The Thousands

I started riding these surf mats during a residency in Byron Bay this Feb. They are handmade by Paul Gross in California. Paul has been shaping boards and writing on and photographing surfing for decades… he wrote the screenplay for the cult skate classic Animal Chin.

The awesome thing about the mat is its portability as a surf craft – its speed, and the how close it brings you to the wave face when you are trimming down the line. Gross perfected the design in collaboration with George Greenough in the early 80s,  determined to make a high performance version of the Hodgeman canvas mats they’d been riding since the 60s in California and Australia (see early footage).

Greenough refers to them as ‘Magic Towels’, and now rides his mat exclusively with a growing pack of matters (renegade frogmen) in Byron Bay. By surfing with the mat semi inflated you can contour/confirm it to the shape of your body – manipulate the air distribution to form rail and reach speeds and make sections impossible on a rigid board. It’s something of a growing movement in LA, along with the resurgence of other more classic surf crafts such as Alaia’s and Paipo’s. Thefly-fishing of surfing.