MATSURFERS.COM NEWS - JULY 2019

Firstly, sorry for the lack of news last month. It’s just that nothing really happened! But don’t worry, we have something for you in July although it’s all a bit miserable unfortunately!

MARK THOMSON FOUND GUILTY

It’s unlikely that you will have missed this saga and it has moved on to the next stage with Mark Thomson (Owner of Krypt) being found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. According to a report from ABC News in Australia:

The court heard the incident erupted after Thomson dropped in on Ms Cooper on his surf mat and began aggressively veering towards her. Ms Cooper told the court she feared for her life as she was grabbed by the head and repeatedly held underwater.

Mark Thomson on his way in to Court - Photo: ABC North Coast: Leah White

Mark Thomson on his way in to Court - Photo: ABC North Coast: Leah White

"It was quick and so violent," she said. "Every time I'd come to go to the surface he'd yank my hair and push me back down again.”

The report goes on:

The court was shown a short video clip of the final seconds of the incident, which Magistrate Karen Stafford said supported Ms Cooper's version of events. "I saw his arm have three movements in a plunging motion while the other person was underwater," she said.

According to ABC, MT told the court that he thought that he was being attacked. However the magistrate stated that: Mr Thomson's story lacked credibility.

MT will be back in Court next month for sentencing and is currently being assessed for suitability for Community Service.

Read the full report from ABC HERE.

LEBLON FINS - OUT OF BUSINESS

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That’s right, the fin brand that came and went has come and gone. A real shame but possibly on the cards following the withdrawal of the crowdfunding earlier in the year and brave but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to find distribution for mass-production. Something of a shame as the devotees love them and many potential mat surfers never had the chance to try.

In a post on their Instagram page they said:

“Dear friends, supporters, colleagues and all those who follow us:
WE NO LONGER SELL FINS.
JSC Mauricio, the founder of LeblonFins, has returned to what led him to create Leblonfins: the development of the aquacity of those dealing with the mobile energies in the big surf.

Since then, the number of athletes, watermen/ waterwomen who have collaborated and trained with us has grown surprisingly.
Athletes from the Brazilian Lifesaving and Finswimming national teams, bodysurfers, countless members of Rio de Janeiro's military lifeguards and from Brazilian Navy combat divers and other military special forces as well as professional and amateur surfers and big waves water safety professionals.

What do we have in common?
In this case, we all share the love for BIG SURF and we are all committed to real hard physical and psychological training that led to the development of the aquacity of big wave watermen and women.

From now on, LeblonFins is produced solely to equip those fantastic watermen and women with whom we train.
If you are lucky enough to have purchased a pair, now you have a stock that is worth more and more. Keep it as a treasure because we're not going to sell anymore and it's impossible to replace one that's spoiled or lost.

MAHALO”

I’m sure we all wish Mauricio and the crew the very best moving forward.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

And finally, something to ameliorate the doom and gloom. Photo of the month was a really hard pick this month but who can argue with this from Glen Wenrich on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

I need to listen to George’s advice

A post shared by Glen Wenrich (@glenwenrich) on

Thanks Glen!

As always, we welcome your feedback and contributions.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com

MATSURFERS.COM NEWS - MAY 2019

Welcome to the May newsletter. Just a wee one this month as we haven’t seen loads going on but with a fun edit and news about a new products in our store I guess we have some stuff of note to talk about.

SURFMAT REPAIR KITS IN STORE NOW

The title says it all here. We have put together some Surfmat repair kits. Each kit contains a 5g tube of Stormsure glue, a patch of 70 denier TPU backed nylon in either navy or black, a sheet of grease-proof paper and a spreader. Oh, and instructions on how to fix pinholes and tears of course!

Kits are £4.99 GBP and available in store now.

We also have some G-Mat 5 Star Generals and Bodybags on the way so stay tuned for them and get on our mailing list to get the heads up when they’re in if you haven’t already.

COTTONS MATMEET, 2019

First up, you might remember that there was a Matmeet at Trestles in April. You might also remember that we said Chad Stickney was there to film it and Chad has uploaded his edit!

You’ve got to agree. This pretty much sums up mat surfing. No BS friendship in the water.

Perfect…

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Well, we’re slightly cheating here cause the photo was actually from last month but it was since the last Newsletter so I guess sort of, of this month… Anyway, look!

I guess we can be forgiven for just deciding to share this eh?! Cracking shot from Instagram of @nihilseebart

So there we go, short but sweet. As always, we welcome your feedback and contributions.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com

MATSURFERS.COM NEWS - MARCH 2019

An exciting and inspiring first post this month as we look at a DIY surfmat build. Also, news of an impending Here & Now…

ANDREW’S MAT BUILD

We were so stoked to see this pop up in the Facebook group that we got in touch with Andrew and asked him to tell us all about his DIY mat building exploits. Here’s what he told us:

I try and approach my surfing from a practical angle. Long boards always worked great for me, then I grew to love big heavy boards and even got into SUP. The history of surfing naturally became a passion, people like Skip Frye, Bob McTavish and of course George Greenough always featured high on my hero list and this in turn bought about my first glimpse of surf mats. Like many Brits my mother in law moved out to Spain about 15 yrs ago, so a couple of cheap holidays a year in the Med were on the cards, "you can't surf in the med"  and taking a longboard on a cheap flight is almost impossible...turns out you can of course surf in the med!! That was it! Time to try and f find a surf mat. I got hope of a couple of sea eagle mats for me ,my and daughter to mess about on at J Nannys house. My with was already a compitant body boarder and stand up surfer so she taught me how to use fins. We were hooked!! I later got hold of a redback which I thought was ace, until it popped while my daughter was riding it. 

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Then I found the matsurfers page on facebook I felt like the little girl from the Blind Melon No Rain video...more weirdos like me!! So back to the point practicality, I needed a half decent strong mate and being too cheap to buy one I thought I'd have a go at making one. I hasten to add it would have been much easier to buy one! I am a stubborn cheap skate. I really wanted something like the old hogman something retro and cool?! Like George?? I got chatting to Graham from gmats online who was subtly trying to tell me I was wasting my time with the old style heavy canvas mats...however I found out the hard way hence Mark one of my efforts became a dogmat. 

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Dogmat Mark two...proper stuff and loads of encouragement from G, tips and advice. Which was very humbling as this guy makes mats for a living but never pushed a sale...really cool guy. The build was the hardest thing I have ever done, there is nothing to relate to...heat bonding TPU is something you just don't do in every day life. I had a rough idea of what I though would work for me based on the redback and my sea eagle...but Graham nudged me in the right direction. I didn't expect a perfect mat and didnt really care just as long as it worked and that I had built it myself. One of the things I am passionate about making stuff...Like I said the build was completely alien I just learnt as I went along...the hardest part was the internal.construction...wow mind blowing!! I went for a simple four pontoon construction to keep it as easy as possib!e, easy being a word that soon bit me on the arse...there was some stuff on YouTube about building with TPU BUT not much. It instantly made me realise that £250 or 250 dollars for  mat is nothing...the build took me 4-5days in total, materials aren't cheap those guys can't be making a lot of cash...Which makes it even cooler they clearly do it for the love of matsurfing very rare in this world...so guys this is it my Mark two Dogmat.

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Three days into the build  thought 'fuck this, I am never doing this again' I just focussed on getting it air tight...and not wasting the time and money id  already invested in something that may not even work...I took a break and watch Crystal Voyager...for the 50th time. George's mellow attitude and inventive tenacity drive me on...me and George had a moment of cosmic electricity or maybe that was just the fumes...so it was finally finished, I added some grip (also really hard to do) satisfaction...I

did it! Not perfect I know...wonky lines, messy grip but I did it! I never have to make a fuckin mat again!! The next day a second back up Boston valve arrived in the post...my little brain started ticking...

Dogmat Mark 3???

JJ GETS THE KENDOG TREATMENT

Jonathan Jarrett (better known as JJ) is a mat rider, collector and builder who has a real story to tell. Kendog and Jamie are just wrapping this one up. Say tuned for something special…

As always, we welcome your feedback and contributions.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com