MATSURFERS.COM NEWS - NOVEMBER 2019

Happy Birthday to us! Happy Birthday to us!

Welcome to the November Newsletter. We have some celebrations this month, a UK fin cooperative, some great new media added and a phenomenal video of the month.

Does it get any better? Nah….


10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Well we are very proud to recocognise the 10 year anniversary of this site in it’s various iterations! That’s right, 2009 saw the launch of th original UK Mat Surfers forum. Early doors this was all about hooking up a small and disperate group of surfmat riders which culminated in Matmeet 1 at Polly Joke in Cornwall.

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L-R Andy Cooke, G, Ian Wraith, Mat Cox - Photo by Henry Marfleet (also matting)

L-R Andy Cooke, G, Ian Wraith, Mat Cox - Photo by Henry Marfleet (also matting)

From there things have really developed with a (comparitively) huge number of mat surfers all around the globe and, in line with that, this site has evolved to be a global website. We have kept that key spirit though and doesn’t that photo just sum it up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATSURFERS!!!


ANOTHER 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

And here’s another 10 year anniversary. In fact, it was recognising the date of this that made us realise that it was our Birthday! It’s 10 years since the publication of You Ride a What?! How Cool is That!

Dogtown Surfmat

Bruce Cowan (AKA Pranaglider) is a legend who hosts the 23Breaths blog wrote this article and was shared on Facebook recently, you could really sense two responses:

  • Those who were there at the time often surfing alone as the freak on the raft, becoming misty eyed and recalling the impact this piece had on them when it first landed.

  • Those who are newer to the craft going “wow!”

We were so proud then when Bruce gave us the thumbs up to share the article on the MatSurfers.com site. So ladies and gents, join us in celebrating our shared craft with this wonderful piece:

https://www.matsurfers.com/you-ride-a-what-how-cool-is-that


YET MORE NOSTALGIA

Whilse we’re on the subject, another piece was shared on our Facebook Group recently which we realised hadn’t been added to the MatSurfers.com Library so we figured it should be added to the Mats in the Media section of the site.

The Mat Professor is an extensive interview that Graeme Webster did with Surf Simply on all things surfmat back in 2015. You can get stuck in to it HERE.


VOIT FIN COOPERATIVE

Speaking of G, he’s looking at getting a few people together to bring a few pairs of Voit fins (UDT’s and Duckfeet) in to the UK. There is no distributor for these fins outside the US so really, a bulk buy is the only way to do it.

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This isn’t a business move from G. This is just getting a bunch of individual mat surfers together to get fins in to the UK at an affordable price. Last time, it worked out as around £75 including tax and shipping. G needs to get an idea of numbers interested to work out the cost.

If you are interested in getting involved then email G via his website HERE or reply to his post in our Facebook Group HERE.


VIDEO OF THE MONTH


Well, well, well what has Nolan Hall been up to now? Well, taking off on some pretty big waves is what! These waves look really fun with a very solid drop. Well done Sir.  


As always, we welcome your feedback and contributions.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com

MATSURFERS.COM NEWS - AUGUST 2019

Welcome to the MatSurfers.com August Newsletter. This month we have news on Mark Thomson’s sentencing, some and some sexy looking tees on the way from Organic Devolution. We pass on our love to one of our brethren recovering from an op and, of course, look at the photo of the month.


MARK THOMSON SENTENCED TO COMMUNITY SERVICE


Krypt owner, Mark Thomson was found guilty of assaulting Jodie Cooper after dropping in on her a Lennox Head as we reported in last month’s newsletter. He has gone back to court and according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald has been given a 2 year Community Corrections Order with 300 hours of Community Service.

A further report on the Beach Grit website suggests that “online bullies save surf-mat king from prison…” with the article saying that:

In sentencing Thomson, who is fifty-four, Magistrate Karen Stafford noted the offence was in the upper-range of seriousness and that Thomson had form in the surf-fight game, referring to another incident at Byron Bay in 1998.

However, Stafford took into account a submission from his lawyer Andrew Sochacki who said Thomson had suffered psychological distress as a result of online “abuse”.

“Disgusting and horrifying,” Sochacki said.

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“Surfmat King” indeed? We didn’t know Greenough was a suspect! We also didn’t realise that MT was so sensitive but it seems so. In any case, we’re hopeful that this whole sorry business can be put to bed and the focus on Surfmats can be redirected to where it belongs and that is on the real Kings and Queens of mat surfing and that’s you. The people who love mats and love no-nonsense simple fun in the surf.

ALL HAIL THE SURFMAT KINGS AND QUEENS!


FORTHCOMING TEES FROM ORGANIC DEVOLUTION

Ian Jermyn of Organic Devolution and collaborator with Matt Feddon over at Warpmats is hard at work cooking up a range of really fun looking surfmat themed tees. He have be working hard on the lino cuts which look great!

Ian say:

A while back I picked up some Gamblin's lino printing ink for textiles - Drive By Black. Now I've finally finished carving this piece I'll endeavour to get a test prints done. The plan is to do a limited edition run of this print on 100% organic cotton tees. Classic black on white.

We’ve spoken to Ian who is unsure on the timeline but these will be with us and when they are, we will let you know… Keep an eye out for these. It looks like they’re going to go fast when they land!


GET WELL SOON PETE!

On to another talented matsurfer and artist, Pete Misson has bee in hospital having a hip replacement op. Petes made of stern stuff as his Facebook Post attests to,

Pete says:

Hello Dear Friends, I AM AMAZED!!! 6 days after hip replacement surgery, I’m walking with one stick after struggling with a walking frame only 4 days ago. I’M GOING HOME TODAY! 😁 NO REHAB HOSPITAL! 😁 I’m not completely mobile & I will have a visiting nurse until the stitches come out. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS & PRAYERS 🙏🏻🌟🌟🙏🏻 Namaste 🙏🏻 Namaste🙏🏻 God is good.
peter misson.jpg

When asked about getting back in the water, Pete replied:

i still have my eye on Capbreton 🌊 in October, we’ll see 😁

We can’t imagine he won’t be there.

Get well soon Pete!


PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Well it was a tight one this month with August being a great month for mat pics. The winner though was this one by Dave Fox of Dion Agius trying every dirty trick to catch up with Harry Bryant on his mat!


So then, that’s us for August. As always, we welcome your feedback and contributions.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com