Pride’s “Irish Gamble” Review.
By Nathan Lockwood.
The island of Ireland has many names. Éire, Hibernia, The Emerald Isle, Ould Sod, Forty Shades of Green, The Land of Saints and Scholars. These monikers have been bestowed by travellers and locals alike, each capturing a different essence of this mysterious and ancient land. Sitting on the periphery of north-western Europe, exposed year-round to the brunt of the North Atlantic, and with a varied, diverse coastline, a trip to the island’s heaving slabs, long tubes and lofty ramps has been a mainstay of many a travelling bodyboarder down the years.
The latest additions to this long list of pilgrims were a South African, a Chilean and a Portuguese/Greek, in the form of Pride Bodyboards and Nymph Wetsuits team riders Tristan Roberts, Moises Silva and Steph Kokorelis for the short film Irish Gamble. Celtic crosses and dark shades of green, grey and blue dominate the preamble as the trio survey the wide ocean from atop the famed Cliffs of Moher.
Irish Gamble is a film of two halves, representing the two fundamental abilities any top bodyboarder must possess, namely aerial ability and tube-riding. The opening segment reveals the explosive repertoire of the travelling trio at a fast right, with looping reverses, tweaked inverts, lofty backflips and silky air forwards.
Each and every available section is hammered and decimated without mercy by three riders at the peak of their powers. The ability to make less than epic waves look this good is what separates elite riders from the rest.
Interludes of windswept and wide-open fields, dotted dwellings and neoprene mark the halfway point.
The second half is a masterclass in what every wave rider craves and hallows above all other things in life, barrels. Throaty, fast and dark green lefts are the special of the day and each rider proves themselves more than capable of negotiating the steep drops and speedy sections. Special mention for Tristan Roberts’s silky smooth backdooring at 5:19.
An epilogue sees the crew indulging in a few pints of the black stuff, mandatory in this corner of the world and the best way to decompress after an epic session. Sláinte lads.
Clocking in at seven and a half minutes and coming hot off the press after the release of the excellent Holy Africa, Pride have again showcased why they are one of the top bodyboarding companies operating today. For this particular gamble it would seem that the luck of the Irish was indeed smiling upon the Pride team.
Irish Gamble, directed by Sebastien Boulard, is now available to watch on the Pride YouTube Channel.
The author would like to send a personal shout-out to the entire Irish surfing community for their hospitality, humour and good craic over the years.
