Definity of Divinity.

I read a post on Sways about how a mat dynamically morphs is like squeezing a squid to become a torpedo. Its about the volume, the pressure, the subtle dynamics of change. Mats react to create the best shape to get the mass moving, and its less a religion and more a science. Looking to make the science easier I chose to reduce the flexible and inflatable area to a minimum so my early test mats were limited to just a flexible hull. Starting with something slim... XPS with epoxy, 1 cm thick at the front. The solid section has a concave in the middle under my finger. I'm not flippin the bird.

Back Story.

Mats are cool, they flex and slide over waves and have an amazing ability to turn gravity into acceleration. I think weve all spent our younger years on a mat and Id like to see where mat design can expand, what variations are possible and what new designs can be explored. A few years ago I started building craft with flexible hulls, not always inflatable but exploring how a flexible hull reacts to a wave. Not all the hulls were solid material , i made a few with mesh and clear vinyl hulls as well. Even a few flexible hull handplanes. But after making a dozen flexible hull craft I started to make inflated material craft, usally with composite materials and using vac bagging techniques. I was trying to answer a few questions about the reason for a mats speed... is it the flexibility of the hull, does it need inflation, if so how much, how much does the pliability of the material make a difference, how much curve across the pontoons controls the mats bouyancy and lift, would a material under tension create the same flexibilty as an inflated mat, maybe even a taut mesh ? and how would changing any of these elements affect the performance.

Under construction.

I'm in the process of developing a completely different surfmat.
This will be a blog about the concepts, designs and construction.