Tuesday, March 16, 2010 4:51pm PDT

Let's Celebrate the Irish

By: Nate Hoppes

WAVERIDERS
As St. Patty's Day is upon us let's take a minute from drinking green beer and Guinness to celebrate something Irish. This year we have something extra special to celebrate, the DVD release of WAVERIDERS, winner of "Best Documentary" at last years Surfer Poll Awards.

The film unfolds through the inspirational history of Irish/Hawaiian George Freeth who's credited as the "Father of Modern Surfing." When you think about how surfing came about, you wouldn't think an Irish man would have played such a huge roll in what surfing is today.

Better known for their golf than their surfing, Ireland is in fact holding a variety of world-class waves, from playful to downright heavy. There are epic sessions with world-renowned surfers, Kelly Slater, Kevin Naughton, Richie Fitzgerald, Gabe Davies, Craig Peterson, Rabbit Kikai, and Ireland's favorite surfing brothers, the Malloy's.

The Waves in Ireland aren't a joke, for years now we have seen footage and photos of surf up to 50ft. WAVERIDERS showcases footage of the biggest swell ever ridden in Ireland. What makes this big wave destination stand out from the rest is how un-inviting the water is in Ireland. It must take a lot of Guinness to don a 5 mil wetsuit, hoodies, gloves, booties, and paddle out in 50ft surf.

So this St. Patty's day we celebrate the Irish for more than their thirst to get "pissed," we celebrate them for their rich and beautiful surf culture, plus their ability to suit up and jump in that damn cold water!

Happy St. Patrick's Day
CHEERS!

Channels: Surf

Tags: None

FEATURED NEWS

"Record" for Largest Wave Ever Ridden Trivializes Big-Wave Surfing

"Record" for Largest Wave Ever Ridden Trivializes Big-Wave Surfing

A return to old-school measuring techniques is in order

Consider two representations of two very big waves, below. The first is a photograph of Mike Parsons at Cortes Bank. The second is a video of Garrett McNamara near Nazare, Portugal. Now take out some measuring tape and make the distance of one foot between your hands. That's the amount, according to the Billabong XXL committee, that McNamara's wave is bigger than Parsons's wave.

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