You may well have noticed that a Surfmat brand has popped up recently and been wondering what is going down. Well, we are very pleased to announce that we are launching our own brand of stock surfmats under the RAFT SURFMATS label.

Rider: Jamie McClellen. Photo: Daniel Pullen — *Rider:* Jamie McClellen. *Photo:* Daniel Pullen

Raft has come about due to difficulty in stocking G-Mat 5 Star Generals. These mats have proved to be very popular when they’ve been in stock but G is really busy with custom builds so we needed to look in to other options. After a great deal of searching and negotiation, we have managed to partner with a small scale manufacturer in the UK to cut and weld mats. We have been blown away by the quality of their workmanship which is parralel to anything out there. The mats are then finished in house by us, adding branding and grip.

Rider: Clovis Donizetti. Photo: Thomas Lodin — *Rider:* Clovis Donizetti. *Photo:* Thomas Lodin

The inaugural model is the Raft G1. This mat has been designed by G-Mat Surfmats and is based on the 5 Star General. G says:

“I really want to be able to put mats out there for people to ride. Whenever I’ve run batches of the 5 Star General they have always gone down really well but it’s so hard to push through any kind of numbers with my set up. I was really keen to get the 5SG out though, but it is really important to me that it is done in the right way. Mat Surfers deserve high quality surfcaraft built to the same specifications as custom mats: built by hand with real quality control by craftspeople who take pride in their work.

I’m so pleased that Raft has come to be. It ensures people get real mats and I can see more people riding my designs and means I can concentrate on building custom mats.”

— Graeme Webster (G-Mat Custom Surmats) - Raft G1 designer.

These mats are built with the same materials as G-Mats. The Raft G1 comes in small, medium and large sizes. The first batch will be finished soon at which point they will go on sale in our store for £210 GBP. In the future we will be looking at putting these into a select number of stores as well.

The feedback so far from the band of test riders has been extremely positive. Santa Cruz matter Ryan Holmes to to his keyboard to say:

“The Raft took zero time to adjust to riding, its somehow easy to ride yet still very high performance. It has that on demand slide I like, while still being fully capable of playing with the high line. It’s got hold and drift, super balanced! Build quality feels like a custom mat that will last too. It’s a mat you can loan to a friend to learn on but still can’t wait to steal back!”

— Ryan Holmes

In case you hadn’t noticed, we are so stoked to have these mats coming into our store VERY SOON! We will let you know as soon as the first batch is finished and in store.

Thanks

MatSurfers.com