Young surfer catches mammoth wave

Advertisement

Josh Hughes borrowed a board to ride the giant wave

A teenage surfer from Cornwall is thought to be the youngest to have ridden one of the UK's biggest waves.

Josh Hughes, 17, rode the Cribbar - nicknamed the Widowmaker - on Wednesday off Newquay's Fistral beach.

The wave can only be ridden by expert surfers a couple of times a year - when certain tides, swell and offshore winds all combine.

Josh, who used a large, borrowed board, said he was "a bit scared" but was able to catch four waves.

The Cribbar forms over a shallow reef off Fistral beach and creates a very steep wave a few times a year.

It was a lot bigger than it looks Josh Hughes

It is named after rocks on the western edge of Towan Head and works when a low spring tide combines with a south-easterly wind.

The shock as the waves hit the shore can sometime be felt on the cliffs.

"The first thing that's special is that it is a promontory and the headland focuses the energy of the wave," said Mark Davidson, reader in coastal processes at the University of Plymouth, who teaches on the surf science and technology course.

"The key factors for the Cribbar are the size of the swell - which must be large - and the wind direction which dictates the quality of the breaking wave.

"You also need an optimal tidal state so the waves break before the beach. It's very rare."

Seventeen-year-old Josh has been surfing since the age of six

He added that computer models can now accurately predict the swell and surfers monitor conditions avidly so they can gauge when the Cribbar will occur.

Josh, from Newquay, said after getting a phone call from a friend saying he thought conditions were right, he got to the beach as quickly as he could to catch the 20ft (6m) wave.

"I caught four waves - each one bigger than the last . It was a lot bigger than it looks," said Josh, who has been surfing since he was six.

"I had to borrow a board because my board wasn't big enough - but as soon as I finished surfing I went and ordered myself a big board so I'll be ready for the next time."