The Ferrari of the mat riding world

by **Admin** Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:48 am

Australian supremo mat rider Mark Thomson shook up the surf mat riding world (and still is) with the release of his mass produced Krypt MT5 surf mat in 2010.
I first got my hands on the Mk I version in July 2010 and the following email to MT describes my first impressions.

Hi Mark

I had a lengthy session on the MT5 this morning in less than ideal but reasonable off shore conditions.
It certainly is different to what I am used to. I have been riding Paul Gross' Fatty and Tracker Roundtail mats to date. Although I have not been mat riding that long I do get out a couple of times a week at least and in reasonable sized waves so I am pretty confident and have a fair handle on it now. Love it in fact!
I reckon it took me 40 minutes to get the MT5 worked out trying different volumes of air etc. I am 5' 10" and weigh a touch under 100kg and found that it needed a fair amount of stiffness. It also took me a little time to come to terms with the material on the mats top which provides remarkable adhesion and I found if the mat had too little air in it I could barely move around on it at all. Once I got a bit more air in, I could move around as I wished so having got that all sorted...........?
Well, it's a thoroughbred isn't it! A bloody Ferrari is how I would describe it. Very fast, turns so easily, hangs in like hell and just screams at you to get your fins out of the water so as it can go faster. I have never been so compelled to do this on any of my other mats. Brilliant!
But like a Ferrari it works best on a racetrack so I also discovered that once the wave had lost it's power it was best just to pull straight out, return to the take off area to find another face to throw it at, rather than chasing the reforms as I normally would.
I am assuming this has something to do with the slight rocker that enables it to track and perform so powerfully whilst the wave is moving it along easily but not to trim so readily through the whitewater sections and on to the little reforms so easily as an unrockered mat does.
I accidentally ended up going backwards a couple of times and the mat just took that in it's stride. I was so impressed that I turned it around and took a couple of waves with the rounded corners at the rear which tamed the prancing beast somewhat. A sort of mini roundtail adding another element of versatility and in fact the way I might choose to ride it in sloppy conditions if it was my only mat.

I am so looking forward to taking it out on a day with a better quality and more critical wave as I am certain it will be a complete blast.

Thanks

Robin

MT is not a big guy so I am probably a little under gunned on the MT5 at 100kgs so the waves need a bit of push before I choose to take it out. In the end I resorted to waxing the deck, which works just fine, as it did turn out to be a bit slippery at the inflation level I like to ride it at. The current Mk II version has a grippier deck, addressing that particular problem, and even more slippery fabric on the bottom making it go even faster probably!
I wouldn't be surprised if some new Krypt models were released in the near future! Wink