and said, " you are going to surf aren't you on a real surfboard? " The swell took a couple of days to show up. (In the mean time I was hassled to get out there and show him what I could do on a surfboard! ) when it finally did we woke up to the sound of waves and buoy reports of 12 ft. Swells. Rich and I took a break after lunch for a session, the swell was missing the point a bit but there were some nice sets coming in. The wind was picking up and there was a lot of kelp( did you ever notice how the mat loves kelp and air pockets) it was perfect for mat riding. I caught so many set waves that session that I had to hang out inside as to not arouse to much buzz. The mat was flawless and two waves in particular moved me to a new level in my confidence. The first was a clean double overhead peak I caught in the sweet spot and just flew all the way to the beach. The second wave was bigger, I paddled up into the face and threw myself off the lip, and I drew a line on my bottom turn that was so drawn out that I connected off the second point on my off the lip. I have made this connection before but never on one bottom turn. Rich caught some clean waves inside, and never brought up mat riding again. Thanks again for the stoke, I havent had so much fun in the water in a long time. Aloha, Martin" (www.martinheadman.com) – “…the mat is beyond outrageous, just what I’d hoped for. It’s my constant companion…my board, a Point Blank shaped by Fletcher Choinard himself, wondering what was going on, sat in my bus yesterday as I grabbed the mat and kicked through 8 ft. shorebreak, bound for the biggest session yet. It was huge, 6.0 high tide slamming the cliffs at Big Drakes. 6’-9’ easily. I dropped into some of the finer waves of the season, and couldn’t stop smiling…at the wonder, at the speed, at the folding arc way, way above me. Neither could some of the other dudes in the water. More than a few paddled by to see the mat. A phenomenal session it was!!!” Jim – “…a lovely little wedge was firing repeatedly out in front of the swimming pool at ( ) and no one rode it. I blew up the mat and spent the next 2 hours working that peak until the tide grew a bit too high and mushed it out. It would have been good enough like that, but to add to the thrill a slew of dolphins spent the whole time grazing around me, frolicking with their young, leaping into the air, swimming under me so close I could feel the displacement of the water. They rode the same peak that I did but they always caught their own waves and, as far as I could tell, never took off on the same ones as I. I rode the cove on my mat and got a dozen or so unreal waves at around 5 or 6 feet, just hulking glassy green walls of reeling juice. You know me, I’m suspicious of surfing hyperbole, but I would unequivocally call this a world class day at a world class spot. I expected more hassles from the longboarders but everyone was fair and equitable–I even earned some serious hoots on this one juice monster that took me way past the point where the sand meets the freeway… Before we knew it the sun was beginning to set and I decided that I better squeeze in one more sesh before the work week resumed. I wrestled into my cold sodden wetsuit, huffed a matful of air and slid out towards the ( )(there used to be a ranger’s house situated in the cove). The small crowd was dwindling as each guy caught his last wave until I was all alone again, just the way I started 4 days earlier. I caught a half-dozen set waves and one in particular let me in and out of the dry tube three separate times. The crew on the shore were hooting loudly and I could hear their voices when I pulled ahead and then they’d fade away as I disappeared inside, only to re-emerge and catch more hoots. As I left the water in the deep gloaming, an utterly perfect virgin peak formed in the cove and peeled towards me with its mouth wide open. Like we used to do in the old days, I cupped my hands around my own mouth and gave it a long wolf-like howl. When you aim your voice at those cove walls properly, it’ll get caught up and the echoes themselves will surf the wave in your stead. As the barrel goes reeling past you can sometimes hear your own voice traveling inside the tube, hooting back while you just stand agape.” Dirk (dirk@pantopia.com) – “The speed and performance of a modern surfmat is incredible. I have been surfing one of Dale’s mats for a few months now and it is by far the fastest thing I have ever ridden. It’s a totally unique surfing experience. I can’t think of any other type of surfcraft that works so well in such a wide variety of surf conditions. The surfmat is so fast and frictionless that you can actually catch and ride unbroken swells. Closeout waves become makeable and stormy, nasty conditions transform into dream sessions. I have tried some of the other flimsy, store- bought mats and they don’t even compare to Dale’s custom surfmats. A good surfmat will let you go places on a wave and travel at speeds unimagined with even the fastest, most maneuverable surfboard.” Tony (ajl808@yahoo.com) – “Dale! Just to fill your mailbox with further praise… I got very lucky yesterday. There’s just a tiny bit of windswell and a really tiny pulse of SW in the water here in Southern California, but I lucked into a perfect sandbar at a lil’ mysto spot near Ventura. Bliss… Peaky little peelers with steep shoulders are ideal for the magic mat. No one else was in the water except a couple of kite surfers. I can’t claim to have been faster than they were, but, my, I was plenty fast. I abandoned my bottom turn early on, and started to get a good angle early – keeping the mat WAY up on the wave is key to speeeeeeeeed for me right now. TONS of cover ups, and the beauty is, you ALWAYS escape because of the mat (except once or twice when I really got pounded) you just bounce out and bounce over everything. It was great… just thought I should email you after my first tube rides…” Brad (brad.hall@as.net) –
Dale, just wondering do they come with a leash attachment and how do you get out in big days, can airmats be duck dived? Thanks, PC
Dale, just wondering do they come with a leash attachment and how do you > get out in big days, can airmats be duck dived? Thanks, PC PC, Not normally (not necessary), but I do offer one if requested, at no extra charge… none of the experienced mat surfers that I build for want anything to do with leashes. Water photographers who use my surfmats are the ones who actually need a restraint system. Since my surfmats operate at such low air volumes anyway, learning to hang onto them and duck-diving is not a big deal… just reduce the bouyancy. When faced with getting through several lines of whitewater on really big days, many people swim out with their surfmat rolled up (deflated), add air pressure and “tune” their mats as necessary, after they reach the calmer water outside. In most cases, passage through the surfline can be easier on a surfmat than with a solid, fixed volume/bouyancy surfboard, kneeboard or bodyboard… and obviously, a good pair of swimfins is essential. Dale
Matt what are those videos you
re talking about? Why do you know about > surf mats? Do you ride them too? Have you seen any mat surfing in real > life? So do they really work? Ive heard a little about Mr. Greenough. He > was a great surfer and inventor a long time ago? Its hard to find anyone > who`ll answer questions! Thanks in advance. i have been on a mat-use to use all the time as a kid-and am planning on getting one from Dale.I have seen George out on his mat many times in all conditions and sizes of surf, and quite simply he rips on that thing.cranks turns ,makes sections, hauls ass,etc.he is still very active in the water and out alwys trying to solve a problem or make something better.films:innermost limits of oure fun ,crystal voyager,fantasea,and most recenly mentioned here ,state of s.all have a little footage of George mat riding.
Thanks Dale, hope to be able to try one as soon as I get the cash. PC