Mats can't hold an edge without fins

From a note Dale sent over the other day ...

"it never fails to both amuse and frustrate when
I hear experienced surfers talk about how mats can't hold an edge,
because they don't have fin(s) and hard sharp rails... *sigh*

Mark Thomson and George Greenough both carving Lennox Head
NSW................... over 40 years apart."



I get that same question all the time out in the water,

I wish I carried these pictures out in the line up,

but that might be a little weird.

I think stand up, hard board surfers are just stuck in a mind set of the board is just how it is (hard rails, fins etc) and they can do anything about it after the board is shaped and glassed.

Mat riders get to reshape, change the volume distribution and add or take away fins, all while surfing the wave.

Section to section and wave to wave.

Imagine if a surfboard could do that!

Take off with a SUP that with a little hand pressure turns into a quad for a few quick turns then morphs into a pocket rocket for the outside tube section after that it changes into a long board for a flat section, maybe a nose ride then changes into a body board for the gnarly on shore finish!

oh and then folds up into a roll for the walk back up the beach or the hike back to the car.

If your surfboard could do all that people would be going nuts!

Mats do all that and more but people don't seem to get it.

Comments

Paul Gross said…
My favorite "response" of all time came from a surfer in the water at Rincon back in the mid-80's.

I had gotten one of those magic waves that curved endlessly across the entire length of the cove. I pulled out as the wave finally closed out along the seawall. A guy paddling out came over to me a said...

"I know what I just saw, and I can't deny it. But I don't believe it."

:) :) :)
Anonymous said…
yes
so what did he witness PAUL
???
ramsnake said…
LOL! So looking forward to getting a response like that sometime in the future.
Dr Mad Fish said…
Fuck...I'm getting a hovercraft then...
wavechild said…
A lot of stand-up surfers don't get it just because of the simple fact that you can't stand up on a mat. That makes them automatically dismiss it.
Okemah said…
Better yet...
How is Mark riding that spot seemingly alone?
noice said…
How is Mark riding that spot seemingly alone?


supreme dynamic mindpower &
inexhaustable aggression.
others do not exist unless
he so deems their presence.
Piskian said…
Yep,you can't buy that!Use it all the time.

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