Watch: Nathan Florence // Big Mullaghmore
In his personal Slab Tour that's so far travelled across Portugal, Scotland, and now Ireland, Nathan Florence has packed a few kegs. Yet none were remotely as big as this Mullaghmore wave from yesterday which he said was, "probably the best backside big wave barrel on a gun I've ever had; foam ball had me drifting and sliding like deep powder. Thought I was done! The best feeling! Slab tour continues!"
First clip by Peyton Willard, second by Joao Tudella, third by Zoard Janko, and if you squint you'll see Nate has a GoPro in his mouth so there's a third angle yet to come.
Comments
Wowza! A big statement from someone who has spent more time being pitted in big barrels than most mortals. A beast of a ride. Interesting to compare that to the AI tail slide wave in that clip yesterday, next level.
Shit yeah! What an incredible keg!!!
Jeezus what a Wave
Get rid of the GoPro from the Gob.
No thank you :-\
Many can ride a wave that size... but only a select few psychopath's in the known universe have the mental fortitude to want to delay the turn off the bottom on a wave that size in an attempt to burn speed to get even deeper instead of just riding the wave straight to safety. Absolutely mind boggling and undeniably up there with some of the greatest waves ever ridden in my opinion.
I will say that it does seem blasphemous to post such a monumental ride on Instagram only for it to get lost in the stimulant of endless scrolling
This and a lot of his other incredible surfing the past 12 months belongs in the Pantheon of surf culture in the form of a full length film not cheapened on instagram and vlogging.
Imagine if he sat on all of his footage and compiled it into a supreme offering to the surf gods.
Nonetheless Nate Florence I salute you.... We're not worthy
Sometimes I wonder if these guys are on the glass barbie's pre-surf or just simply fucked in the head.
I cannot comprehend how you would have the thought process to burn some speed on a wave like that.
If your first comment was 'some of these guys', you'd be on the money. I've pushed a filmmake friend of mine to make a doco on 'the other drugs in sport'. There ain't no drug testing in big wave surfing and below the top tier of pros is a bunch of good ol boys going hard. Some with assistance.
I didn’t mean to open a can of worms, I was more taking the piss. In no way was I trying to discredit this monumental achievement of paradigm shifting surfing. I couldn’t careless if these guys were on the glass barbies pre-surf as thats their business and there is no real physical advantage.
Even if it did have an actual physical advantage I would still endorse it, as personally
I would rather watch someone do meth-assisted paddle in surfing than jet ski assisted surfing. Not sustainable in the long run but good viewing for us punters nonetheless ;)
"I will say that it does seem blasphemous to post such a monumental ride on Instagram only for it to get lost in the stimulant of endless scrolling"
Amen to that.
I got rid of instagram so thank you swell net for picking it up.
Greatest wave ever ridden in my opinion. That bottom turn and foam ball wrestle are otherworldly and no matter how many times you watch it, they don't make sense. Hats off to Nathan Florence. Wild.
Incredible wave, he just doesn't stop does he!
Just on a continual hunt to get as fucking tubed as possible on any wave he wants, must be an amazing feeling to know you can competently surf any wave on earth.
In saying that though I reckon Tom Lowe has got waves equal to or better than this one at this spot.
But yeah mental effort from Nathan the fucker is fearless.
Tom Lowe is a nutter. Sometimes it seems like he's just out to punish himself, and then he does something sublime - like this Pedra Branca cave:
Some serious Surfboards
I also like that John John asked if he could have gone deeper in the comments. Brotherly love at its finest.
Tom’s one I was thinking of
Holy fark!! OK equal best wave ever. hadn't seen that one. Insane!!
Pete Mel's bomb at Mavs in the mix too. Actually, there's a million best waves ever. Some insane shit however you look at it.
Easy wave for Nath...super smooth drop for such a renowned gnarly wave...good choice to get deep on the foamball because that wave was beyond square,it was triangular!! Right place,right time....like growing up at Pipe i guess
Nathan Florence has just about nailed it in the life stakes. Up there with the best he could be spending years chasing titles but instead he's exploring the world with his mates, pocketing a bit of sponsorship coin and enjoying the adventure. Must be incredible to have the freedom to be able to go pretty much anywhere knowing you have the skills to get the most out of any waves you find. His mrs seems sound as well, clip of her recording and chuckling as Nath nearly drowns in foam on a sketchy paddle out. John John has been enjoying his south pacific catamaran cruise with his buddies, again living the dream. Wonder how motivated he'll be to ditch that for the circus.
Worth another look at Connor Maguires Mullaghmore beast.
Go full screen:
After seeing a couple of slo-mo side on clips of this it makes you realise how well ridden and technical that tube ride was
I'm every bit as impressed with where he was sitting. Closer in, underneath everyone.
Ballsy stuff for a first-timer at a ledge like that. Things can go wrong pretty damn quickly playing that game.
Prefer this stuff over the Nazare circus.
Bloody oath.
Take off was pretty routine for him with all the Pipe and Chopes experience. You can see in all his vids he is super comfortable and capable sitting inside on ledgy waves. Some of his deep rides in oversized warping heavy Ments reefs have been amazing.
But in the cold and with a wetsuit it would be harder for sure.
Nathan is very good at what he does including these heavy water situations. People were saying he got thrashed at The Box at few times but he would just bob up unflustered and keen for another one.
Interesting comment in John John’s comment section
Side angle shows it to be a historic moment of glory.
Best foamball ride ever.
I just can't get over the amount of,and the quality vision this bloke Nathan is putting out these days. Just blows me away pretty much every drop.
Looks incredible from the front angle. How sick is the faaaaaade............?!?!?!?!
Worth watching all the guys surfing at this session on the big screen...