PG,
Had a really fun and surprisingly enlightening surf this evening (10/14). Waves were small, maybe only about waist high on a full moon dead low tide. Super glassy, with the sun setting behind the dunes the water turned pink and purple.
Good rights that would double up on the takeoff and if you can get down the line on the first wave, the second wave would chuck a little square section over your head. These weird things happen with really short period swells and funky sandbars/good fishin’ holes. Now to the enlightening part...
I've been riding the mat you sent me at very low inflations, to where the mat will easily fold completely over on itself and then some. After 45 minutes or so of less than stellar rides, I put two big huffs of air into the mat, somewhere between a 90 and 180 degree bend. Two things happened. First, as I figured, the diamondback's grip doubles (I'm now in a 3/2) which feels great. And secondly, the holding power of the fuller rail allows for more connection and less slippage between takeoff and tube.
The unexpected bit came when I took the third wave of a set, which didn't double up, but rather had a nice right wall with more taper and peel. I took off easily down the open line and as I simultaneously squeezed the front end and pushed the mat down against the face, instead of the usual lifting of the outside corner. The back end foiled out completely and I jumped up into the next gear and drifted out sideways across the face. It was easy to regain traction by slightly lifting the outside corner and giving another squeeze to finish out the section and fly over the back cleanly.
For as small and relatively gutless as the waves were, it was great to feel the freedom and speed that I've until today only experienced in much larger, more powerful waves!
Good rights that would double up on the takeoff and if you can get down the line on the first wave, the second wave would chuck a little square section over your head. These weird things happen with really short period swells and funky sandbars/good fishin’ holes. Now to the enlightening part...
I've been riding the mat you sent me at very low inflations, to where the mat will easily fold completely over on itself and then some. After 45 minutes or so of less than stellar rides, I put two big huffs of air into the mat, somewhere between a 90 and 180 degree bend. Two things happened. First, as I figured, the diamondback's grip doubles (I'm now in a 3/2) which feels great. And secondly, the holding power of the fuller rail allows for more connection and less slippage between takeoff and tube.
The unexpected bit came when I took the third wave of a set, which didn't double up, but rather had a nice right wall with more taper and peel. I took off easily down the open line and as I simultaneously squeezed the front end and pushed the mat down against the face, instead of the usual lifting of the outside corner. The back end foiled out completely and I jumped up into the next gear and drifted out sideways across the face. It was easy to regain traction by slightly lifting the outside corner and giving another squeeze to finish out the section and fly over the back cleanly.
For as small and relatively gutless as the waves were, it was great to feel the freedom and speed that I've until today only experienced in much larger, more powerful waves!
Jamie
Hi Jamie,
This really illustrates the complexity and endless fun of sorting out the potential of a given mat in a wide range of waves. There is no hard and simple rule about inflation, and how to use it. True, a flatter mat will generally excel in smaller waves. But, there are a lot of ways to approach whatever waves you're riding.
Paul
5 comments:
What a great website! Kudos to all involved.
I'm a kneeboarder/mat rider/alaia rider from Byron Bay, Australia and am really enjoying reading the stories, advice and pics here on surfmatters.
I'm pretty new to mat riding and am learning something new each time I get in the water.
I'd love to read something about getting out the back on a mat. The alaia is easy - it's neutrally buoyant so it just pushes under like a hot knife through butter. The kneeboard is wider and more difficult to get under but the mat takes the cake in terms of getting it out through the white water.
How do the experts get their mats out when there isn't a channel? I'm all ears.
I surf beachbreaks pretty much exclusively, as there's not too many other options along this sandy stretch. It's always a challenge to get out, even on the smallest days. Mostly timing and a pinch of luck will do the trick, along with having UDT's and the legs to sprint hard with them. Duckdivability is the single reason i wish i could ride my spoons more often, hot knife thru butter indeed.
Besides just charging out and hoping for the best, you can let most of the air out of your bag and swim out with it. I like to scissor kick on my side while dragging the mat behind me, you can easily pull down the front corner and whitewater usually harmlessly passes over.
Good luck with the matting.
I'm moving over to the Gold Coast in January, can't wait to get the mats into some point surf.
I would say the best advice for getting a mat out is, as Jamie alluded to, good fins and being in shape.
Another thing is to hang back if you're caught inside...and save your energy for when things open up. Then you can really power forward.
Also, practice paddling with your fins and arms at the same time. This burns up a lot of energy very quickly, but it nets good speed when you have green water to cover.
Mat riders will never have it easy when it comes to paddling speed and duck diving, but the comfort of being on a mat and using a good pair of fins help make up for it.
Due to the extra flotation provided by surfmats, I tend to duck under waves much earlier than I would on a surfboard. Rather than trying to glide under the foam, the mat pulls me up through it, and more often than not I wind up on top of the turbulence, able to keep moving out the back. When getting steamrolled by big whitewater I sometimes face the beach and let the mat trail behind, so as to anchor it with my body and allow the foam to pass over and around it. And, quite often, I simply get ragdolled no matter what I do, which is both scary and fun. At least mats are soft, so there are no real worries. Seems that all aspects of surfing are tradeoffs...
When I mentioned paddling with your fins and arms at the same time, what I mean is using both arms at the same time, like you're paddling a surfboard.
You have to pull yourself up on the mat to do this effectively...and longer (UTD-ish) fins also help, since your legs are pulled up on the mat a bit.
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